Seaun Stanley Jr grew up watching the Wellington Cowboys win matches at Kennard Park.
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Fast forward a decade or so and the talented back rower is now out playing alongside some of his childhood heroes.
A Wellington junior, Stanley Jr has emerged as one of the best young forwards in the Peter McDonald Premiership and he isn't done yet.
![Wellington's Seaun Stanley Jr has been impressive since returning to his junior club. Picture by Tom Barber Wellington's Seaun Stanley Jr has been impressive since returning to his junior club. Picture by Tom Barber](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/118079462/8f4670cf-aaef-4d34-a909-e3e100717134.JPG/r810_915_3154_2078_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Playing on the Cowboys' right edge alongside Rylee Blackhall and Blake Ferguson, Stanley is lethal close to the line and has enjoyed being back at his junior club.
"I grew up with Rylee and I've known 'Fergo' (Ferguson) since I was a kid," he said.
"My dad is originally from Wellington so it's been fun to play alongside a fair few boys that I grew up watching.
"It's a really good family club."
The youngster debuted in first grade for Macquarie last season before spending time with the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs' Jersey Flegg squad over the summer.
But returning home and linking up with his beloved club, Stanley has had a big mentor in Justin Toomey-White.
The Cowboys' captain-coach is arguably the best edge forward in the competition, co-captaining the Western Rams earlier this season.
Coming up against each other during training sessions, Stanley admitted his skipper's knowledge has been a massive learning experience.
"He has helped me heaps," he said.
"Just with little things like teaching me how to run holes different and lots of little things."
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Wellington secured a home final last weekend after defeating Nyngan, a game which saw four of their tries scored down the right-hand side of the field including one by Stanley.
"It felt good (to beat them) especially after we only just got beat by them last time out at Nyngan," Stanley said.
"It's nice to now have a home final in front of our crowd."
Now locked in for the finals, there is a lot of optimism in the Cowboys' camp and rightly so.
A match likely against Bathurst Panthers awaits them and Stanley hopes Wellington can make an impact come finals time.
"Hopefully if we can just keep doing what we have been," he said.
"Our kicking game has been good from Jai and Rylee, our forwards are going forward so I think we've been doing well at keeping things simple."
However, this weekend, Stanley and the Cowboys will take on the Macquarie Raiders at Apex Oval in the final Peter McDonald Premiership round of the season.
Lining up once again against his old club, the Cowboys' young gun is confident they have what it takes to get the job done.
"It should be a good one being back in Dubbo," he said.
"Our team on the weekend did well, I don't really have much to say we just need to keep things simple.
"We are on a four-game winning streak now I think."
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