Preparing for national trial

WHEN Ryan Kinlyside's mum first heard her son had a shot at being picked for the under-18 Australian Open Schoolboys rugby league team she cried.

WHEN Ryan Kinlyside's mum first heard her son was going to Newcastle with a shot at being picked for the under-18 Australian Open Schoolboys rugby league team she cried and he had to hold her.

The 17-year-old Warwick Cowboys under-18 prop has six weeks to prepare before his all-important selection.

“Last week I went to Townsville for four days for the Queensland Championships. It is a big carnival where you play against other regions in the state,” Ryan said.

“I played for the Darling Downs Open Schoolboys at the carnival. We played four games.

“At the end of it my name got read to play for the Queensland Open Schoolboys (QOS). Our team will play for the National Championships at Newcastle.”

After trying for a couple of years to get picked for the QOS Ryan was excited about his selection this year.

“The pressure of making the cut does not really faze me much. I just want to play good football, hopefully make something of it and get somewhere with it,” he said.

“I would love to play professionally and am trying to get a contract with the NRL and probably move away next year.

“The Warwick Cowboys are very professional for a country club. They have set me up well and am grateful for all the coaches and the support I got from them.”

He said being a Year 12 student at Warwick State High School it was a juggling act between his studies and sports.

“I have done a lot of late nights. My school has been really understanding,” Ryan said.

“I started out playing for fun when I was eight.

“Even now I still try to enjoy the game and don't really get nervous or scared while playing. I am only scared of making mistakes.”

After shoulder surgery last year Ryan is feeling good about his physical fitness.

“My shoulder's healed now; I am making sure I eat everything right and train hard,” he said.

“QOS is sending a special training program just to make sure I am the best that I can be.

“For now I am just enjoying hanging around with my mates when am not playing.”

Proud dad Rick said his son's selection for QOS was great.

“It's a credit to his coaches and the committee of the Warwick Cowboys,” Rick said.

“This has been a good training platform here.

“People always talk about cities, this shows that we have good quality of training here too.”

Originally published as Preparing for national trial