Already with the Canberra Raiders keen to lock him into a contract with the club for future years, Andrew is well on his way to proving he has what it takes to make it to the big league.

Competing with other students from across the state, Andrew played as a part of the NSW Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) team as one of only two Riverina students.

Selected by his school to trial for Western NSW and Southern Country before being selected on the team, his star moment

came when he crossed the try line last Friday.

In the final game of the series NSW CCC defeated the ACT in a convincing 52-6 win.

While disappointed the team lost the remainder of their games, Andrew said it was a great opportunity to compare his abilities with the best from Australia.

Praised by scouts and managers for his abilities, he said his goal for the coming years is to make the NRL.

“I’d love to get to the NRL. I’d definitely like to get

through to the under 18s,” he said.

Considering it isn’t the first time he has competed at a state and national level, he could be well on his way to making the goal a reality.

Andrew has been selected for the NSW CCC squad in previous years and has played nationally in touch football.

While his dreams are close at hand, he said he still plans to concentrate on school work in the lead-up to his year 10 certificate and HSC at Kildare Catholic College.

“Only 2.7 per cent of players get picked up by the NRL,” he said.

“I will have to work a bit harder from now on, now that it is there.”

While at times it’s hard to find the right balance between school and sport, he remains realistic about the opportunity to one day play alongside some of his favourite players.