Canada Rugby League’s new head coach, Aaron Zimmerle, has arrived in the country and begun overseeing preparations for the Firehouse Subs World Cup Qualifiers – Americas, which start in eight days’ time in Florida. The new Wolverines supremo, who is a native Canadian, has already conducted a skills session for the British Columbia West Coast Academy, where 25 players - including six who travelled from Alberta - were put through their paces, and local coaches given a masterclass.
Zimmerle intends to do the same in Toronto this weekend, and has overseen the announcement of the 20-man Canadian squad for the Qualifiers. Highly-rated, Queensland-based brothers Rhys and Riley Jacks are included and Zimmerle noted: “The selection of the final 20 players caused many tough decisions but it also means we have a high quality squad. The purpose of coming over two weeks early was to allow myself and assistants Andy Blackburn and Jamie Lester time to work together while assessing the strengths of our players. From that we can than refine a game plan that gives us the best opportunity to defeat Jamaica and America.”
The Wolverines will go in to camp in Florida from December 4th- 12th with the aim of becoming the first Canadian side to qualify for the Rugby League World Cup, after recently beating the USA twice to retain the Colonial Cup.
Pictured (from left): CRLA president Paul O'Keefe, Aaron Zimmerle and assistant coach Andy Blackburn.
CANADA 20-MAN SQUAD
Chad Bain (Bradford Dudley Hill RLFC), Billy Gemmell, Christian Miller, Steve Piatek (Brantford Broncos), Alex Boyd (Capilano Cougars), Tom Dempsey (Easts Tigers), Steve Bouchard (Jamberoo Superoos), Louis Robinson (London Skolars), Rhys Jacks (South Logan Magpies), Ryley Jacks (Sunshine Coast Falcons), Jamie Kelly (Surrey Beavers), Jonathan Cregg, Robin Legault, Matt Wyles (Toronto Centurions), Eddie Bilborough, Antoine Blanc, Enoch Wamalwa (Toronto City Saints), Daniel Blasco-Morris, Rick Schouten, Adam Timler (Valley Warriors)