HE might be up against it before the whistle even blows to kick off tomorrow’s Western Division selection trial, but Bathurst Panthers hooker Luke Carpenter still believes a maiden Rams jumper is within reach.

Carpenter is the only player from his club to be named in the 18-man Group 10 team. He will start from the bench behind St Pat’s rake Benjamin John as they play teams from Castlereagh Cup and Group 11 in the main event.

It is hard to argue against John’s selection.

He has been the leading dummy-half in the competition for some time and rubber-stamped that status by almost single-handedly defeating Cowra in last year’s premier league decider.

He is also an incumbent member of the Rams team, having been on the bench last year behind Dubbo Macquarie’s Jeremy Smith.

Still, Carpenter is hopeful that he too will get the chance to shine tomorrow after a couple of luckless years.

He missed the 2013 trial with a broken jaw, and broke his thumb a quarter of the way through last year’s game.

“I haven’t played for Western Division in opens football yet, only in juniors, and it is something I’d love to do,” he said.

“I think I have a realistic shot at it. A lot will depend on how many minutes I get, and basically I know that I have to make the most of every moment that I’m on the field.

“It isn’t just about selection though, there’s more to it than that I reckon. There is a lot of feeling among the players that we want to go out and get the win, there is definitely pride on the line playing against Group 11.”

John and Carpenter are both eye-catchingly good in their position, but not necessarily for the same reasons.

John’s enterprise out of dummy-half close to the opposition line is renowned, and his ability to sense an opening in their defence has led to countless tries for his team.

His defence is also more befitting of a back rower as he regularly crunches opponents much bigger than himself.

Carpenter is the sort of player who destroys opponents when his big forwards get on a roll, sniffing out rivals who are tiring or out of position.

He is perhaps better than anyone else in the group at making use of a quick play the ball and he has composure beyond his years.

Group 10 coach Graeme Osborne and Carpenter himself will be hoping that, when he gets his chance, he can exploit the monster forward pack around him.

“We have a really big group with guys like Jack Afamasaga at lock and Luke Newsome in the second row, it will be great to run off the back of that pack and hopefully get a few quick play-the-balls that we can work with,” Carpenter said.

“I’m not sure how I’ll be used, we haven’t gone into it too much with Graeme yet, but there is no shame in being on the bench behind Benji. He’s playing great football and has been for a while.

“It will be a bit strange not having any other Panthers there, especially no Seags [Panthers prop Brent Seager]. He had some issues with work and his availability to train so he won’t be there.

“It’s a strong side though, and I’m sure we’ll be able to get the result.”

GROUP 10: 1 Tim Bassmann (Orange CYMS), 2 Cody Robbins (Orange Hawks), 3 Tom Lewsley (Mudgee), 4 Corin Smith (Mudgee), 5 Joel O’ Brien (Lithgow), 6 Ben McAlpine (CYMS), 7 Terry Brown (Blayney), 8 Ron Lawrence (Cowra), 9 Benjamin John (St Pat’s), 10 Mitch Davis (Hawks), 11 Luke Newsome (St Pat’s), 12 Dane Howarth (Blayney), 13 Jack Afamasaga (Mudgee); 14 Luke Carpenter (Bathurst Panthers), 15 Demetrius Anu (Mudgee), 16 Kyran Bubb (CYMS), 17 Jack Nobes (Cowra), 18 Kirk Roberts (Oberon).