Martin, a St Pat’s junior, was announced as part of the group earlier this month, narrowly missing out on a spot in the state first team but still doing enough to get into the Blues squad.

Playing at the elite level will be nothing new for the Bathurst player, who already, in his brief career, has toured South Africa, Argentina and Japan with the NSW Bush-rangers, but he is excited nonetheless.

“He hides his nerves very well. We haven’t seen any of them yet, but he’s definitely pretty excited for the opportunity,” his dad Brad Martin explained.

“He has already trained and played a lot with the Bushrangers and learned so much from going overseas with them, and he was lucky enough through that experience to get some great coaching. 

“One of the young guys who did a lot of work with him is actually playing with the Australian team at the Youth Olympics at the moment.”

To get into the Blues side, Martin performed well at the under 13s state championships where Bathurst finished third in division two despite having a team made up mostly of under 11s players.

He had already drawn the attention of selectors and coaches via selection in the NSW Western Conference side last year and by making the Polding team in 2013.

Following on from the state titles, which also included a specific goalkeeper’s trial before the tournament got underway, he was asked to attend another tournament in Sydney where NSW selections would be finalised.

“The majority of that under 13s Bathurst team were under 11s – I think there were only three or four including Lachlan that were actually under 13s – so to finish third was a huge effort,” Brad Martin explained.

“He’s worked hard since then. He has done a lot of training and has been doing a fair bit of fitness work alongside [under 13s Blues player] Sophie Conroy.”

There is a risk of injury at all levels and age groups of almost any sport you can name, but for a parent there couldn’t be many things more worrying than watching your child have hard balls smashed at them time after time.

Brad Martin admitted it is tough at times but thanks to the coaching Lachlan has had, they haven’t had to worry too much.

At any rate, he’s not going to be changing positions any time soon.

“He started out at eight years old and only wanted to play in goals – he was not interested in playing in the field at all,” he said.

“He has been lucky enough to get great coaching and feedback all along. [Pat’s Premier League ’keeper] Dan Casey has done a lot of work with him and Niel Howard is his club coach and they’ve helped a lot.

“You do worry a bit. One thing that has been great for him is that he trains with some 17s and 18s players and they really smack it – it makes you cringe a little bit.

“He still gets the odd bruise on his legs where the padding doesn’t quite stop it. They’re a special breed, though, goalkeepers – I think they’re all a bit twisted to be honest.”