There’s a lot on the line this weekend when the NSW City v Country tournaments are held on the Central Coast.
But few have more at stake than 11-year old Souths junior Jed Westaway.
Westaway will play for the Southern City Seahawks and won’t just battle the other sides in the Boys 11s division, but also his star sister.
“This is my first time doing it and it’s pretty much my first big rep tournament so I’m really excited,” Westaway told Rugby News.
“I’ve been playing Oztag since I was probably five in the Thursday night comp, then I started playing with Souths when I turned nine.
“The first year we won all our games, then got knocked out by Parramatta in the semi final. Then the next year in the under 10s, we won all our games again, won against Cronulla in the semi then lost the grand final against Baulkham Hills.
“Then this year we lost to Baulkham Hills again in the grand final.”
Three successive State Cup finals defeats would be tough for anyone to take, but Jed’s also had to watch on as his sister stole family bragging rights.
“Really I just want to catch up with my sister and finally win a grand final,” he said honestly.
“She’s won two or one I think and she reminds me about it every time we lose in the grand final so hopefully I can win this weekend so she has nothing left to say.”
Westaway said he’s enjoyed meeting his teammates, picked from sides from the southern side of Sydney and said he’s already made plenty of new friends.
“It’s really fun training with my friends and all the guys from the other teams.
“Some of them are similar and some of them are different. Most of the guys are very talkative and funny. We’ve got players from Souths, Engadine, Roosters, Liverpool, all those areas.
“None of us are bad in out team, we’ve got good defenders and attackers and some good ball players so I think we’ll go good.”
The NSW Senior City v Country tournament will be held at the newly opened Central Coast Sporting Complex at Tuggerah on Saturday, ahead of the junior tournament on Sunday.
Download the Sportfix App and search Oztag Australia to access all the fixtures and up to date results and ladders throughout the weekend.