St George Illawarra centre Euan Aitken believes the NRL should reconsider axing the annual City-Country fixture.
Aitken made his representative debut for Country in their 44-30 defeat to City at Tamworth last season and has been in outstanding form to start this campaign, helping the Dragons march to the top of the NRL table after six rounds.
City against Country has been played annually since 1928 but this year’s match, to be played at Mudgee on May 7, will be the last ever, ending 89 years of tradition.
The fixture has often been used as an audition for State of Origin for aspiring New South Wales players and Aitken said he was desperate to play in the final ever City-Country clash.
“Obviously I’m a proud Country boy, it’s where I grew up and it shaped me as a person. I’m sad to see it go, I thought there was a part for it in the game,” he said.
“It’d be good to give back to the Country people because they’ve raised so much talent. There’s a fair bit of talent playing in the NRL from the country. It’s sad to see it go.”
Aitken played his junior rugby league with the Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs on the NSW south coast before a stint with the Shellharbour Sharks.
I’m sad to see it go, I thought there was a part for it in the game.
- Euan Aitken
The 21-year-old, who has also represented at international level with Scotland, signed a contract extension with the Dragons in February that will keep him in the red v until 2020.
Aitken said the game was popular with his Country teammates.
“I can’t speak for the City team obviously but everyone in the Country team always loves representing the Country,” he said.
“It’s always good to give back to country areas and take games back to the country. Everyone enjoys supporting it and it’s good to give back when you go out to schools and things in the rural areas.”
Aitken has enjoyed a strong start to the season and starred for the Dragons with two tries in their 35-10 thrashing of Manly on Saturday. He said he now had eyes on higher representative honours.
“I do have aspirations to play at a higher level for NSW and Australia. It’s always the ultimate dream and I want to keep progressing to be in those sorts of teams,” Aitken said.
“My start to the season has been a little inconsistent. I played good in [games] one and three but the second game [against Parramatta] I wasn’t too happy with.
“I just wanted to make sure I got everything right from that game and I had a good bounce back against the Sharks. I just want to make sure I’m keeping at that top level and not having up and down games.”
