Monaro coach Barnes has named an unchanged side for their under 23 country championships semi-final clash against the Illawarra South Coast Dragons at Goulburn Arena on Saturday.

The winner of last year's semi-final rematch will face either the Northern Rivers or North Coast in the final, but there is much more at stake than a chance to defend some silverware.

It is a chance to reignite their rugby league careers.

There is former Canberra Raiders junior Cleve McGhie, the versatile Woden Valley Rams back-rower who starred at this tournament last year to earn NSW Country under 23's selection.

Then there is Queanbeyan Kangaroos back-rower Nukurua Ngere, a product of the New Zealand Warriors junior system that left Auckland in a bid to make a living out of rugby league in Australia.

Ngere was Auckland second division's player of the year in 2016 but he was overlooked by the Warriors when he reached the under-20s level, so he shipped himself to Australia to further his career.

"We’ve got a lot of guys in here who are still looking to progress their careers in whatever fashion that may be," Barnes said.

"From the guys that made Country last year from our squad we’ve had three that have been fortunate enough to have been picked up by NSW Cup or Queensland Cup sides.

"It’s a great initiative by the CRL to put it as 23s, and these guys have really bought into it. They really want to put their best foot forward and show people what they can do.

"For the guys that are under 23, they’ve really taken it on with both hands in terms of potentially getting an opportunity for them to get back on a pathway to hopefully progress their careers.

"In that way it hasn’t for me been hard to motivate the players, because they’ve been self-motivated to show what they can do and hopefully progress their careers."

Barnes laughs "there's a few characters in the team" which has made it easy for a 24-man squad coming from 10 different clubs from Canberra to Merimibula to come together as one.

"Tevita Aroha from Westies is a funny character, he’s a good guy. Derek Hay doesn’t mind putting his point forward. They’re all good blokes and all good fun to be around as well," Barnes said.

"We’ve been quite lucky in terms of this group has been together basically since we went down to Melbourne at the start of the year for that trial which was fortunate for us to go down and get that opportunity to play before the World Club Challenge.

"The boys have spent a fair bit of time together from the start of this year so they all get along together really well, and it’s really pleasing to see guys from all different clubs mixing together so well."

A host of Monaro stars will back up for their respective club sides when the Canberra Raiders Cup resumes on Sunday.

CRL COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS SEMI-FINAL

Saturday: Monaro Colts v Illawarra South Coast Dragons at Goulburn Arena, 12.10pm. Live stream: Bar TV Sports.

Monaro Colts squad: 1. Ryan McQueen (C) (West Belconnen Warriors), 2. Kyle Shepperdson (Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs), 3. Tevita Aroha-Tuinauvai (West Belconnen Warriors), 4. Ryley Thomas (West Belconnen Warriors), 5. Chris Hart (Goulburn Bulldogs), 6. Nicholas Cornish (Goulburn Workers Bulldogs), 7. Derek Hay (Queanbeyan Kangaroos), 8. Kye Madden (Gungahlin Bulls), 9. Zac Patch (Queanbeyan Blues), 10. Luke Skidmore (Gungahlin Bulls), 11. Nukurua Ngere (Queanbeyan Kangaroos), 12. Cleve McGhie (Woden Valley Rams), 13. Tyson Greenwood (Goulburn Bulldogs). Interchange: 15. Ron Leapai (Woden Valley Rams), 16. Harry Whatman (West Belconnen Warriors), 19. Andrew Ayres (Narooma Devils), 21. Luke Ingram (Bombala Blue Heelers), 24. Jacob McGrath (Yass Magpies).

CANBERRA RAIDERS CUP ROUND SEVEN

Sunday: Tuggeranong Bushrangers v Gungahlin Bulls at Greenway Oval, 3pm. West Belconnen Warriors v Yass Magpies at Kippax Oval, 3pm. Queanbeyan Kangaroos v Belconnen United Sharks at Freebody Oval, 3pm. Goulburn Bulldogs v Queanbeyan Blues at Goulburn Arena, 3pm. Woden Valley Rams have the bye.