The way Jaime Kelso remembers it, he took his first hit-up against France's national side and expected to be greeted with a bevy of French profanities.

He even had "je m'appelle, Jaime" in his back pocket if things went south quickly and he needed to keep the peace.

But after that initial touch of the footy against the tri-colours at Carrington Park way back in 1990, Kelso kicking around on the deck Mick Hancock-style to try and force a quick play-the-ball, the then-Canowindra schoolboy copped a pretty straightforward message from his French opponent.

And it's one he'll never forget.

"This guy just said to me 'settle down'," Kelso said, looking back on his Western Division debut in Bathurst.

"I was keen to get out there for a run but that's the biggest thing I remember; some guy tackling me and I was kicking around trying to get up, and he spoke in English which shocked me because I just figured they'd all be speaking French."

And then the message: settle petal.

But for a 17-year-old playing against a national rugby league side, settling down was easier said than done.

Especially after the year Kelso was enjoying.

A member of the Canowindra Tigers' side that was playing in the old Group 11 second division competition, Kelso was a star at fullback even as a teenager.

So when the Canowindra president decided to nominate an under 18s side for that year's Group 11 knock-out, Kelso blitzed it in a Tigers side that stormed to the crown.

He was then duly named in the Group 11 rep side, then the NSW Country rep team and then in turn the NSW under 19s outfit.

The meteoric rise didn't stop there either.

Kelso turned heads playing for a schoolboy team in the curtain raiser to the memorable Australia and France test match in Parkes, so much so he then got picked for the Western senior side for their clash with the tri-colours in the coming weeks.

"I got signed by the (Balmain) Tigers around the same time and I was in the middle of the HSC too, it was just a blur of a year," Kelso said.

But being picked as a 17-year-old to don the famed Western jumper against the French?

"Yeah, that was pretty cool," he said.

"It was just a real whirlwind year for me that year, as a schoolkid. I got named in the Western side and didn't know anyone in the team. It was a bit weird. Back then people drank a few beers before games but I was still under 18 so didn't really do any of that.

"I signed my first ever autograph that day too. I was sitting there getting ready and some kid came up to me and asked if I could sign an autograph for them.

"I was still a schoolkid, so it was a big surprise."

The late great Bear Hall coached Western in 1990 while legendary Mick Peachey sat on the bench alongside Kelso.

Peachey's brother and Gilgandra teammate Martin packed down in the secondrow alongside former NRL gun Steve Funnell, while another player with top-line Sydney experience, Sean Watson was named in the wing.

Mitch Luka skippered the side and it wouldn't be a Western side without a Fearnley in the team, would it? John played prop.

Settle down? You can forgive Kelso for being more than a little animated playing in a team like that one.

In the French side was Eric Castel at fullback, Hugues Patier skippered the side form the wing while the immensely creative duo of Dumas and Entat lined up in the halves.

A week before these backs were playing Kelso, they were facing off against O'Connor, Meninga, McGaw, Daley and Langer at Parkes, probably the biggest game of footy Western has hosted.

Over 12,000 people packed into what is now called Jock Colley Oval in pretty ordinary conditions, too.

At Bathurst a couple of weeks later, Kelso came on for Western and played at fullback in his senior divisional debut and says the experience helped propel him into a career in Sydney.

He played a handful of games for Balmain and South Sydney in the early 1990s before returning to play in Group 10 with Blayney.

He said the biggest thing he took from the French experience was confidence.

"I guess I knew I was up the standard of playing against men," he said.

"I'd been playing Group 11 second division but that was a bit different to playing against an international team with players with that experience.

"It was certainly a big confidence booster when I came up against teams my own age, that's for sure."

And so France is set to take on the famed green and white again in 2019.

Kelso won't be playing, he'll be 47 by the time the October 30 game rolls around, but he says the chance for Western's current players to get the same experience he was afforded as a 17-year-old will be invaluable for them.

Kelso added with the current Country Rugby League representative format remaining capped at under 23s, any open rep footy is good for the Rams region and its players.

"It certainly is, it really is. A lot of these guys won't get the chance to play this standard of footy, or against a team of this calibre. It's a great thing," he added.