FOUR of the region's brightest netball stars have shone at the NSW men's representative netball trials.
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Tamworth's Barney Hazlewood and Brody Blackett-Gregg were selected in sides alongside Manilla's Zac McNeill and Adam Stackman.
Hazlewood, McNeill and Stackman were all selected in the under-20 NSW side, while Blackett-Gregg was a surprise inclusion in the under-23 state side.
Blackett-Gregg's honour comes after he represented the Australian under-20 side earlier this year.
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For McNeill and Stackman, their selection comes after the pair joined the NSW representative ranks last year.
As for Hazlewood, the recent trials marked his first time trying out for a state representative side and comes after he represented Tamworth in a tour game against a NSW side earlier this year.
Blackett-Gregg said he was shocked to hear he had been selected in a higher age group.
"I was a little bit surprised, but also really excited to be given such a great opportunity," Blackett-Gregg told the Leader.
"I am one of the younger guys in the side, so I will be really looking to learn as much as I can from the older guys.
"Hopefully, I can follow those experienced guys and really learn a lot."
In the past year, participation in men's netball in NSW has increased by 50 per cent and has even spread to Tamworth, which now hosts its own mid-week men's competition.
"It's great to see so many places like Tamworth getting their own competitions together," Blackett-Gregg said.
"In the past there wasn't really much of a chance for guys to play, but now there's competitions all over the state.
"In terms of our development, it's really good for us four guys, who got picked, to be able to play on nearly a weekly basis."
Blackett-Gregg praised his local teammates, saying "they thoroughly deserve to be picked" in the squads.
"Honestly, it's really exciting to see Adam, Barney and Zac get picked," he said.
"Those guys have worked really hard and come a long way over the past year, so this is really reward for effort."
The group will now focus on training with their respective state teams.