Castlereagh plant the seeds for future stars after return to rep arena

The Narromine Jets captain-coach was part of the powerful Castlereagh representative sides who took on Groups 10 and 11 at Wellington on Saturday in the Western Division trial.

One of the more experienced members of the side, Thompson lined up at front-row and said the whole day was a massive step forward for the competition.

"It's been a while since I've made myself available for rep footy," he said.

"It was good to have a run with a couple of young fellas from Narromine, Darby (Gordon) at fullback is only 17."

Castlereagh named a side with a mix of youth and experience with Casey, Austin and Chanse Burgess along with Ryan Richardson joining Thompson in the forwards.

Youngster Darby Gordon and Harry McPherson were two of the youngest players to take the field in the open matches, both of whom are still under 21.

If there was any doubt the future of the Castlereagh League wasn't in good hands, Thompson rubbish those talks.

"The pack we had there today, we are pretty lucky with the Burgess boys going out there," he said.

"Then you have Ryan (Richardson) and myself who have both played Western Division so there is a bit of experience there.

"We are pretty young on the fringes out right but in this heat, I thought we handled things alright."

Castlereagh matched it with Group 10 for the majority of their game at Kennard Park but eventually went down 16-6 before losing to Group 11 12-0.

Across the side, players from several different clubs ran out for in the black and green of Castlereagh.

The new season for the competition will begin on April 27 with the senior rugby league knockout to take place the week before at Coolah.

Gulgong will enter the new season as the defending premiers after going through 2023 undefeated and Thompson is predicting a close campaign.

"The top three clubs are going to be pretty close," he said.

"Coolah have three quality footballers, Cobar will be strong and we should shape up alright if we keep getting blokes to training."