Sydney Rays coach Simon Cron has opted for a trusted club combination in the midfield for his side’s NRC opener against the Western Sydney Rams at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.

The Northern Suburbs combo of Angus Sinclair and the promising Irae Simone will pull on the 10 and 12 jerseys for the important game against the Rams this weekend.

Sinclair beat Manly Marlins flyhalf Sam Lane to the No.10 jersey after impressing the coaching staff at a pre-season camp held last weekend.

Simone has had an impressive club season with Norths and was named the Shute Shield rookie of the year at the Ken Catchpole Medal ceremony.

“We’ve gone with a lot of combinations from our clubs at this stage of the season,” Cron said.

“We got through a lot at the camp at Macquarie but we’ve only had a reasonably short period of time together, but in that time we have achieved a lot.

“Angus and Irae have played a lot of footy together and we’re all confident in the way that they run the game. Everyone is keen to get on the field and play some Rugby.”

The match day 23 features players from six Shute Shield clubs – Gordon, Manly, Northern Suburbs, Warringah, Eastwood and Southern Districts – and can lay a claim to being the most broadly representative of any of the NRC teams in the Sydney basin.

The two Rio Sevens Olympians in the squad – Cameron Clark and Con Foley – only arrived back in the country on Wednesday morning and will work their way back into the squad at training.

Sunday’s game starts at 1pm but will be proceeded by festival of minis rugby sponsored by the Rays kit supplier Paladin.

A total of 12 teams from all over Sydney will participate in the family friendly time slot. The gates will open at 11am and kids are encouraged to get on North Sydney Oval during the halftime break and also at full time.

Sydney Rays team to play Western Sydney Rams 

Rory O’Connor, Damien Fitzpatrick, Angus Ta’avao, Connor Vest, James Brown, Jack Dempsey, Will Miller, Hugh Sinclair, Matt Lucas, Angus Sinclair, Harry Jones, Irae Simone, Seb Wileman, Richard Woolf, Johnathan Malo. Reserves: James Hilterbrand, Exra Luxton, Lawrance Hunting, Adrian Hall/Angus Ryan, Harry Bergelin/Michael Smith, Dewet Roos, Sam Lane, Tyson Davis.