Dubbo College students Luke Gale and Clayton Couley were part of the under-17s development side which played three games against some of the most promising players in New Zealand.

The talented duo, who are both part of a development squad with the St George Illawarra Dragons, joined the team to play their first game in Christchurch against the Canterbury Schools, Gale playing second row and Couley coming off the bench to play in the forwards.

The result proved a huge 70-4 win for the Canterbury Schools 70-4 but the NSW side learnt from that and made up for the loss in games against the New Zealand national side in Rotorua and Auckland.

“After the defeat in Christchurch we flew to Rotorua, where we lifted our performance to come away with a win against the New Zealand national under-17s, 22-18,” Gale said.

“We then travelled to Auckland to take on the national side for a second time, beating them decisively 22-4.”

Gale, a regular performer for Dubbo Macquarie who made his Group 11 first grade debut with the Raiders in 2016, scored two tries in the Auckland game and was pleased with his performance.

Couley, who was an inspirational standout at lock for the Nyngan Tigers under-18s this season, said the tour provided excellent competition for players, as well as diverse cultural experiences.

“It’s the first time I have been to New Zealand and we had the opportunity to visit a living Maori village and spend a night in a meeting ground or Maori marae,” Couley said.

“We also visited thermal springs near Rotorua and the Sky Tower in Auckland.”

Earlier this year, Gale and Couley were selected as part of the under-18 NSW Country Rugby League side which toured Western Australia and played a curtain-raiser to a Sea Eagles versus Warriors NRL match at Perth.

Both also starred for the Dubbo College opens side in the 2016 season.