Brothers fly high for Newtown

BILAMBIL’S flying Lanston twins have impressed Newtown Jets coach Greg Matterson.

He just wishes he had got his hands on them a few months earlier.

Drew and Guy Lanston had their first run in the Newtown colours on Saturday in a 38-6 drubbing of North Sydney in extremely wet conditions.

Drew scored a try in a game where Matterson said the pair “went all right”.

The brothers, 20, who are both outside backs, were invited south to trial with the historic rugby league club after their impressive performances for the Bilambil Jets last year, in a season where the club reached the Gold Coast Rugby League grand final.

They are now on a mission to bulk up, with Matterson impressed with their attitude but concerned about their weight.

He wants the pair at least six kilograms heavier and they have been put on a special diet and weight-training program to achieve the result.

“They are only young and I have got them on the weight cycle at the moment,” Matterson said.

“They need to put on a bit of beef. I wish I could have got them a few months earlier.”

With a star-studded line-up set to return to the Sydney Roosters NRL feeder club before the season starts in earnest, Matterson was realistic about the twins’ chance of being graded.

He said the pair “weren’t the best on the paddock” on Saturday and would like to see them fix “a couple of little mistakes”.

“The competition is pretty hot,” Matterson said.

But he hasn’t written the pair off and is planning to give them plenty of game time in the two remaining trial games so they could stake their claims for spots in the New South Wales Cup squad.

“I couldn’t be any more happy with them, they are great kids to coach. They are in with a shot of being graded.”

This weekend Newtown will play the Wests Magpies and a week later the Canterbury Bulldogs.