**Centre's star shines**
AFTER a week off competition in the NSW Cup, due to the upcoming State of Origin representative fixture in Brisbane on Wednesday night, the Wests Magpies are celebrating selection of their elusive points-scoring centre Rhys Pritchard in the NSW Residents team which will take on the Queensland Residents as the curtain-raiser to the State of Origin clash.
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The selectors sat down to choose a team representative of the best the NSW Cup, Bundaberg Cup and Country Rugby League competitions have to offer.
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Magpies chairman Kevin Hammond was ecstatic at receiving the news that Pritchard had been selected for the NSW Residents team.
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``It's fantastic for both Rhys and Wests that he has achieved this much-deserved selection,'' he said.
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``Rhys has been a consistent stand-out performer for the club since his arrival here this season, and the fact that he is currently leading the try-scoring list for the NSW Cup with 14 tries is testament to the quality football he has been producing.''
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It has also come to pass that a number of other Wests Magpies' players were under consideration for the team, in particular fullback and Magpies' junior Shannon Gallant who has recently been recalled to first-grade duties with Wests Tigers.
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``It's ironic, really, that Shannon should get recalled to first grade just at the time when he was a shoe-in for selection as the fullback in the Residents Team,'' Mr Hammond said.
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``A change in selection policy by the NSWRL, that players currently required for NRL first-grade duties should not be selected, has meant that Shannon was ineligible to take his place in the Residents Team.''
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The recruitment of Pritchard to the Magpies from the Sydney Roosters/Newtown Jets clubs for the 2009 season has turned out to be a win-win situation for both the player and the club.
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In a recent chat with Hammond regarding extending his contract with the Magpies, Pritchard commented that he was enjoying his time with Wests and feels more at home and settled at the Magpies than he has felt at any other club.
From Camden Advertiser
AFTER a week off competition in the NSW Cup, due to the upcoming State of Origin representative fixture in Brisbane on Wednesday night, the Wests Magpies are celebrating selection of their elusive points-scoring centre Rhys Pritchard in the NSW Residents team which will take on the Queensland Residents as the curtain-raiser to the State of Origin clash.
>
The selectors sat down to choose a team representative of the best the NSW Cup, Bundaberg Cup and Country Rugby League competitions have to offer.
\
\
Magpies chairman Kevin Hammond was ecstatic at receiving the news that Pritchard had been selected for the NSW Residents team.
\
\
``It's fantastic for both Rhys and Wests that he has achieved this much-deserved selection,'' he said.
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\
``Rhys has been a consistent stand-out performer for the club since his arrival here this season, and the fact that he is currently leading the try-scoring list for the NSW Cup with 14 tries is testament to the quality football he has been producing.''
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It has also come to pass that a number of other Wests Magpies' players were under consideration for the team, in particular fullback and Magpies' junior Shannon Gallant who has recently been recalled to first-grade duties with Wests Tigers.
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\
``It's ironic, really, that Shannon should get recalled to first grade just at the time when he was a shoe-in for selection as the fullback in the Residents Team,'' Mr Hammond said.
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\
``A change in selection policy by the NSWRL, that players currently required for NRL first-grade duties should not be selected, has meant that Shannon was ineligible to take his place in the Residents Team.''
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The recruitment of Pritchard to the Magpies from the Sydney Roosters/Newtown Jets clubs for the 2009 season has turned out to be a win-win situation for both the player and the club.
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In a recent chat with Hammond regarding extending his contract with the Magpies, Pritchard commented that he was enjoying his time with Wests and feels more at home and settled at the Magpies than he has felt at any other club.
From Camden Advertiser
