Maitland's coach Luke Cunningham is backing Mick Taylor to soar for NSW Country Cockatoos

Taylor was last week one of five Hunter players alongside Blacks teammate Sam Callow, Merewether breakaway Rhys Bray, Uni prop Toa Havea and Hamilton centre Hamish McKie named in the NSW Country training squad.

They will attend a camp at NSW Waratahs headquarters in Dacyville on July 15 from which a 28-man Cockatoos squad will be named to contest the Australian Rugby Shield.

"Micky is a pretty grounded bloke and will handle it for sure," Cunningham said. "Being in that environment and being exposed to a higher level of footy and higher level of coaching, he will go ahead in leaps and bounds. I have no doubt."

Taylor played a key role as Hunter dominated the second-tier Richardson Shield at the Country Championship in Tamworth.

It was his first taste of senior representative rugby and admitted to being surprised when NSW Country coach Dean Oxley called to say he was in the squad.

"It was nice to get the call albeit a bit surreal," he said. "I played country 16s and 17s but wasn't thinking about it too much going into this season. It should be a really good opportunity."

NSW Country will contest the Australia Rugby Shield, which features teams from Queensland Country, Victoria, West Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Tasman and the ACT, in Brisbane in October.

It has been a meteoric rise for the 20-year-old centre, who was just establishing himself in first grade last year before breaking his ankle.

"He was out for eight weeks with the ankle. When he came back he lacked a bit of confidence," Cunningham said.

"He did the whole preseason and I think he has matured as a player. He feels a part of first grade now, which I think has helped improve his game big time."

After starting the season on the wing, Taylor has been the form outside centre in the competition and a big part of the Blacks' rise up the table.

"I had a conversation with him in the lead up to the first game," Cunningham said. "It wasn't so much that he wasn't the best option at centre. It was more about getting the best 15 players on the park. We had lost Aidan Precopis and Riley Wood, who were our wingers last year. Nathan Pili started at 13 but it was soon pretty clear we needed to get Micky closer to the action.

"He runs really good lines and is a very good defender. That 13 channel can be one of the more difficult ones to defend. Micky gives us confidence there."

The Blacks have won five games straight to climb up to second spot.

"Something is building for sure," Taylor. "I think we have a good shot at the premiership with the team we have got."