Fresh off the experience of a lifetime, Tumut forward Zac Masters has confirmed he’ll be at the Blues next season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The reigning Weissel Medallist will again ply his trade in Group Nine in a huge boost for his hometown club.
“I’ll be back playing for the Blues next year,” Masters said.
“Just this past week I’ve moved home to Tumut so I won’t have to do as much travel. It’s good to be home.”
The Blues were something of a surprise packet last season only to fall three points shy of a top-four finish. Masters, who was travelling from Canberra, wants to be a part of their progression.
“Most of the boys this year were local boys so I’d say most of us will go around again,” he said.
“We’ve got the same coaches (Adam Pearce and Dean Bristow) who have done a really good job so hopefully we can go a bit better and make the finals.”
The young prop is still buzzing from a trip to Papua New Guinea representing the NSW Country Under 23s team, along with Temora coach Sam Elwin.
Country disappointed on the day, going down 18-12 in fierce conditions against PNG’s Digital Cup representative side, but the trip was something Masters will never forget.
“It was a massive eye opener, going over there and experiencing their culture,” he said.
“We went up to the start of the Kokoda Track That was pretty amazing looking back at what went on and the sacrifices that were made and then we went to the war cemetery in Port Moresby.
“It was an amazing cemetery they’ve got there and walking around, having a look at some of the guys that passed away, they were 19, 20, 21 years of age.
“We were obviously an under 23s team so they were all around our age which was a massive eye opener.”
As for the football, Masters – who played around 45 minutes coming off the bench – said Country delivered far from what they were capable of, with too many mistakes cruelling their hopes against the best of the PNG national competition.
“It was a good game. They were the best team on the day but I don’t think we could’ve played much worse – we dropped that much ball,” Masters said.
“I guess you can put it down to conditions. It was about 35 degrees and humid so it was a bit different to our guys coming out of winter football, especially for myself and Sam and a couple of Canberra boys, playing in the minuses!
“But they were very fast, very athletic and some big, strong boys as the Papua New Guinea boys are known to be.”
Masters said halfback Elwin played well in a side which struggled to build momentum and noted that the Temora coach “had a blinder” in the team’s warm-up match against an Australian Defence Force side in Ipswich before flying to PNG.
The Country U23s were coached by Josh Cale and Masters said, overall, the representative experience was one to cherish.
“It was good. I met some great mates. There was a few boys that I’ve played with before and it was good to go away with them but then boys that I’d never met before, it was good to make a few friends and play alongside some very handy footballers,” he said.