The future looks bright at the Queanbeyan Blues where five players were selected for the Canberra Raiders under 15 development side.
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Connor Ison, Ashton Naidu, Willie Delamere, as well as cousins Connor and Jack Williams were all picked in the initial 35 player squad.
The list was due to be reduced over the coming weeks once training had commenced.
The final team selected will play in the CRL Country Championships on June 17 and 18.
The boys’ coach at the Blues, Wayne Hoare, said the representation of his players in the Raiders squad was a great achievement.
Particularly considering the team struggled with numbers in the past few years.
“We had a pretty lean year last year but they've developed,” Hoare said.
Jack Williams was picked as the captain for the Queanbeyan team this year and is no stranger to representative footy.
He was also picked in the state’s school boys team as well as other Raiders development teams.
"It's a fairly big wrap for him,” Hoare said.
With the advancements of professional rugby, NRL teams were desperate to find the next generation of stars.
And coach Hoare said his team was at the age where they needed to start thinking about a professional career.
"A lot of kids are getting serious at this age because this is when the Raiders and other development squads start taking notice of them,” he said.
"It gets harder from here, so if you're not fair dinkum about it you'll go out the back door pretty quick.”
And selection in this under 15 team was a good start.
"It is,” Hoare said.
“It gives them a look at what's expected of them and it shows them what they need to do if they want to go further.
"It's not for everyone, so they'll decide if they've got what it takes to go that hard.”
Front rower Connor Ison said Queanbeyan had the most players in the Raiders’ development team, which he said would be an added advantage.
"It's good to have team mates in the side because you know a couple of them,” he said.
The Williams cousins had played a lot of their rugby together, which Connor Williams said was “really good”.