Eyeballs all over Orange will be glued to the TV on Wednesday night to watch the deciding State of Origin clash, keeping an eye out for Orange juniors Jack Wighton and James Maloney.
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However, 50 members of Wighton's former club, Bloomfield Tigers, will have the chance to keep a closer watch on the NSW No.4 from the stands when they travel to Sydney for Origin III.
Bloomfield Tigers Junior Rugby League Club president Jason Greenhalgh said the juniors heading down - who number 40 - with 10 adults also hopping on board to supervise - were as excited as anyone to watch the decider.
He said the buzz around having Wighton in the side had picked up a notch as the trip to Sydney neared.
It shows someone from the bush and out in the country can make it from the junior club here in Orange to the big time.
- Bloomfield Tigers Junior Rugby League Club president Jason Greenhalgh
"There's been a little bit, more now than when he was picked for the first one, hopefully he's been playing well which he has been and is adding something to the team which is great," Greenhalgh said.
"It shows someone from the bush and out in the country can make it from the junior club here in Orange to the big time."
There's not much scope to increase numbers of rugby league participation in the city, with both Bloomfield and CYMS already having high participation, but Greenhalgh said he hoped a few more juniors might come out of the woodwork following the selection of Wighton and Maloney, emulating the leap in junior player numbers after football and cricket World Cups.
"There may be a small increase in numbers but the player numbers are pretty good for both junior clubs in Orange so hopefully you might see some extra kids come to the game next year thanks to the exposure of the local boys in the big time," he said.
As for the game itself - will the Blues pinch it? Greenhalgh thinks so.
"They should win, hopefully ... I'm reasonably confident they'll get the job done," he said.
"I think it'll come down to our halves, a new combination with [Mitchell] Pearce there and I hope he does well and gets the monkey off his back, but if we can win the ruck in the middle we can let the outside men have their fun, hopefully."
CYMS' juniors will also have a contingent of supporters heading down on Wednesday.
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