The opening round of the season was a victim on wet weather and will now be played on the June long weekend. No games were set down for that weekend in the original draw.

Wingham will be on the road this weekend and will tackle Forster-Tuncurry at Tuncurry on Sunday.

The Tigers will play their first home game the following weekend against last season’s grand finalists, Port Macquarie on Sunday April 30.

Meanwhile, Locky Williams, who will play for the Tigers under 16s this season, has been named in the NSW Country under 16s squad to tour New Zealand this year.

So organising a passport has kept the 15-year-old Locky Williams busy for the pasts week.

He’s preparing for his first overseas flight in July when he heads to New Zealand with the NSW Country under 16 rugby league team. So getting a passport has been priority No 1 since the team was announced.

Locky was named in the squad following the Country championship final played at Cessnock last weekend. He was a member of the East Coast Dolphins side beaten 32-22 in extra time by Western Rams after the scores were locked at 22-22 at fulltime.

Country will play two matches in New Zealand, although the itinerary has yet to be announced. Locky is one of eight East Coast players in the squad and the only from Group Three.

Despite losing the closely contested final, Locky was pretty confident of his chances of making the Country touring side. He was happy with his form in the championship.

East Coast won two of the three pool games, their only loss being by a point to Newcastle in the clash at Wingham.

Locky gained a place in the East Coast team following trials held in Coffs Harbour. He was then required to attend training sessions in Coffs Harbour and Kempsey. He’s not sure if he’ll have to train with the Country squad before they head to New Zealand.

He’s now looking forward to the start of the Group Three Junior Rugby League season that has been frustrated because of continued wet weather.

Locky will play with Wingham under 16s. He made a switch to the Tigers when the Red Rovers side he was a member of folded.

Locky started playing junior league as a five-year-old with Taree Panthers before moving to Rovers. He’s always played in the backs and enjoys the centre position.

He’s also keen on backing up to play a few matches in the under 18s this year, but thinks he’ll wait until after he’s returned from New Zealand. 

Locky was a bit of a late bloomer on the representative scene and didn’t make his debut for Group Three under the under 15s.