IF PETER Nau was trying to choose the perfect time to leave rugby union in the central west and country NSW, he's succeeded.
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Nau has joined Shute Shield side Randwick and will make the move to Sydney in the coming months after a year in which he only lost one match in all competitions.
The inspirational hooker captained the Dubbo Roos to grand final triumph in the Central West Blowes Clothing Cup, he was part of the Central West's side which won the NSW Country Rugby Union Championships and as a member of the Country Cockatoos the only match he lost was against the Australian under-20s side.
Nau said defeating Orange City this year and beating the powerful Parkes side in 2011 were highlights of his time with the Roos but admitted not much could beat the year he had in 2014 after the only matches the Dubbo side lost coincided with times when Nau was away on representative duty.
"It's been a really good year, I was 100 per cent for the Roos so I got to rub that into the boys," he laughed.
"The only game I lost was against the Australian under-20s and I played for the Roos, Central West, NSW Country and went and played in America too and didn't lose."
The Country Cockatoos representative will leave a huge void in the Dubbo Roos side but he admitted the chance to test himself at the higher level was too good to refuse.
After being part of the NSW Country Eagles campaign during this year's inaugural National Rugby Championships Nau made valuable contacts and was only too happy to accept an invitation to join the Galloping Greens.
Randwick and Eastern Suburbs are the two feeder clubs for the Eagles and a strong bond has already been formed with Parkes pair Amoni Vea and Mahe Fangupo and Orange City's Gus Brotherton joining Easts while Randwick have shown a strong interest in Nau's Dubbo teammate and star outside centre Filisione Pauta.
"The coach of NSW Country asked me if I would want to go down and I decided I would go for the challenge of playing in the best competition in Australia," Nau said.
Randwick have already begun pre-season training and Nau admits he'll have some catching up to do when he arrives early next year while he still feels the Roos, and also Central West Rugby, will be strong next year despite the exodus of some of the region's best talents.
"The Central West is still looking good, there's a real development of the Colts now so the Central West is in good hands," he said, before speaking about the Roos chances next year.
"It will be interesting to see how they go but the coaching staff are always good plus they'll still have Shaun McHugh there, they should be as strong as normal."
Nau also took time to thank the Dubbo Kangaroos for everything they had done during his time with the club since making the move from New Zealand in the lead up to the 2011 season.
"I'll miss the culture, guys like 'Boardy' (Graeme Board) and Chris (Davis), they've been really supportive of me and my family," he said.
"It's a really family-orientated club and they made the move to Dubbo very easy, I've made friends for life here but now I just won't get to see them as often."