For a guy who has been playing football for just five years, Western Rams under-18s front-rower James McKinnon has certainly made an impression.
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The Dubbo Macquarie junior took up rugby league in the under-13s after a short stint in junior soccer.
Tonight McKinnon and the rest of his Rams teammates, including Dubbo CYMS’ Charly Runciman, will strut their stuff in Albury in the final of the NSW Country Championships.
Western qualified for the final after beating Southern Redbacks 28-0 last weekend.
Tonight’s match against Newcastle will be played as a curtain-raiser for the City-Country match and McKinnon, a Year 12 student at Dubbo College Senior Campus, said he can’t wait.
“It’s going to be awesome down there and to play in front of a big crowd before City-Country will be unbelievable,” McKinnon said.
“It’s probably important we don’t get over-awed about that because we have a match to play and we all have a job to do.”
The 18-man Rams squad left for Albury yesterday, stopping for a training run in Cowra and will train again this morning before playing tonight.
McKinnon, who stands at 191cm and weighs 115kg, isn’t currently linked with an NRL club and despite admitting he would like to make a career out of football he has his sights set on other vocations if that doesn’t work out.
His mother Kay McKinnon is a doctor and he would also like to move into the medical field.
“I’m in my final year of school now and I am hoping to study sports medicine at university if I can,” he said.
“I’d love to make it in footy but, given I’m not with a club at the moment, I have to think about other things and see what happens.”
Tonight’s match is an ideal place for McKinnon to make his mark.
Talent scouts will be out in force watching the match and a NSW Country under-18s side will be picked after the final.
McKinnon knows a good performance against Newcastle could be the ticket for a spot in that team and possibly, a spot with an NRL club.
“My job is to get the team going forward and tackle,” he said.
“If I do that well it will give us a chance at winning the match. We are a really balanced team and we know each other through other rep teams so hopefully that will give us an advantage.”
Win, lose or draw McKinnon will be back on the road on Saturday preparing himself for Macquarie’s match against Forbes on Sunday.
“Playing for the Rams has given me a lot of confidence and a lot more responsibility with Macquarie,” he said.
“Hopefully it will help me help them to a good season. As long as I don’t get injured in Albury I will be backing up because I think it’s important to not let your clubmates down by playing when you can.”
WESTERN RAMS
1. Charly Runciman (Dubbo CYMS), 2. Cody Robbins (Orange CYMS), 3. Jake Davis (Bathurst Panthers), 4. Andrew Mendes (Bathurst Panthers), 5. Riccie Arriola (Bathurst Panthers), 6. Jacob Neill (Nyngan Tigers), 7. Toby Evans (Parkes Spacemen), 8. Brady Cheshire (Bathurst Panthers), 9. Luke Carpenter (Bathurst Panthers), 10. James McKinnon (Dubbo Macquarie), 11. Carl Planicka (Cowra Magpies), 12. Blake Seager (Bathurst Panthers), 13. Sam Coster (Parkes Spacemen). Reserves: 14. Troy Evans (Coonamble Bears), 15. Jarrod Michael (Coonabarabran), 16. Doug Hewitt (Bathurst Panthers), 17. Chris Butler (Forbes Magpies), 18. Tom Shearman (Mudgee Dragons).