Carraro, Edmonds named for Navy Canberra Vikings

Matt Carraro (SMP Images)

The Navy Canberra Vikings have named an extended squad for their Round Seven Mazda Australian Rugby Championship (ARC) match against the Western Sydney Rams at Parramatta Stadium on Saturday night. Kick off is at 7.30pm.

Outside centre Matt Carraro (groin) and hooker Huia Edmonds (corked thigh) have been named in the squad and will train with the side this afternoon before a final decision on their fitness is made tomorrow.

Carraro, who is currently the competition’s second top point scorer, missed last week’s 17-13 loss to the Central Coast Rays and says he’s keen to return to the Navy Canberra Vikings line-up.

“It’s very frustrating sitting on the sideline,” he said. “This is a very important game for us and one that could largely determine the fate of our season, so I’ll be doing everything I can to get out there.

“My groin felt a bit tight over the weekend but I’ve been receiving treatment on it during the week and it’s feeling much better as a result. I’ll just see how I go at today’s session and see how it pulls up tomorrow.

Should Carraro be ruled out, Rowan Kellam will resume his place in the run-on side, while Dan Raymond is on standby to replace Edmonds on the reserves list.

Winger Francis Fainifo will miss the match after being found guilty last night of a dangerous tackle on Rays inside centre Sam Harris in last weekend’s match. His place in the side will be taken by younger brother, Solomona.

The Navy Canberra Vikings back row has been rotated with No.8 Jone Tawake returning after being rested last week, while blindside flanker Peter Kimlin has been rewarded for several strong performances off the bench with his first start in the competition.

Kimlin, who’s scored two tries in the first six rounds, says he’s looking forward to running on for the Navy Canberra Vikings.

“I’ve enjoyed being part of the squad and coming off the bench but obviously it’s every player’s goal to be part of the starting XV,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed having a bit of extra space and it’s been great to be able to score a couple of tries, but my challenge this week is to make sure I have the same impact from the kick-off.”

Navy Canberra Vikings head coach Nick Scrivener says his side will need to step up against the top-of-the-table Rams.

“It’s no secret that we need to lift for Saturday’s game,” he said. “We know that we’re a better side than last week’s performance showed and we need to be smarter with our option-taking and more effective in defence.

“The Rams will be fired up after losing to the Fleet and they have a number of outstanding players in key positions. They’ve got frightening pace in their backline and guys like [Kurtley] Beale, Holmesy [Josh Holmes] and Lachie Turner will make it a very long day if they’re given any room. Up front they’re very complete and have a number of class players like Van Humphries, Tom Egan and Tatafu [Polota-Nau] who can potentially make life very difficult for us.

Utility back Tim Cornforth has been named on a nine-man Navy Canberra Vikings bench after recovering from a dislocated elbow sustained in the local John I Dent Cup minor semi final five weeks ago.

Navy Canberra Vikings v Western Sydney Rams
Mazda ARC Round 7, Parramatta Stadium
Saturday, 22 September 2007. Kick-off: 7.30pm

Navy Canberra Vikings
1. John Ulugia
2. Anthony Hegarty
3. Nic Henderson
4. Alister Campbell ©
5. Adam Wallace-Harrison
6. Peter Kimlin
7. Julian Salvi
8. Jone Tawake
9. Nick Haydon
10. Christian Lealiifano
11. Solomona Fainifo
12. Anthony Faingaa
13. Matt Carraro
14. Eddie McLaughlin
15. Tim Wright

Reserves:
16. Huia Edmonds
17. Jack Kennedy
18. Dan Guinness
19. Jack Vanderglas
20. Patrick Phibbs
21. Rowan Kellam
22. Dan Raymond
23. Ben Johnston
24. Tim Cornforth

* two to be omitted