From Molong to Wollongong, Cody Ramsey has always been at the top of the class.
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He dominated for the Cabonne Roos as a junior, made waves at CYMS and Hawks and took to the Woodbridge Cup under 19s and seniors well under-age, and continued his dominance as the player of the year in the under 20s for the Dragons at Illawarra in 2019.
And now he's jumping to the next level.
Ramsey will line up for the Dragons in this weekend's NRL Nines at Perth as part of a young St George-Illawarra squad.
He'll have the chance to line up alongside new St George-Illawarra captain Cameron McInnes, who's recovered from his broken leg, who'll lead a squad headlined by Nines internationals Ben Hunt and Tyson Frizell (Australia), Tim Lafai (Samoa) and Brayden Wiliame (Fiji).
However, the bulk of the squad will be young players looking to make their mark, with Ramsey, Adam Clune and Jayden Sullivan to be joined by young guns Jason Saab and Tristan Sailor.
While Ramsey has been one of the fittest on the track for the Dragons in his first pre-season, he told the Dragons website he was still finding it "pretty tough".
"Waking up early I was used to but my body wasn't used to doing all that work but now I'm feeling pretty good, the boys have got around me," he said.
"I'm pretty competitive when it comes to fitness so I pride myself on it."
He said he wasn't expecting the Dragons under 20s fullback role to land in his lap last year, but took his chance with two hands and ran with it, snaffling the award for player of the year in the process, despite illness in the middle of the year.
"I was just competing ... they gave me the chance to slip in that role and I think i fitted in pretty well," he said.
"We were going pretty good at start, our consistency was up and down, we had a slump halfway but we got back on our horse and did well but just got slipped in the final and that was unlucky."
As for 2020, Ramsey wants to put his head down and get what he can done.
"I'll see how I go, just keep playing consistent football, start this year how I finished last year," he said.
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