NARRABRI’S Cameron King and Ben Gunter and Pirates’ James Hawkins are regarded as three of the most talented young rugby players in the state.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The NSW U15s selectors certainly think so, with King, Gunter and Hawkins being named in the state team to play games against ACT and Queensland.
The boys will head down to Sydney this weekend for their first training run with their NSW team-mates after the side was announced following last weekend’s City v Country Championships played in Bathurst.
King, Gunter and Hawkins were part of the Country side that narrowly lost to their city rivals 19-12.
Central North players made up a fair proportion of the side, with Andrew McDonald, Ben Allen, Nick Finney, Duncan Woods and John Seabrook joining the trio in Country colours.
Several other Kookaburras juniors were involved in the weekend through the U14s, U16s and U17s sides that also competed.
Harrison Buhler and Hayden Loughrey played for the 14s side that lost 36-7, Dylan Gale the U16s side that was beaten 25-7 and Dean Wilson the U17s.
They also had a close tussle, going down 25-19.
The 15s though is the only age group to select a state side.
It will play ACT in September and then Queensland in Brisbane some time in October.
Hawkins was thrilled to make the side.
“I’ve always wanted to represent my state – it’s a real honour,” he said.
And a great opportunity.
The 15-year-old was pretty happy with how he performed in what was a pretty even contest.
“It was a really close game, and really hard game,” Hawkins said.
It followed a strong showing from the Cockatoos boys at the Gold Coast Carnival over the last school holidays.
They played up in the U16s division and finished third, beating the likes of Churchies and Toowoomba Grammar along the way.
Hawkins played at outside centre, which is where he plays most of his rugby these days.
“I was a winger a year and a bit ago,” he said.
“I came into the centres last year for Country and played inside centre. This year I’ve gone to outside.”
Also a fairly handy league player, union is Hawkins’ priority at the moment and he acknowledged the support and work the Tamworth Junior Rugby Union, Northern Inland Academy of Sport, Pirates and North West development officer Stephen O’Brien have put into him to help him get where he is.
He is in for a busy, and what could be successful, couple of months.
It starts tonight, with his Farrer Gold U15s side chasing a third straight LBK Solicitors Cup title when it takes on Carinya.
“We’ve played them both years and won,” Hawkins said.
They were too good for Oxley in their semi-final, running out 26-5 victors, while Carinya beat Calrossy 24-5.
Then tomorrow, Hawkins will be lining up against his NSW team-mates with Pirates tackling Narrabri in Central North U16s action.
Things are also going pretty well on that front, with Pirates having not lost a game yet and set to figure in the finals.
