WHEN Shannon Boyd was a youngster tearing into opposition defenders as part of the Cowra Magpies forward pack, he relished the challenge of meeting the Bathurst Panthers at Carrington Park.

He had no idea that one day he would be wearing a Canberra Raiders jersey when he ran out onto the ground and rather than playing the Bathurst Panthers, he would be facing the Penrith Panthers.

Boyd will get the chance to do just that tomorrow and to make his return to the Central West even more special, the round nine match will mark his 50th NRL appearance.

“It’s pretty exciting for me and my family and it will be good to go back and play 50 games right near my home town, it’s at Bathurst and only about an hour away,” Boyd said.

“It will be good to get the family out to watch.

“I played all my junior footy there, I played against Bathurst Panthers, who were always one of the best teams there. I played a couple of grand finals around that area – Orange and Bathurst.

“I haven’t played there [Carrington Park] for a fair while, so it will be interesting to see.”

A former New South Wales under 18s and under 20s representative, Boyd first pulled on a Raiders jumper in 2014.

The talented prop was named Raiders’ rookie of the year that season, while he continued his improvement in 2015 and even crossed for five tries.

Boyd has added another try to his tally already this year and in 287 minutes of football, he has gained 804 metres and made 287 tackles. It is those sorts of contributions which saw the Raiders recently sign him up until the end of 2018.

At 194 centimetres and 122 kilograms, Boyd casts and imposing figure. He has worked hard on his weight this year as he and his team-mates strive for greater consistency.

“It’s been a big thing for me my weight. It’s something that I have been working hard at this year with the eight interchanges. I’ve been doing the work and getting a bit lighter, which is good,” he said.

“Consistency is a big thing. If you look at Broncos and Cowboys, they always turn up and are consistent, so we need to be more like that, make sure we don’t leak too many points.”

Last weekend the Raiders certainly ticked that defensive box as they trounced the Wests Tigers 60-6. But Boyd knows the Panthers, who sit three points below Canberra on the ladder, will provide stiffer competition.

When they two met in the opening round, the Raiders had to fight hard for their 30-22 win.

“Rick [coach Ricky Stuart] has just said we have got to move on from that [win over Wests] and get on with the new job. It is going to be a massive job like last time,” Boyd said.

“They’ve only being losing in a lot of their games by two or so points, so they are up there, but they are just not quite getting it. So they are going to be tough this week and we have just got to be careful.

“A big thing for us forwards is starting well.”

Though today’s match is a Panthers home game – Penrith having inked a five-year deal to play one match each season at Carrington Park – Boyd thinks many of the Raiders will enjoy competing in Bathurst.

The Raiders line-up includes many players who had their starts in country competitions, including Orange native Jack Wighton.

“It’s more of a home ground for me compared to playing at Penrith. The country boys, they are all used to that sort of thing, so they’ll be up for the game,” he said.

“It’s pretty exciting really for all the boys. You are in a different town out in the country and I think the boys like to do things like that, so it should be pretty good and exciting for everyone.”

While success with the Raiders tomorrow and a good personal performance is Boyd’s main goal, he is also in contention for a NSW Country jumper.

Last year he was the 18th man and he would relish the chance to get some game time against City.

“I am just trying to play good footy for the club at the moment, so if I get picked it is a bonus,” he said. “Back home, being 50 games for me, hopefully it will be a good game and I’ll rip in.”

Tomorrow’s match between the Raiders and Panthers will kick off at 3pm at Carrington Park.