HE'S the man that operates in the background, but on Saturday Matt Lawson still played a vital role when the New South Wales Country under 18s did battle against City.
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While the Bathurst trainer is no stranger to working in representative fixtures - he's done it for Group 10 and the Western Rams - last week was the first time he'd been a New South Wales Country representative.
Just as the players take pride in wearing Country colours, so too did Lawson.
"It was a great week living the life of a professional footballer I suppose. Not everyone gets to do it," he said.
"New South Wales Rugby League were absolutely awesome with the way they looked after everyone and got things organised. The schedules every day, if you needed anything you didn't have to look for it or ask for it, it was there, the support was really, really good."
Lawson's first involvement with league came as a player for St Pat's. Once he retired from playing he still wanted to be around the sport and acting as a trainer ticked that box for him.
Lawson has still coached and been on the St Pat's committee, but being a trainer has given him plenty of opportunities as well.
At first he just did it for the Saints, but now he's also been a regular as part of Western Rams staff.
"I always wanted to be involved after my birth certificate said I couldn't play any more," he laughed.
"It's a way of being involved and helping out. If you can pass on a bit of knowledge, help make people better players and better people on and off the field, that's a great reward.
"I've been doing it for about eight years at club level then the past seven years with the Rams, that's from 16s right through to the open men's and the women's, I've helped them as well.
"It's one of those things that's essential to the game, you are so busy but you are in the background. You get out on the field.
"It's an essential role, there's a lot of guys who have been doing it out here for a long, long time. Without trainers a lot of stuff can't happen, at the end of the day you're there for the players."
Just as the players selected for the NSW Country under 18s came from the standout performers in this year's Laurie Daley Cup, so too did the coaching and support staff.
It meant Lawson was involved in the build up and was there at Kogarah Park on Saturday for what was an epic clash.
City posted a 30-10 victory, but Country's under 18s pushed them all the way.
"The City boys were a rather big side and have a few players that have signed big contracts with NRL clubs and been out of the Jersey Flegg system," Lawson said.
"It was always going to be tough and the guys never shirked any responsibility, never gave up, they just hung in there and belted away all day against a very big and mobile side.
"They mightn't have had the size, but they had the heart and they just kept going and going and going."
While Lawson said he felt "a different kind of nervous" before the match, he took confidence from the preparation. Once the game began, he settled into his job.
"The players are prepped correctly and you've done everything to give them the tools and be prepared mentally for it," Lawson said.
"But if you can keep the players at ease and make sure they've got the right mindset to go and do their jobs and if you can take the pressure off them, that's a big thing.
"You need to keep talking to them and motivate them and help them stay up. When it gets tough you encourage them, you talk to them and tell them to keep punching away and keep going and going."
Having had a taste of NSW Country, Lawson is hungry to do it again.
But even if he doesn't get another call up to that level, he still gets plenty of satisfaction from helping the Saints and Western Rams.
"It would unbelievable to be part of that again," he said.
"I do get satisfaction out of it, it's just good to see players go from club level right through to representative level. When you've been involved with those players it does give you a fair bit of satisfaction.
"It's nice to think that in some small way you might have helped them."
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