FARRER’S John Porch, Zeb Buchanan, Dan Boland and Rory Simpson will wear the blue of NSW this weekend and are hoping it leads to even higher NSW honours.
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The four are today in Sydney for a training camp with their NSW Combined High School team-mates.
They’ll train today and tomorrow and play against Combined Catholic Colleges on Sunday.
“I’m looking forward to it. It should be a good experience,” Porch said.
He said it had been a goal for him to make the CHS side, which was realised with strong performances for North West at the state carnival in Dubbo last week.
The squad was originally named as one squad but has since been split into firsts and seconds sides, although the make-up could change depending on what the coaches see at training and games.
Porch has been told he’s in the firsts, with Simpson, Buchanan and Boland all in the seconds.
Inverell’s Bevan French will also be in Sydney, with the U16s squad he was selected in also training.
Porch didn’t follow the CHS pathway last year after missing out on the trials due to his involvement with the NSW Indigenous team.
They were playing up at Alice Springs at the National U18 Indigenous Championships, from which he went on to make the Australian team.
The Year 12 student was one of the standouts for North West last week and won coaches’ award.
“It was a great week of footy, very tough,” he said.
He, Buchanan and Boland all played in the backs with Simpson the sole forward picked.
Versatility is something Porch has in spades. He’s played every position in the backline, although fullback is where he prefers.
That’s where he’s been picked for CHS and played for the Australian side last year.
The CHS program will pit the teams against the different school system sides over a series of weeks with the games being used to select the NSW Schoolboys team and, after CCC on Sunday, they will play Combined Associated Schools (CAS) next Thursday.
It is going to be a massive week for the Farrer four.
They’re all part of the Farrer 7s side that will on Tuesday contest the Regional NSW Finals of the Secondary Schools Rugby 7s Challenge in Newcastle.
Last year Farrer made it all the way to the national finals, with Porch, Buchanan and Simpson all part of that side.
Porch said they would be looking to do that againand will be hoping to make Tuesday’s final with the carrot of playing the curtain-raiser to the Wallabies Test against Scotland.
“That’s what we’re aiming for, to play before the Wallabies game,” Porch said.
