AS skipper of the Western Rams under 18s Nathan Ward was disappointed he did not get to hoist the Laurie Daley Cup in early April, but the same afternoon as his side lost the grand final he was given what he described as "a bit of pain relief."
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It came in the form of NSW Country under 18s selection.
The Bathurst Panthers product impressed throughout the Rams' Daley Cup campaign at lock, so even though he and his team-mates missed out in the Country Championships decider - falling 34-18 to Illawarra South Coast Dragons - the NSW Country reward followed.
Ward was not the only Western Ram named in the 20-strong NSW Country squad which is set to tour England either, with seven of his team-mates getting the nod as well. They included Blayney prop Liam Henry.
Both Ward and Henry were delighted to gain selection.
"It is a big achievement for us I reckon. I'd played Rams before, but I've never gotten this far. It will be a good experience for us," Ward said.
"We really wanted to win the whole thing [Laurie Daley Cup], but we got beat in the final which was no good. It's our last year in 18s so it would have been good going out with a bang, but that didn't happen for us.
"I guess the Country selection was a bit of pain relief. We both got picked in the starting side too.
"Lots of tough people have play for NSW Country in the past, so yeah, it will be good to wear those colours."
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"It was definitely something we were aiming to achieve, but we just take things step by step and kept playing footy," Henry added.
"I think there were 14 teams they picked from - eight people from our [Western Rams] team got in, so that was pretty good."
While the duo are not entirely sure who all their fixtures will be against when comes time for the tour, the one opponent they are sure of they can't wait to meet.
It is the under 18s outfit of English Super League club Leeds.
"I know we are playing the Leeds Rhinos side in our age group. We're not too sure who exactly we'll be playing yet, but I know we are playing them," Ward said.
"They will be a tough side, but we'll be right," Henry said.
"I'm really looking forward to it, it will be a good experience that's for sure."
Ward, Henry and their NSW Country under 18 team-mates, as well as the Country under 16s, will depart for England in late November for the two-week tour.
Between now and then they will continue to play club football in the Group 10 under 18s competition and push for first grade minutes.
