In early May, Orange City's Ollie Connaughton travelled to Maitland on a mission.
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The flyhalf/inside centre was aiming for NSW Country selection and on May 10 it was mission complete with the talented youngster earning his spot for the representative rugby union side.
Connaughton's determination came off the back of previously missing out for selection in the under 16s.
"I was pretty pumped (when I found out), I made it in 14s and missed out the year after and then COVID got involved so I was very happy when I saw my name on the list," he recalled.
"Having missed out previously, when I found out I didn't make it I was obviously disappointed and wanted some feedback on what went wrong. I got that feedback and tried my best to work on that and obviously I've improved on those areas."
- READ MORE: Woodbridge Cup: Manildra Rhinos defeat Orange United Warriors 24-22The young Lion added that most of his feedback revolved around defence which he worked incredibly hard on.
"It was more defence wise, back when I was bit younger and taller I wasn't as confidence in tackling and since then I've been taught the right technique on how to tackle and improved on that and grown in confidence.
"It's a whole different coaching staff as well so obviously they liked what they saw."
With 80 players trialling in Maitland, Connaughton needed to impress and described a sense of optimism after being split into a team full of talent.
"We had a pretty strong team when we got split up and I felt confident," he said.
"The team worked well and we played really well so I gained confidence off that and I would've been pretty disappointed if I didn't make it."
I've been taught the right technique on how to tackle and improved on that and grown in confidence
- Ollie Connaughton
Having previously played at the Country representative level, the back believes the difference between Central West and Country comes from that battle in defence.
"Just the physicality, Central West is fun and it's obviously physical as well but when you play country championships you're versing a lot of tough bodies and then when you get all the tough bodies into one team and verse those Sydney teams it's very tough and a different type of game," he said.
With Sydney's Greater Public School system entering a side in the representative carnival, Connaughton said it's an exciting prospect to play against mates.
"We're versing a GPS team in a night game, I'm pretty pumped for that because I know a couple of boys who have played Country and played Central West who've moved to Sydney and go to those schools," he said.
"Obviously the City game is pretty big as well."
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