Andy Saunders will have the chance to show his new coach what he’s got when the Quirindi product turns out in a trial match for the Wentworthville Magpies against the Newcastle Knights on Saturday.
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After making his NRL debut for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs last season, Saunders was left without a club for 2018 but a phone call to Magpies mentor Nathan Cayless changed that.
“I’ve been familiar with Andy over past few years. He's been a wonderful player for Penrith and the Bulldogs,” Cayless said.
“I got a call out of the blue early January and he was calling to see if there was an opportunity at Wentworthville and I definitely wanted to jump at the opportunity to have a player like Andy here.”
Having said all that, Cayless did say he wasn’t the type of coach to hand out spots in his Intrust Super Premiership side willy-nilly.
“I’m not a coach to give anyone a guarantee,” Cayless said.
“I’ve told Andy that he’ll have to work hard.”
And so far, the former Panther and Bulldog has been doing that.
“He’s a professional trainer, he knows what’s expected of him and he’s been playing at this level for a number of years,” Cayless said.
“He’s been learning our system – it’s a bit different to what he’s used to – and he’s been great. He gets in and does his work. He’s got some really good attributes that blend in with other players we have.”
“He’s a good bloke, too.”
While playing NRL is still the major goal for Saunders, securing a full-time contract is the first thing on the agenda.
However, he refuses to look too far ahead as that ultimate goal could be a distraction, and performances on the park for the Magpies is the first step towards that goal.
Rewards for performing in the Intrust Super Premiership NSW is inclusion in the Residents side, a team he was a part of last year.
“A big goal this year is getting to play with Residents, last year it was one of the greatest weeks I’ve had,” Saunders told NSWRL.com.au earlier this year.
“Putting Wenty into the finals as well, the boys have been training really hard and there’s definitely plenty of depth here at the club.
“So, hopefully this year we can go very far in the competition.
“We went to the sand dunes on Saturday in the first week of training, so it was a bit of a shock to the system.”
