It's the dream of many a young league player that somewhere in the crowd of onlookers on match day there's a selector with a clipboard on which their name has a big red circle around it.
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For Blayney's Kaydden Hoad, that red circle was drawn around his name during a round five match in Lithgow.
Hoad is an ardent East's supporter and plays as half / five-eighth for Bloomfield under 15's in Orange.
Now he's placing his future as a league player in the hands of the Penrith Panthers whose selector chose him to take part in the club's selection process for their Harold Matthews side leading up to the 2021 season.
The selector must have been impressed by his play during the match, even though he was coming back from an injury.
"I'd had a hip injury leading up to the game and we only had 12 players, so that was hard," he said.
That little dream sequence of the selector tapping him on the shoulder in person never happened, it was delayed due to the weather.
"They were going to come and speak to me at the game on the weekend after but it was cancelled because of the rain, so they rang my mum instead."
When he received the call, the time to say yes had to be measured in milliseconds.
"It's been my dream to play professional football ever since I was five," he said.
"There was never any question, as if I'd say no."
During the first week of the school holidays he was at a training camp in Penrith, and in a few weeks time will be heading back every weekend to continue.
"I'll be going down in November every Friday for four weeks and then playing trial games for two weeks," he said.
Then those selected will discover if they're part of the Panthers' and subsequent matches against other NSWRL sides.
Once the competition is over a Harold Matthews side is formed who take on a Country side.
Between now and then though he's looking forward to showing the selectors just what it is that he can bring to the game.
He has the speed and agility that no front rower could catch, and as a fifteen year old with ten years of playing up his jersey, he reckons he has one added advantage.
"I have my smarts, I've been playing long enough," he said.
The 2021 season will be an under 17's side, not the traditional under 16's, but Hoad isn't at all deterred by the age difference.
"It's no big deal, I reckon I'll be alright."
There's no better club to be a part of as the men in black are bursting at the seams with young talent that will act as invaluable role models to Hoad.
The NRL side is the best in the league and boasts young players such as Jerome Luia and Nathan Cleary who just happen to be two of the best at playmakers in the world.
Hoad will be front and centre for Penrith's preliminary final clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Saturday night at ANZ Stadium. A Panthers win will see them advance to the grand final.
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