THE most exciting juniors from around the region were put through their paces at Caltex Park last weekend as part of the The Far West and Western Academies' Induction and Testing Day.
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Under the watchful eye of NSW State of Origin assistant coach Matt Parish and Dubbo favourite Andrew Ryan, players from as far as Bourke to Lithgow were kept busy both on and off the field.
Parish worked the players through speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness testing (SPARQ) and despite it being the middle of the off-season he was incredibly impressed by what he saw.
"It was an excellent turn out on the day and full credit to Peter Clarke and the coaches from the region for organising a very well run induction and testing day," he said.
"I've been really impressed by the talent I've seen not just in Dubbo, but right across regional NSW over the past few weeks.
"There's some very talented players out here in the country and what's more important is that they're good people also."
While Parish was kept busy onfield, Ryan, along with a host of former NRL players, led and education seminar and spoke to the players about leadership, behaviour and the importance of a career away from the game.
There were more than 100 players at the ground and if any are to go on and make a name for themselves in the NRL then they are going to have to abide by the competition's "no work, no study, no play" policy.
"It's great for young men to be able to learn from players like Andrew Ryan, who is not only a Dubbo local, but has also played at the highest level," Parish said.
"Part of the academy programs involve education and welfare sessions to assist the young men with not only their future footballing careers, but with their life outside of football.
"We had Nigel Plum, Dennis Moran, Ben Smith and Michael Hodgson at this camp also and you're looking at over 1000 games of NRL experience there and anytime young players can have the opportunity to learn from people like that can only be a good thing."
While pleased with talent and results of the day, Parish said the biggest thing was getting through to the juniors and helping them, regardless of whether they want to chase their NRL dream or continue playing in the bush.
"Our main focus is on helping these young men be the best footballers and people that they can be, if that leads to an NRL career then that's great, but if they decide to stay in their home town and become good role models and footballers in their hometowns; then we're just as happy with that result," he said.