Isaah Yeo and Matt Burton are already outstanding role models for young players in Dubbo on the field, but the pair proved their quality off it recently to the delight of the Dubbo and District Junior Rugby League Association (DDJRL).
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The DDJRL's development squad sessions recently came to a close for the year, with St John's juniors and current Penrith Panthers players Yeo and Burton returning home to help out.
The sessions were created to further prepare junior player ranging from the under 12s to under 14s for next season's representative campaign and were designed by the Penrith club.
The presence of Yeo and Burton provided even more of a boost for the aspiring stars.
"I don't think the kids realise how lucky they are," DDJRL secretary Emily Sutcliffe said.
"For them to give up their time, they're not just good footy players but good people and role models as well."
The two former Western Rams didn't just show their faces either as they ran the sessions featuring roughly 30 juniors from around the region.
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The pair attended the final session together last week, Burton having also attended a previous clinic as well.
Sessions were also attended by recent DDJRL graduates Cooper Ferrari, Aston Warwick and Zac Williams, all of which who have joined the Panthers' junior ranks after playing under 18s this year.
"The kids can see it's an achievable goal," Sutcliffe said of going from Dubbo to the top.
"They can see there's kids who played at their club or who they played alongside.
"Zac, Aston, and Cooper; they see them and can see it's achievable and see the way they've done it from the country.
"It's a great message to those 12s, 13s, and 14 year-olds that you can do it. That's fantastic."
Local coaches were also heavily involved and Sutcliffe said they, along with Bathurst-based Dave Elvy, deserved a huge amount of praise for running drills and programs of such a high standard.
"It's really good to watch and see how on-task they are. There's no down time," Sutcliffe said.
Two members of the Panthers' staff attended the first session and are set to make the trip west again early next year to cast their eye over things once more.
Players travelled from the likes of Brewarrina, Nyngan, Gilgandra, Dunedoo, and Narromine to be involved after initially being nominated to take part by their clubs.
"The the (DDJRL) committee and clubs worked together to pick the kids to further development them," Sutcliffe said.
"At this age they are on the fringe of rep footy so it's a way to help these kids."
Sutcliffe added DDJRL president Bernard Wilson deserved a huge amount of praise as a driving force behind the idea.
"It's something Bernard really hoped to get off the ground so he was a big one in getting it going and there's a lot of great people involved," she said.
"It's something in the years I've been involved that has always been on the table.
"It's something that's been worked on for several years so it was great to finally see it happen."
And while skills were further developed, there were plenty of other benefits.
"As much as it's great to develop the skills, they can develop mateship across clubs as well," Sutcliffe added.