Central West men’s and women’s representatives are off to Christchurch in March where they will enjoy match time and be a part of sessions conducted by Canterbury Crusaders.

Such an opportunity doesn’t come around every day and Fitzsimmons is certain Central West rugby will benefit.

“The itinerary looks great. We’ve got a camp with the Crusaders. That’s going to be an awesome experience because they’re pretty much the number one team in the world,” he said.

“We’ve got a couple of games outside of Christchurch and some cultural events, which I’m really excited about, having come off a cultural tour.”

Central West Rugby Union CEO Matt Tink, who in 2018 completed his first full year in the role, put touring towards the top of his ‘to do’ pile for the next season.

“Tinky was keen to get Central West touring again. We were very close to being successful, being third the year before and second last year, and we were saying that something had to happen to achieve a different result,” Fitzsimmons said.

“Fox [Dean Oxley] and him have worked really hard to get this off the ground. Luckily they’ve had the support of the rest of the Central West board.

“It’s exciting for those already playing in Central West rugby but it will make other people look at what we’re doing, especially if this program leads to some success.

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“There’s players that might have been less excited about the Central West program over the last couple of years, just because it takes up so much time, but everyone’s keen to get back into it this year and that makes our team so much stronger.”

Fitzsimmons – who was part of the Australian Indigenous Rugby tour of the US and Canada just a few months ago – will be joined by plenty of clubmates on this tour.

Bulldogs’ Joel Harper, Will Oldham, Alex Weal, Harry Peacock, Adam Miles, Peter Fitzsimmons, Harry Webber, Justin Mobbs and coach Dean Oxley will all be involved.

Fitzsimmons said those numbers are a great sign for the Bathurst club.

“It’s really good for Bulldogs. There’s a lot of guys who have been there for a couple of years as well as guys who have stepped up for the first time,” he said.

“It’s an incentive for them to start fit through the off season and be ready come March.”