Tumut add to depth as season nears

Looking to address a high turnover of players after the 40-18 loss to Gundagai in last year's grand final, Blues co-coach Lachlan Bristow is pleased to have some players at his disposal.

Leading the way is outside back Kabati Matanakilagi, who has represented Fiji in the Pacific Games Nines competition last year.

Bristow is confident he will be a good addition to their back line.

"He's going to add to that depth which is awesome as you can't be successful without that depth," Bristow said.

"We're pretty happy to have him.

"I think he'll be pretty versatile at centre, wing or anywhere in the outside backs."

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Matanakilagi linked with the club alongside Phil Shaw, who impressed with Tumut Bulls in Southern Inland last year.

Bristow is hopeful he can bring some spark to the forward pack after making the code switch.

"He's a big boy and is pretty fit too," he said.

"He should be able to add something.

"The two of them signed together."

They've also picked up Jesse Bellchambers from Batlow with Cameron Dowling has returned to the fold.

Tumut do not have any trials lined up and Bristow is concerned on the impact Riverina's success in the Country Championships will have on their line up for the Group Nine nines next week.

Co-coach Zac Masters, Jed Pearce, Ron Leapai, Tolo Aroha-Tuinauvai and Brayden Draber were all part of the win over Illawarra-South Coast on Sunday.

While the details of the semi-finals are yet to be confirmed, after the Dragons had a wash out in round one, with their strong rep commitment player numbers won't be high for the Blues.

"We've got a lot of footy at the moment with the boys playing in the rep footy and the Pub Nines comp here," Bristow said.