A fourth Try Time gala day will bring around 80 Rugby League players together this Sunday (30 July) at Wentworthville’s home ground at Ringrose Park.
There are eight Try Time teams attached to NSWRL clubs - Wentworthville, Penrith Brothers, Quakers Hill, St Patricks JRLFC, Mounties, Minchinbury Jets, Hills District, and Leichhardt Wanderers will be represented.
It is a non-contact, modified version of the game, which is how Try Time players with an intellectual disability compete.
All matches are played on traditional 13-a-side rules.
“It’s full international rules with the only qualifier being it’s two-handed touch but you still get all the thrills and spills and skills of any regular game,” said Wenty Try Time coach Jared Anderson.
“Our format for this Gala Day is probably going to be 15-minute games in a round-robin style of play.
“We’ve got 35 players on our books at Wenty so we’ve got enough for two teams.”
Anderson wanted to make sure there were enough matches on the schedule so to help boost the number of teams he has invited two able-bodied teams – the South West Sharks JRLFC’s Under 14 girls and the Wenty Young Guns, the Magpies Under-15s boys side.
Wentworthville has both a Juniors and a Seniors team in the Try Time category, which demonstrates the inclusivity of Rugby League. The competition began in 2013 and is now into its 11th season.
Anderson is hoping families of players invite their friends, who might not have heard of Try Time footy.
“That’s absolutely right. It’s to showcase what we do, or what the players do more to the point,” he said.
“They are all Rugby League nuts like the rest of us. They know all the players in their favourite NRL teams and they just love being able to play the game their heroes do.
“They have all the moves – putting teammates through gaps, running strongly down the edges.
“Rugby League gives them the chance to play a great competitive game with their mates.”
