'You could see the difference': Why NRL scouts are so impressed with region's juniors

The past two weeks have seen kids from Orange, Parkes, Bowen Park, Dubbo, Lithgow and Bathurst all don jerseys for NRL academy sides as the junior representative season gets underway.

It's something Sydney Roosters scout Rob McAlpine says is unsurprising given the sheer volume of talent in the regions.

The Mudgee-based scout has been working for the Roosters for close to a decade and said while the club didn't sign players already in the Western Rams system, they had had some luck identifying talent early on.

"Once kids make the Western Rams, then that's when the pathway to Panthers starts," he said.

"We actually don't look at them then once they're involved in another club, we leave them to that pathway, but we'll give other kids opportunities and there's other clubs doing it too now.

"Manly come out here and they're sort of now targeting the far west.

"Obviously the Raiders come in and out of here a bit. The Bulldogs have been looking in here as well.

"We've had kids in the past from Orange going back as far as 2016 and 2017 that didn't end up making it through, it just wasn't for them but they still go on to play first grade locally.

"Some kids have also ended up in other club pathways."

Orange has been a recent hot spot for the foundation club with Ravai Tulevu, Taj Jordan, Georgie Barrett, Jackson Rodwell as well as Parkes' Liz MacGregor all signing on.

McAlpine explained what happens once a club like the Roosters identifies talented juniors from the regions.

"For Taj and Ravai this will be the third year that they've been involved in our development program," he said.

"I saw them playing for their local clubs, spoke to their parents and got them involved in our early pathways.

"They are contracted players now, so they are not only in the Harold Matthews team they will be moving down to Sydney in the next 12 months.

"Dean Feeney, one of the heads of recruitment, he and his wife run a Roosters house with all the kids that are from the regions.

"They go to school from the house, they are picked up from school, get taken to training, made sure they do their homework - all the things a normal parent would do."

Before they sign deals and move away, players go spend time in Sydney training and playing games against clubs like North Sydney Bears and Balmian Tigers over the course of months while also continuing to play for their local clubs.

For players like Tulevu and Jordan, the experience has seen them transformed according to McAlpine.

"I know how hard it is for kids from the west to get the opportunity to do some elite training and up-skill and hopefully they end up going all the way," he said.

"They've been going down since they were 14 and I noticed pretty much after they did their first development session and came back you could see the difference in them.

"They already were skilful players and had speed and power and all that, but they've really gone to another level."