Since joining the code of rugby league he has gradually, step by step, worked his way up the ladder and last week Lachlan Walmsley was pretty chuffed to gain another brilliant selection.
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The Merriwa teenager lives and breathes rugby league and all his hard work has paid off as he has gained selection in the Newcastle Knights SG Ball Squad (Under 18s).
The 17-year-old Merriwa Central School student received notification last Friday that he is one of 35 young lads on the summer train on squad to stand for selection in the SG Ball team next season.
The call was the icing on the cake following a fantastic season playing for the Scone Thoroughbreds which saw Walmsley awarded the Hunter Valley Group 21 Under 18s highest point scorer and Representative Player of the Year, only missing out on the overall Player of the Year by one point.
In the grand final earlier this month, which Scone won, Walmsley was awarded Man of the Match.
Although he started off playing soccer as a child, Walmsley’s family links to football – his dad Simon played representative league and coached the Merriwa Magpies to three consecutive wins in the premiership and his mum Jane is the Group 21 secretary – it was no surprise when he started playing the game.
He started playing in the Under 10s, and up an age group with his brother Daniel in the Under 12s in Merriwa for a year, before starting to play for the Thoroughbreds when he was 11.
Throughout the past few years the full back and winger has achieved many proud selections on the representative front, including representing his school in the Rugby League 7s in the Central West division.
He has gained selection in the Group 21 representative teams since the Under 12s and last season he took this a step further by working his way up the ladder to be picked in the NSW Country team.
From the Group 21 team, Walmsley was selected in the Greater Northern Tigers, then the regional team and then the NSW Country team which travelled to New Zealand for a week to play.
The strong Aussie side played two games on the island to come out victors, defeating Otahuhu 44 to 16 and an Auckland representative side 36 nil, with Walmsley being the first try scorer in this game.
Being the only Group 21 player to gain selection in the country team is a massive achievement and one Walmsley is very proud of.
“It was a great experience, I don’t think it can get much better than that, except for playing in the National Rugby League (which is his ultimate goal).
“I am pretty excited to get selected in the Knights squad as I wasn’t keeping my hopes to high.
“I just wanted to keep improving to make the country squad again next season, but to make it into the SG Ball squad is great,” he said.
“Everything feels pretty perfect at the moment, but I’m just going to focus on the gym and training in the off season to push for selection in the team next year.
“I’d like to thank my family and friends, the Scone club, and everyone in Group 21 and the Greater Northern region that has given me support.”