And right there to mark the milestone was Year 9 Hennessy Catholic College student Will Canellis who was selected for the side earlier this year.

The second-rower’s journey began with a series of four trial matches that saw him fight for his place in the squad against about 600 contenders across NSW.

Canellis eventually came out on top and secured himself a place in the 20-man squad consisting of the best Under 15 league players in Country NSW.

An extraordinaryachievement for the junior who only two years ago underwent open heart surgery to treat a condition known as Aortic Stenosis.

But it was only a minor setback for Canellis who has bounced back and dreams of playing First Grade rugby league. 

“I know this is how I can achieve my dream and it’s another step closer to reaching that goal,” he said.

Canellis and his team mates travelled to Sydney where they spent a week finding their feet as a team in a training and development program. A sure way to get the side ready for the high standard of competition they’d be playing in.

The Country side played their first match of the competition on June 30 when they met the likes of St George and Illawarra Under 15s teams.

The newly-formed Country side were victorious in both games, a trend they continued to set in their remaining two games against the Tigers and Penrith.

 “To have won all our games against kids that have been together for a while and a lot of them were much bigger than all of us felt pretty good,” Canellis said.

“It was great that we could come up against some kids who have been in some sort of system with these clubs and we could not only compete but beat them as well.”

And to make the potential outcome of the journey really hit home, the side was given special access to watch First Grade NRL teams train at Centrebet Stadium and meet with Panthers players and coaches including Trent Barrett who played in the same side when he was growing up.

“It was a really good camp, we got to go to Win Stadium with the Dragons before their game against the Storm on the Monday night, and also to the Tigers training session and as I said the Panthers, so it was great to see how they train and prepare for games,” Canellis said.

Canellis has since returned home, but will head back to Sydney tomorrow where he is to undergo season-ending surgery on his ankle to correct a foot condition he was born with, known as Tallopies. 

“It’s going to make me come back stronger for next season,” he said.