Penrith Panthers' young gun Brendan Hands was just getting the hang of top flight rugby league when COVID-19 put a halt to his 2020 season.
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The 21-year-old has played a couple of trial games with the now ladder-leading mountain men and was poised to play Canterbury Cup while learning from the likes of Nathan Cleary and Apisai Koroisau throughout the season.
But, when the pandemic put his winter on hold, Hands was left with nothing to do but train and wait until another opportunity presented itself.
That opportunity will come on Saturday at Wade Park.
Western Rams' coach Cam Greenhalgh reached out to the Penrith Panthers in an effort to bring Hands into his squad ahead of its crucial round four Presidents Cup clash with Thirroul Butchers.
Hands was "itching to play some footy" and jumped at the chance to start at five-eighth for Western in Orange.
With so much off-field drama unfolding in the last year and-a-half, Hands is just excited to get onto the field.
"It's been a hectic 18 months for me," Hands said.
"I had the Canterbury Cup, then the NRL pre-season and then a trial game in Bega.
"I was with the first grade squad all the way up until COVID started and then when footy went back, there were a few of us who didn't make the cut."
He didn't make Penrith's top 30 in 2020 but that doesn't mean Hands didn't soak up a stack of knowledge just by being around by a playing group now surging towards an NRL crown.
The Panthers sit atop the ladder and equal a league-high 10-2 record after 12 rounds of play.
I've always watched Nathan Cleary closely. I want to try to resemble him.
- Brendan Hands.
"I watched Nathan Cleary pretty closely and always have," he said.
"I've been playing hooker a fair bit lately but now that I'm in the halves, I want to try to resemble him.
"I was able to train the whole pre-season with him and I learned a lot from him. Having Api [Koroisau] at the club really helped me too."
Western will hope Hands' impact on the club is an immediate one with the men in green winless throughout their first three games in the new Presidents Cup competition.
Greenhalgh has made a number of changes to Western's squad for its first game in Orange this season.
Forbes centre Mitch Andrews switches to fullback to cover for Lachie Munro, while Bathurst's Betts boys will form what is an under-sized starting prop pair come Saturday night's kick-off.
Orange CYMS rake Ryan Griffin has retained his place on the bench, behind Mudgee star Jack Beasley in the No.9 jumper.
Gates open 11.15am at Wade Park, with four Mid West League Cup games on the undercard. Orange Barbarians host Lithgow Bears and Orange Warriors host the Oberon Tigers.
The main game, the Presidents Cup, is scheduled to kick-off at 6.15pm. Heavy rain is forecast for the clash.
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Jake Humphreys
Sports nut at the Central Western Daily.
Sports nut at the Central Western Daily.
