Dan Kilian has parted ways with Tumut as he looks to explore further options.
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The imposing front rower caused plenty of hype since joining the club last year, but has left after two games this season.
Kilian had been linked with Wyong Roos for the past month and Blues co-coach Dean Bristow confirmed he’s left the Group Nine club.
“He’s gone,” Bristow said.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure but he has a business opportunity in Sydney which ties in with Wyong somehow.”
Bristow admitted to will be a blow to be without the big man to tackle Brothers at Equex Centre on Saturday and for the rest of the season.
“We built our pre-season around him and big bodies are hard to replace,” he said.
“I’m confident in the blokes we do have there, but it is definitely disappointing.”
Kilian made a big impact when he first arrived at Tumut, but the Blues didn’t get a lot of football out of him.
He was limited to just seven games last season as he dealt with legal drama in Queensland.
The man mountain was a revelation in the first four rounds of the season before he was unable to be travel due to a drug supply case.
After being handed out a three and a half year suspended sentence he was cleared to play just in time for the finals and helped the Blues to a preliminary final appearance against Gundagai.
The imposing figure has been used off the bench in wins over Young and Kangaroos and will prove hard to replace for the Blues.
“We’ve used him as a bit of an impact role in the first couple of weeks so there is a bit of a hole there,” Bristow said.
Charles Cribb comes onto the bench to replace Kilian.
Without the big front rower more pressure will go onto Zac Masters to lead the forward pack.
However Bristow has been impressed by how he’s returned after a stint with Canberra Raiders.
“He’s played 80 minutes in both of the first two weeks and has probably been out best player both weeks,” he said.
“He has already stepped up to the mark and now some of the younger boys need to step up a little bit more to fill the void.”
Bristow is looking to move on and concentrate on the clash with Brothers.
The loss of Kilian is their only change.
Bristow is hoping for a better defensive effort at Equex Centre.
“They will be tough and I think this will probably be our toughest encounter yet,” he said.
“We’ve gone away and worked on a fair bit this week and looking back on the video from the weekend we weren’t particularly happy with how we played.
“We’ve identified a few areas we think we can improve on so hopefully that is enough to get the win.”