The excitement is still yet to wear off for Jock Brazel, who was recently lucky enough to travel to England with the NSW Country Under-16s rugby league side.
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The 16-year-old from Moree played three games for Country throughout his two weeks in England, helping his side to three dominant victories.
"It was unreal," Brazel said.
"I'm that lucky, I couldn't ask for anything better."
To cap it off, Brazel was named player of the tournament for the Country side.
"I was very happy, very lucky. I didn't expect it at all," he said.
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Leading up to the tour, the team had a training camp in Penrith, just to go over plays and game plans.
Aside from that camp, all of their training was done together in England.
"Nearly every day over there we had a training session, whether that's an hour, or a couple of hours," Brazel said.
"After every game we'd have a video session to see what we needed to train on next training session."
The tour kicked off with a game against England Community Lions West, where NSW Country proved far too strong in a 62-6 thrashing.
Next up was Leeds Rhinos, who proved tougher to defeat, but NSW Country were still able to come away with a 32-10 win, with Brazel scoring an important try in the first half.
Their final game came against Community Lions East, with NSW Country holding their opponents to nil while piling on 62 points once again to cap off a successful fortnight of football.
Brazel said the trip gave him some great experience, not just as a footballer but as a person.
"You're with your mates for two weeks and you learn discipline and all that so it's great to just learn other stuff that's needed off the field as well," he said.
"To focus on just making, not better footballers but better people as well.
"You get there, you get the job done properly and we're all together as a team so you don't leave anyone behind. You stick together.
"We had a few words on our team, one was togetherness as a team, so everything we did was as a team. One person was late, it was all our fault."
On the field, a different playing surface meant Brazel and his side had to make a few adjustments, but it was a challenge he enjoyed.
"It was definitely different but it was great fun to try that new stuff out. There were different grips, the ball moved different," Brazel said.
The different conditions didn't stop him from producing some strong performances on the field.
"Personally I think I played some of the best footy I've played. I played good footy there," he said.
Still coming down from the high of the tour, Brazel now prepares to move to Sydney where he will begin his playing career with the Parramatta Eels.
He will join a group of about 50 players in the SG Ball squad, where he will look to become a regular member of the top side.
"I'm definitely nervous," Brazel said.
"It's a big change. My whole family is back here and obviously I will miss them but I'm that excited to have a crack down there."
He's played three games with the Eels throughout the year, gaining some experience with higher level football.
"The football was a lot different. It was a lot more professional than out here and a lot funner," he said.
"I definitely enjoyed that a lot more and the training too. It was professional again, and that's definitely what I enjoyed. I loved it."
Brazel will move to Sydney in the first week of January to start training as he begins his journey to the NRL.
"I'd just like to thank, obviously my family first. They've done that much for me. I couldn't ask for a better group of people. They've done everything for me," he said.
"Moree Junior Rugby League, and the Moree Boars and all the coaching staff because they've done a heap for me and that's where it all started for me.
"I'll miss all of them."
