Duncan competed with more than 130 men from the Central Coast, Central West, Illawarra, Hunter and Central North region for his spot in the under 17s team.

“I really enjoyed it. It was a good experience,” Duncan said. 

Duncan showed his versatility at the two-day carnival, taking on the inside centre position, and playing outside centre and fullback when required. He was excited to learn new skills to bring back to his own club. This is the second time Duncan has been selected for the NSW team and he had fond memories of his last experience at age 15, which took him all the way to Fiji.

“I'd never been overseas before.” 

He said he loved the chance to play on the NSW team and was looking forward to this year’s games.

“Just the mateship and meeting new people -they all come from different places and different towns- and playing some good footy with some of the region's best and some of the state's best.”

He admitted that the competition was tougher this year, but said he gave it everything and was pleased with the result. Always dedicated, Duncan is used to travelling great distances to play rugby. He regularly travels to Narrabri to captain the under 18s squad, and often drags himself out of bed to go jogging before a full day of work at a local farm. He is one of the players who travel the furthest distance to be part of the team.

To reach the country championships, Duncan made it through selection trials in February and March, and played trial games with the Central North in Tamworth, Coonabarabran and Singleton. As part of the NSW country team, he will head to Newcastle on June 4-5, to tour Canberra and Perth and play in Western Australia and Sydney.

Duncan is very proud of his town, and is pleased to have the opportunity to represent his family, the Indigenous community and the wider Moree and Narrabri communities.