For Ajay Isbester-Boss, he is looking to make his final year of under 18s footy a memorable one and it's started off perfectly.
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The Dubbo CYMS under 18s captain was impressive during Sunday's clash against Macquarie at Apex Oval, with the Fishies winning 26-12.
On a damaging left edge, Isbester-Boss combined with Darby Haycock and Noah Sutcliffe to terrorise the Raiders through the middle of the field.
However, he isn't getting too carried away away the trio's first performance.
"You could say that (we are talented), I'll stay modest," he said.
"We go alright."
Sutcliffe in particular stood out as arguably the best player on the field while fellow bottom-age player Nate Bayliss scored two tries.
The pair were part of the St John's Blue side who won the Dubbo District Junior Rugby League under 16s title along with several of their teammates.
Dubbo CYMS has been one of the competition favourites ever since the Tom Nelson Western Under 18s Premiership was founded in 2022 but has yet to win a title.
It's a trend Isbester-Boss is looking to end.
"We've only got about four top-age blokes, the rest are all young and they've won all through the juniors," he said.
"They are ready to win seniors too."
For Macquarie, errors and penalties overshadowed what was a strong round one performance.
"Nothing is ever going to perfect in round one," Macquarie coach Carl Moss said.
"Penalties were our big thing today, I don't know what the penalty count was but that plays such a big factor in round one because you are doing so much defence.
"There were a couple of times in the game where we would give away a penalty on the fifth tackle, a couple of those I didn't think were penalties but that's football."
Dane Fuller and Jace Baker were strong throughout the match, looking to inspire their side through actions.
After defending for so long, Moss felt the Raiders did well to hang in for most of the game.
"Once we got a bit of a roll on in the second half I think we won the half but the damage was done with so much defence in the first half," he said.
"When you defend for 40 minutes of a 60-minute game, you just can't win. It's not possible but Jace Baker and Dane Fuller showed they have strike and speed out wide."