The 12-year-old expects to play on the wing for the Blues. Will was initially named as a shadow reserve following the NSW All Schools Championships played at Wagga, where he was a member of the Catholic Polding side.

Will is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana. Polding were beaten 2-0 in the final by Sydney North at Wagga. Will thought he played ‘okay’ throughout the championship, where the highlight was beating a Hunter side 4-1 in the semi-final. He was a try scorer in the match. The Hunter team contained players from the Manning.

The squad for Adelaide was announced just after the final. Will was on his was home when his mum, Vanessa, received word he’d been called into the State team after another players withdraw as he had also been selected in the NSW basketball side.

Just making the Polding team, which is effectively a northern NSW selection, was a lengthy process. Will first had to make the Manning side before heading to trial for the dioceses team that took in players from the Manning and Newcastle area. From there it was off to the final selections.

He’ll now have to head to Narrabeen during the next school holidays with the State side. There are four players from the Polding team in the NSW squad.

Will started playing touch about three years ago and has played for Taree in the Junior State Cup in Port Macquarie.

He gets to try out for Northern NSW Eagles under 14 representative side this season.

Touch and rugby league are Will’s main sports.

He turns out for Taree Panthers under 12s in the Group Three Junior competition, where he plays lock. However, the Panthers didn’t have a great season. Will has been drafted into the under 13s team for the semi-finals.

Will plays lock, wing or centre, but prefers centre.

He had his first run of league in the Panthers under sixes. He’s hoping to impress selectors next year in an effort to gain a place in the Group Three under 13s team in 2018.

Will also shows promise in athletics. He was a member of the Taree Athletic Club and qualified to regional level for championships held at Taree. However, a clash with increasing commitments with touch football saw him step aside from athletics other than at school. Will’s off to the Polding championships to be held at Glendale next month, where he has qualified for the 200 metres. He also dabbles in netball with the school team and umpired at the Catholic schools gala day held at Taree yesterday.