BATHURST Panthers under 18s pair Adam Fearnley and Kade Barrow will be looking for Country Championship glory tomorrow in Tamworth as they line up for the Western Rams against the Bidgee Bulls.

The Rams will start as deserved favourites for the clash given the 48-4 hiding they gave the Greater Northern Tigers in last weekend’s semi-final.

Meanwhile Bidgee had to scrap to get past Newcastle, winning their semi-final 27-26 in a golden-point thriller.

Neither Panthers player is a stranger to representative football, and both are used to winning. 

Barrow linked with Panthers this year having spent last season with the Orange Hawks side which claimed the Group 10 under 18s title without a single defeat.

His brother Todd is currently player-coach of the premier league side while fellow sibling Jye is creating a name for himself in the centres of the top grade outfit.

Panthers 18s coach John Fearnley – also Adam’s father – said that the pair should have no trouble coping with the pressure of a big game tomorrow if their club football is anything to go by.

“Kade has actually hurt his leg at the Greater Western schoolboy team trials, but he thinks he’ll be fine to go for this weekend,” John Fearnley said.

“He’s a really good kid, he can play a handful of positions including second row, lock or centre and he’s great to coach.

“The Rams have used him off the bench at lock and centre. He’s a real leader in our team at the Panthers, he doesn’t necessarily say a lot, but his actions show the way for a lot of the other kids.

“He’s actually stood in at five-eighth for Adam at one stage.”

Fearnley’s talented son will go into tomorrow’s match buoyed by the fact that he was picked for the Greater Western team alluded to earlier. Having steered Western this far there, is no reason why he shouldn’t be confident of taking his Rams team-mates a step further.

“Adam was a bit anxious coming into this team because he’s straight out of under 16s, he’s in the younger group at this level,” John Fearnley explained.

“He eats and breathes footy, has done since he was about six. He looks after himself and does all the right things. 

“He’s made a lot of good mates really quickly. They are a team that isn’t necessarily stacked with superstars, but they are really good kids who’ve all become good friends quickly and play together as a team.

“There are a lot of players that have improved out of sight, Lachlan Farr from Blayney has been one in particular that’s grown a lot as a player. 

“The Rams played Bidgee in one of the early rounds and they put a bit of a score on them but they had a good, tough win over Newcastle in their semi-final, so they will be hard to beat.”

Tomorrow’s match between Western and the Bulls kicks off at 1.40pm.