TALENTED Orange CYMS outside back Luke Kilkeary will be a little more nervous than most ahead of Saturday’s Western Division clash with St George-Illawarra at Gerringong.

The last time the 18-year-old ran on to a football field he soon left it heavily concussed and was later taken to Orange hospital for observation.

That was July 19, 2015, in CYMS’ premier league clash with Bathurst Panthers and after almost seven months out of the game Kilkeary can’t wait get back into it for the Rams’ under-21 team against the Dragons’ under-20s at Mick Cronin Oval.

“After that first tackle is past me I’ll feel a lot better,” the gun fullback grinned, last weekend’s intensive training camp at Lake Burrendong a great re-introduction to the game for Kilkeary.

“I hadn’t played for about nine months. It was interesting picking up a footy again.

“When I was first knocked out (last year and then woke up) I thought I was still on the bench.

“I still don’t remember the actual hit and the second before that. I remember running out on to the field now though.”

Along with CYMS centre Jerome Harrison, Kilkeary is one of just two Orange-based players who made Kurt Hancock’s development-based Rams’ under-21 team heading to Gerringong on Saturday.

Group 10 dominates the squad, with 15 named, while Group 11 and Castlereagh League clubs scored six and four representative respectively. The Barwon-Darling Cup has one representative while the New Era Mid West Cup boasts two.

Having played his last year of under-18s in 2015, Kilkeary said his goal for 2016 was to break into CYMS’ top grade  outfit - making the Rams representative side won’t do those aspirations any harm.

“I’d love to eventually play first grade and have a crack there,” Kilkeary said.

“It was a goal (making the Rams as well), but I wasn’t sure what to expect and once I got (to Lake Burrengong) I didn’t think I did that well. I wasn’t expecting a spot. It was a surprise when I got picked.”

A strong ball-runner with plenty of pace, he’s hoping to appear at fullback during the Rams-Dragons’ clash but will happily - and capably - fill a void anywhere in the backline.

Kilkeary said Hancock is confident of his team being able to at least compete with a Dragons team preparing for its 2016 Holden Cup campaign.

“He’s said he wants us to have a fair crack and play some decent footy,” Kilkeary said of the coach’s instructions.

“He doesn’t want us to hold back. We’ll play good footy and have a decent crack at them, but he knows they’ll play some good footy too.”