Central West Rugby Union: Under 17s sevens team finishes third at NSWRU Under 17s 7s State Youth Championships

The Blue Bulls finished the tournament in third, after defeating Gordon in a play-off 26-12, with Penrith defeating North Sydney in the grand final.

Central West - which had a team featuring 11 St Stanislaus' College students and one Scots All Saints College student - were defeated by both grand finalists at different stages of the tournament - 14-5 defeat to Penrith in the pool stage and 21-17 loss to Norths in the semi-final - but the team only suffered narrow losses, something that Challita is immensely proud of.

The Blue Bulls won pool matches against Sydney University 20-12, Mid North Coast 36-10 and Western Sydney Two Blues 26-10 too.

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"It was outstanding, considering the opposition we had," he said.

"To finish third in the state and not only push the two grand finalists in our pool games. We only lost two games all weekend, one against Penrith, the eventual winners, and one against Norths, who were in the grand final. Both games could've went either way."

Challita said St Stanislaus' College border and Mudgee native Bede Smeallie was the standout performer, however, it was a Kinross border and Cowra native that got a special honour.

"A young kid by the name of Bede Smeallie, he was outstanding. He was playing in an age group above his age and he handled himself extremely well," he said.

"The NSW selectors were there too and Kinross' Patrick Hickman made a 30-man NSW train-on squad and he'll trial again this Sunday and from that trial, 13 players get chosen to play against Queensland next January.

"While we're disappointed we're under represented in that fixture this Sunday, what it does show that the boys from the bush, when we're playing against the teams from the city, are a little bit behind in terms of exposure.

"But when it comes to talent and their ability, finishing third reflects where we're at, which shows we're a very, very competitive side in a competitive area. We can match it with these guys who play week in week out.

"We've drawn on players from Cowra, Mudgee, Orange and Bathurst and to be able to train two or three times over a six week period and then go down and play Penrith, who have won the Spring Sevens, and be competitive and beat Gordon, it's just a reflection of how good these kids can be."

Challita said the championships provided value experience for the Central West juniors.

"[Coaches] Shane Cantrill and Dean Oxley have been involved in rugby in the Central West for many years, at different levels and they made sure the kids got a lot out of it," he said.

"They've got what it takes to represent at this level, understand what goes into the preparation and being able to back up to play multiple games in a day. The experience as a whole would've been fantastic, that it taught them a lot."