The NSW Under-16s came face to face with NSW Blues icon Andrew Johns who had the honour of presenting the team with their jerseys before the biggest match so far in their promising Origin careers.
Johns shook hands and posed for photos as well as sharing his legendary Origin triumphs and experience.
The NSW Under-16s take on their Queensland rivals tonight at ANZ Stadium at 6pm in their proudest moment so far.
“I remember seeing my family in the stand and how proud they were,” Johns said. “It’s a really special time where you reflect on how far you’ve come.”
Johns played a major part for the NSW Under-19s scoring two tries in a 50-6 thrashing against Queensland on 17 May 1993 at the Sydney Football Stadium.
It’s only the beginning for these young men who have great dreams of representing NSW on the biggest stage in Origin football.
Of this year’s NSW VB Blues Game I line-up, Josh Dugan, Josh Morris, Mitchell Pearce, Aaron Woods, Ryan Hoffman, Boyd Cordner and David Klemmer all represented NSW at the junior level before going on to fulfil their Origin dreams.
NSW Under-16s coach and Blues hero, Danny Buderus, also passed on his knowledge and experience in guiding his team to greater future endeavours.
“This is a blank canvas for them in writing their own chapter and creating their own pathway,” Buderus said. “This match is a graduation into the NSW Blues brotherhood.
“Many players in the team haven’t even been to ANZ Stadium before and this is a taste of hopefully what’s to come in their career.”
Don’t miss the future superstars of Origin and watch the live stream here via nswrl.com.au at 5:55pm.
The full NSW Blues under-16s line-up can be found here.
The young Blues, coached by Danny Buderus and mentored by the likes of Jamie Feeney, Andrew Ryan, Paul Sironen and Brad Fittler, will be hard to stop!
