Coombes' tireless efforts in Andrew Johns Cup leads to country selection

The Bathurst Panthers under 16s forward was one of four Rams named to the country team that will take on their city counterparts on May 18 at Leichardt Oval.

It's the biggest achievement so far in an already glowing junior career for Coombes.

Coombes was a driving force in a Rams pack who charged through to the Andrew Johns Cup semi-finals, where the Western boys went down to defending premiers Central Coast Roosters.

He didn't just rack up plenty of metres and tackles along the way but made an impact on the scoreboard as well, including a hat-trick in the Rams' 50-22 hammering of the Illawarra South Coast Dragons.

Coombes came away from the cup campaign feeling that he'd put in a strong performance but had never gone into the tournament with country selection as a major goal.

"I definitely didn't want to get too far ahead of myself. There's a lot of great footballers in the Andrew Johns Cup.

"I was going to be keen to get the chance to play [for Country], if I did. I just went in more focused on my Rams footy.

"If Country was to come at the end of it then that would be a big plus, but it was always Rams first."

Coombes is playing club footy at lock this year but moved up to second row for the cup.

He never once looked out of place.

"I'd never played in the second row before but when you're called up into a team like the Rams you've got to be willing to play wherever you're needed," he said.

"Luckily I played alright in the second row. I felt like I did well there.

"At the start I was a bit nervous and wasn't as sure what I was doing there but the boys around me helped out a lot, and by the end of the tournament I was feeling a lot more confident."

Taj Jordan, Kemp Riches and Triston Ross were the other Rams 16s picked to the country team while Cooper Black was the sole selection from Western's Laurie Daley Cup under 18s squad.

Coombes and his Panthers 16s team, captained by fellow Rams selection Charlie Fischbeck, got off to a great start in their Group 10 season with a 38-12 win over Jordan's Orange CYMS squad.

Coombes said he doesn't have any other major ambitions for the remainder of the season, and just wants to continue building his skills with his club side.

"My goal this time last year was just to make the Rams squad, which I was able to do, so that made me happy just doing that alone," he said.

"I never thought I'd get something like this chance.

"For the rest of the year I just want to play some consistent footy and keep on improving."