AFTER already impressing in two trial games this year, Junee 19-year-old Wiremu Hei Hei was suddenly cut from the Canberra Raiders’ under 20 squad last week.
Hei Hei’s omission came only a week before the final cut was to be made after the Raiders last trial game this weekend.
When contacted by the Southern Cross, Canberra Raiders media official Ben Pollack confirmed the cut had been made but could not comment as to why.
Hei Hei had been training full-time with the squad for the past few months, trying his hardest to score a final position with the ACT team.
Junee’s other representative, Matthew Ward, 19, has been left to represent his home town by himself.
In their first game for the season against West Tigers
in Mollymook on February 7, the Raiders came out on top with a final score of 20-16.
Ward almost played out the whole game and was taken off in the 70th minute.
The second game for the Raiders got the team on its feet as it was defeated by Melbourne Storm 24-16 in Lavington a week later, on February 14.
Ward played the entire second game, with the club testing him on the wing and at centre and fullback.
Ward is set to be away from his home town for at least four years, as he has managed to also gain an electrician’s apprenticeship with a company in the area.
Pollack believed Ward
is playing in the Canberra under 20 team’s next trial game held this weekend against rivals Canterbury Bulldogs.
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