Rowe missed the Blues’ opening round win over Kooringal Colts and will return for Saturday’s Twenty20 match against Wagga City at McPherson Oval.

The 34-year-old this year takes over the South Wagga captaincy and is looking forward to taking the reins.

“I’m not coming into the role wanting to bring something. Hopefully I’m able to come in on game day and navigate the team through the game of cricket in the best way possible,” Rowe said.

“I want our bowlers to have a strong plan and be backed up a field that works to the plan. I want us to be really positive and take the game on.

“It’s not going to be too different to what Joel (Robinson) did. The only notable difference between Joel and I is that he’s a very technical captain...where as I will captain bit more on feel.”

Rowe said it will be an honour to captain South Wagga in their centenary season.

“I am looking forward to taking the reins in what is a very important year for the club, being the centenary year,” he said.

“It’s a bit of an honour in such an important season, also for myself having a long history with South Wagga. This is my 20^th year of senior cricket, I went away to Adelaide for seven years, but I’ve never played with another club other than South Wagga...so I’m really looking forward to it.”

South Wagga will make a number of changes to the team that defeated Kooringal Colts last Saturday.

Rowe, Joel Robinson, Terry Willis and Nathanael Mooney will come in to face the Cats, while Luke Gerhard and Warren Clunes are unavailable.

Rowe hopes the Blues can continue to build into the season nicely.

“Last week was definitely a good start and we’ll certainly be looking to build on that,” he said.

“Obviously Twenty20 is really different to any other format so we’ll be taking the game on it’s merits while also having an eye for the future as well.”

Wagga City come into the match on the back of an opening round win over St Michaels.

Rowe expects the Cats to prove tough opposition.

“We know they they’ve got some quality cricketers in their line-up,” he said.

“Jon Nicoll is always very heard to nullify, while Josh Thompson has been a thorn in our side for quite some time.

“Then you’ve got a guy like Aaron Maxwell, who can score very quickly, and quality bowlers like Max Harper , who won some prestigious awards last season, that bring a lot to their side.

“We’ve had some really tough battles against each other and I’m sure this weekend won’t be any different.”

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