Group Nine premiers Southcity has confirmed it has lost at least half of its premiership-winning centre pairing.
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Usaia O’Sullivan will play in Brisbane after earning a chance to the Queensland Cup.
O’Sullivan has linked with the Norths Devils as he looks to take his game to the next level.
The imposing centre proved to be an immediate success in his only season with the Bulls.
After making the move following one season with Group 20 club West Wyalong, O’Sullivan was the team’s leading tryscorer and was selected to represent Riverina.
Outgoing Southcity president Rod Porter believes it is a great opportunity for O'Sullivan to play in a higher standard of football.
“He deserves a crack at it,” Porter said.
There is also doubt over whether Southcity’s other centre Ethan McGuire will return.
McGuire made the switch to the Bulls following an injury-plagued season with Tumut.
Porter said the club was still unsure if the New Zealander would be back in 2017.
“Ethan McGuire is hopefully coming back,” he said.
“He wasn’t, but by the time he left he said he might be back.”
They pair look likely to be the only departures from the premiership-winning team.
With Nick Skinner named as captain-coach once more, Southcity had locked in most of its team before going on to defeat Gundagai in the Group Nine grand final last month.
They have since added to the list.
In some good news, the Bulls have re-signed Country front rower Hayden Jeans.
Another to arrive at Southcity this season, the former Newcastle prop got through plenty of work on the way to the Bulls’ premiership.
He was also named as the club’s best forward at last month’s presentation night.
Star five-eighth Nathan Rose has also agreed to terms for another season with his junior club.
With the vast majority of the team already secured, the Bulls are not expected to be overly busy on the recruitment front this off-season.
However, replacing O’Sullivan and potentially McGuire is the priority.
“We have a couple of good juniors coming through,” Porter said.
“We don’t really need too much of anything other than a centre especially if Ethan doesn’t come back.”