Like many around the state All Saints College, St Mary’s Campus, Maitland, students Brodie Jones, Jayden Butterfield and Max King are hoping NSW can take the first step towards retaining the State of Origin title on Wednesday night.
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But one day this talented trio want to be part of it and they recently edged a little bit closer to achieving that dream.
Jones, Butterfield and King have been selected to play at the Australian Schoolboys Championships in Wollongong from July 5.
“It will be great going into the camp environment and hopefully winning a national championship,” Butterfield said.
They will don the sky blue uniform of NSW Combined Catholic Colleges at the annual tournament after being named in the squad last week.
They got the nod after impressing selectors at the NSW CCC Championships in Penrith on Friday and Saturday.
Jones and King were part of the Northern Country side which finished third overall and Butterfield the Convenor’s XIII.
They will be joined by another Northern Country player and fellow Newcastle Knights junior Kurtis Dark of Old Bar.
Other players of note in the NSW CCC squad include Nathan Cleary and Kyle Flanagan, the sons of NRL coaches Ivan and Shane respectively, as well as Penrith’s Reed Izzard.
The NSW CCC under-15 side was also named last week with Tyran Ott of All Saints College, St Peter’s Campus, Maitland, picking up a jersey.
Ott, son of Maitland Pickers coach Trevor, will be joined by fellow Northern Country pair Jock Maddon and Brock Gardner.
The under 15s will head back to St Mary’s in Penrith for the national championships at the end of next month.
Meanwhile, the NSW Combined High Schools Championships wrap up at Macquarie’s Peacock Field on Wednesday.
In other rugby league news, Sunday’s scheduled Group 21 match between Greta Branxton and Singleton was postponed because of wet weather.