Peninsula rugby player Adam Timler will be in the starting lineup Saturday, when the Canada Wolverines square off again the USA Tomahawks in the first game of the Colonial Cup Challenge in Toronto.
Timler, a longtime member of the Bayside Sharks, was selected for the best-of-three Rugby League challenge last week; he’ll play centre for the Wolverines, who have never before won the Colonial Cup.
Timler, 24, was set to play in the BC Rugby League this summer with Baysdie, but when the Sharks had to pull out of the season – due to having too many players injured – the Peninsula native joined a team in Kelowna, where he scored four tries in three games, which was enough to catch the eye of Andy Blackburn, a South Surrey resident and assistant coach with the Wolverines.
“The way he has fit into a new team so quickly was also important, as he will only have two practice sessions with the national team before representing Canada, and he needed to be able to pick up things quickly,” Blackburn said.
“I have no hesitation in saying Adam will do the BCRL proud.”
Timler has a long resume of national and international rugby. In 2006, he represented Canada at the youth level, and has played for B.C. at a number of national championships as a teenager. He also had a successful run with the University of Victoria Vikes, and was a member of a Canadian university side that played tournaments in Portugal and France between 2010 and 2012.