Five West Cumbrians have flown out to Australia with the England Community Lions for a three-week tour.
The county quintet are in a squad of 22 and are made up of Ellison Holgate and Charlie Tomlinson (both Wath Brow); Leon Crellin and Kieran Glenn (Egremont) and Dominic Wear (Kells).
Another West Cumbrian, Gary Hewer, is a member of the coaching team under Paul Couch, while a seventh, Alan Davidson, is part of the administration team.
Based in Perth, the Lions face a busy schedule as they start with a warm-up game and then have two Test matches against Western Australia.
To finish off they will compete in the Harmony Cup Nines in Port Kennedy, a festival of rugby league spread over three days early in November.
The first game is on Saturday against Western Australia Chairman’s X111 and the two Test matches follow on October 24 and October 29.
Head coach Couch said: “We’ll be based at North Beach Sea Eagles and I expect around half of the Western Australia side will be from that club, plus a fair few from Rockingham.
“I’ve taken the opportunity to assess the Western Australia League over the last couple of months.
“It seems to be a high standard which suits us. I reckon our side would be very competitive if trans[planted into our own Betfred League One, or even the lower half of the Championship.
“Our players have a great attitude. They are very professional in their approach and possess a strong will to win.”
