The Western NSW sides in the under 15s and 17s will host the Central Coast, having been in training for three months for the five-match competition.

Following on from the games in Dubbo, they will take on Illawarra in Orange, Sydney West in Bathurst, Sydney North Harbour in Sydney and Victoria in Melbourne over the next month and a half.

The under 15s are being mentored by ex-Wallaby James Grant, while former Bathurst Bulldogs coach Michael Burgess will take care of the under 17s.

In total, 27 Bathurst players, mostly based at St Stanislaus’ College, will line up, 12 in the under 15s, and 15 in the under 17s.

The new competition is part of an Australian Rugby Union initiative to give elite players in the lower age groups more exposure to representative competition and help their development into senior football.

In the past their program has been purely training-based.

Since selecting teams in November, the sides have trained intermittently, but understandably struggled over the school holidays.

“Because there are a lot of boarders, we didn’t really regroup for a full session until school went back,” Burgess explained.

“The players were all given a program over the summer though, to make sure they do the fitness work they need to. It has been pretty warm since we got back together but that should hold them in good stead for Dubbo this weekend.”

Burgess and his players will have little idea of what confronts them when Central Coast run onto the field, and having never actually seen his players in a game situation the coach is very much learning as he goes.

He says that striking the right balance of trying to win as well as trying to make sure his players get good exposure and have the chance to announce themselves to scouts and representative selectors, will be the key to his task.

“Like most situations really it is just easier to concentrate on yourself and what you’re doing and then just make adjustments in the game situation as you begin to learn what the opposition are like,” he said.

“I can only go off what I see of these kids in training and try and put it into a game situation. 

“There is a real balance of both, trying to win and trying to give the kids the best chance to show what they can do. We’ve got squads of 30 but can pick only 23 per game, so we’re making sure that everyone goes on at least one of the away trips.

“We will also make sure everyone starts at least one match. Probably we’re leaning more towards the angle of trying to give them as much opportunity as possible to show what they can do rather than winning the matches.”

Bathurst under 15s reps: Jerome Arrow, Tom Bartlee, Harry Brown, Peter Donato, Sam Harris, Lachlan Melville, Nicholas Smith, Jesse Stevens, Anthony Taylor, Nicholas Trengove, Tom Veitch (St Stanislaus’), Felix Quinn (Bathurst High School)

Bathurst under 17s reps: Dylan Carter, Darcy Christie-Johnston, Alec Corcoran, Daniel Donato, James Donato, Joshua Hardie, Ethan Kelly, Alexander McNiven, Josh Oxley, Tapanui Taekata, Sam Thomas, Jack Veitch, Josh White (St Stanislaus’), Nicholas Peterson, Adam Plymmer (All Saints’)