Lithgow trio Kevin Large, Dylan Miles and Harry Hopkins put themselves firmly in the frame to be a part of Kurt Hancock’s final Western Rams squad for the 2017 under-16 AAMI Regional Championship, performing strongly in Saturday’s trials against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
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Hopkins and Miles were superb on the wing for Western’s Green and White units, respectively, while Large ran in the former side’s back-row, although the Rams were handed a 56-6 drubbing by Manly.
The 31-strong group was split into two sides to take on the Sea Eagles’ Harold Matthews Cup side, to ensure the whole squad had a chance to push their claims for selection.
While all three Lithgow guns were impressive, Hopkins in particularly showed what he can do close to the line. He scored Western’s lone try, from a short ball from Dubbo’s Buster Nelson – who was awarded Western’s player of the game.
A far bigger side than Hancock’s Rams, Manly used its size advantage superbly to compress Western’s defence and let its star-studded backline loose. Cooper Wood scored a hat-trick for the Sea Eagles, while Keegan Turner, Josh Schuster and Kaeo Weekes all grabbed doubles.
Big names Albert Hopoate and Ben Trbojevic both crossed too – the latter’s older brothers Jake and Tom also made the trip to Dubbo, along with fellow NRL star Darcy Lussick, and they signed autographs aplenty.
Hancock said he’s predicting his Rams to do well at the Regional Championship, thanks to the strong lead-up.
"If everything goes right I think they will do well at the [Regional Championship],” he said.
“You've got to have that bit of luck as well.
“This is a really good group of kids, but it could be a really good age group across the state as well.”