While there has been plenty happening off the field in Perth this year, newly appointed Perth Spirit captain Michael Raru believes the NRC has come at the perfect time for his side, as they look to take their minds off the ongoing saga and continue “preparing for next year’s Super Rugby season.”

“We’re just looking forward to ripping in. Having three weeks off has been tough to be honest so it’s great to get thinking about playing footy again,”

“I think you could say that we’ve got a bit of a chip on our shoulder. We just want to put in a good performance and show that rugby in the west is still growing and that everyone over there is behind us.”

After finishing second in Australia’s Super Rugby conference this year, the defending NRC premiers have named 13 returning players to play alongside 15 NRC debutants, 11 of which come from the local Pindan Premier Grade competition.

“Towards the end of the season we started to get some continuity and rhythm and we were playing some really good footy so we want to continue to build on that as we prepare for next year’s Super Rugby season,” Raru said.

While the Spirit face the toughest travel schedule of any side, Raru said the squad was looking forward to playing four matches McGillivray Oval in front of their loyal fans, starting this Saturday with an opening round clash against Melbourne Rising.

“We want to throw the ball around. Obviously you need to play territory at times but outside of that, we want to score tries. We won’t be kicking penalty goals, we want to engage our fans and play some exciting rugby,” the captain said.

Players to watch – James Verity-Amm and Brendon Owen

“We saw a little bit of James towards the end of the Super Rugby season and I think he’ll really prove himself in the NRC. Then you’ve got young Brendon Owen who won the PG Hampshire Award for best club player this year.

“They’ve both got genuine speed and can do plenty with ball in hand so they’ll be exciting to watch.”

Perth Spirit 2017 NRC Playing Squad:

Jermaine Ainsley, Richard Arnold, Marcel Brache, Adam Coleman, Angus Cottrell, Pekahou Cowan, Logan Ede, Mees Erasmus, Tetera Faulkner, Ben Grant, Peter Grant, Richard Hardwick, Michael Hardwick, Onehunga Havili, Dane Haylett-Petty, Nick Jooste, Beau King, Baxter King, Kane Koteka, Jono Lance, Sama Malolo, Ben McCalman, Michael McDonald, Billy Meakes, Isi Naisarani, Brendan Owen, Chance Peni, Matt Philip, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Ian Prior, Anaru Rangi, Curtis Rona, Michael Ruru, Sheldon Tawara, Clay Uyen, James Verity-Amm, Shambeckler Vui