Goulburn City Bulldogs centre Dillon Rota, has shaken off the rust of a year without playing football to be named in the Monaro Colts Open Men's squad.
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Unlike a number of his Bulldogs teammates, some of whom played for different teams or moved to rugby union in 2020 after COVID-19 struck, Rota elected not to play.
The beginning of Goulburn's pre-season was effectively Rota's first hit-out since the pandemic caused the cancellation of the Bulldogs' 2020 campaign. The Colts squad was announced in mid-February, and Rota said to be selected after such a long layoff was a shock.
"It was a bit of a surprise, especially after not playing last year, but I was stoked [to be selected]," Rota said.
"I was over the moon that I'm 28 and still making rep teams.
"After not doing anything over the last year, I was pretty rusty. We had a bit of a trial against the Canberra 21s, and I didn't feel too bad, so that gave me a bit of confidence."
This is the first year that the Country Championships have had an Open Men's side. In seasons past, the men's competition has been restricted to the Under 23 division.
Rota leapt at the chance to trial when he discovered that the age cap had been removed, and he is ready to make an impact in Monaro's first clash against the Western Rams tomorrow.
"I'm ready," he said.
"I'm probably not quite where I would like to be after a short pre-season this year. But I'm excited and we'll see how it goes on Sunday. That should give me a pretty good gauge of where I'm at."
Rota and the rest of the Colts are expecting a physically taxing match against the Rams. Their challenge, Rota said, will be keeping up with Monaro for the full 80 minutes.
"They'll be a good team, they'll be really strong," Rota said.
"They'll probably stick with us for 20 minutes, then hopefully we'll be too fit and too fast for them in the back end of the first half and second half.
"We'll just trust our work rate and that we'll be a little bit fitter and faster than them."
Having moved to Goulburn from New Zealand ahead of the 2019 season - in which the Bulldogs made the grand final - Rota has become accustomed to the fast-paced style which characterises the CRRL competition.
The Monaro Colts men will take on the Western Rams from 1pm tomorrow, February 28. That match will be followed by the women's Country Championships clash between Monaro and the Western Rams at 2.40pm. Both games will be played at Raiders Belconnen.
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