Spurned by the Bulldogs for this year's Country Championships, he's since been picked up by West Tigers. He heads to Sydney on Sunday to start a new chapter of his life, that will include gaining a job and playing with the club's Harold Matthews (under 17) squad.

Xavier is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.

"A couple of the (Sydney) clubs were keen to look at some of the players who weren't in the Bulldogs' system,'' Xavier, a hooker, explained.

Xavier was one of those players. He sent some video of himself in action. Souths showed initial interest, but West Tigers stepped in with an offer and the deal has been done. The 16-year-old will have his last day at Taree High today.

"I'm heaps excited,'' he said.

"We start pre-season training in November and the comp kicks off in January.''

The Harold Matthews Shield ends in early April and from there Xavier isn't sure what his program will be.

"If I go okay they might move me up to the SG Ball (under 19s),'' he explained.

"Otherwise the Tigers will place me with a local club.''

He said former Old Bar Pirates first grade coach Jason Morrissey played a major role in negotiations.

Xavier understands he'll be working on the construction of the West Tigers Centre of Excellence at Concord Oval, the club's home base.

RELATED: New date for Group 3 presentation

"That way I can finish work and head straight to training,'' he said.

It's been a meteoric rise, given that he hasn't featured in major representative teams that usually attract the attention of NRL talent scouts.

"I've played a bit of rep footy with Group Three juniors, but that's all,'' he said.

"Otherwise it's just been club footy.''

He started playing rugby league as a six-year-old but then had a couple of seasons off.

"Mum wasn't real keen on me playing league,'' he smiled.

Xavier resumed in under 12s, initially with Taree Panthers before switching to Red Rovers.

"We made heaps of grand finals, but we only won one, in under 14s. Port Sharks usually beat us in the other ones, they're a good team,'' he said.

Rovers were due to play the minor semi this season when the competition was called off due to the lockdown.

He also played with Old Bar Pirates under 18s this year. The Pirates were running third when senior league season also became a lockdown victim. Xavier will be living in Parramatta. He's looking forward to attending his first training session next month.

IN THE NEWS:

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: