Lithgow High Year 11 student and former Junior Storm player Zac Irwin made his debut with the U16s South Sydney Rabbitohs squad on Saturday, February 15.

"I was so nervous because I've never played that quality of football, it's serious and different but good," he said.

The 15 year-old took on the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs at Erskineville Oval as he stepped out onto the field as part of the UNE Harold Matthews Cup competition.

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Unfortunately Irwin's side took a 52-0 loss back to the sheds but he said it was something to work on.

"Despite the loss it's something to work on, we took on a set benchmark and got it out of the way.

"Our team is fairly new and we are still finding our feet and learning to gel together," he said.

Irwin has played rugby league for the past four years with Lithgow Junior Storm Rugby League Club's thundering side and has enjoyed plenty of wins.

Coming off the back of Storm's 2019 grand final win, Irwin said he was still quite fit leading into South's trials.

"I had just finished with them so my fitness was still quite good," he said.

He said the decision to trial came after a failed attempt at gaining a spot with the Cronulla Sharks.

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"My coach Ben Lane played for Cronulla but it didn't go to plan for me, my other coach then advised me to trial for the South's when he was contacted for players," he said.

Irwin travelled to Erskineville Oval for trials in October last year where he went through a process of elimination and has been training with the South's for the past three months.

"I really enjoy it.

"It's a different type of footy. I honestly didn't see myself playing footy professionally before this but now, yeah.

"The ultimate goal would be playing for NRL first grade," he said.

Irwin said he loved the physical aspect of rugby league and he looked forward to making new friends and playing a different level of footy.

"This is a way to push myself and see what I'm capable of," he said.

Irwin trains three days a week in Sydney for two-and-a-half hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.

"I leave school a bit early to get down there and train. I love it," he said.

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Irwin's mum Louise Daley, said she was extremely proud of her son and didn't mind doing the travelling.

"We are very proud of him, we didn't expect this. He proved himself and he just kept coming through," she said.

Irwin wanted to thank Storm coaches Ross Harrington, Ben Lane and Jason Nunan as well as his former Storm teammates for keeping his passion for footy alive.

Next on the calendar for Irwin will be a match against the Tigers to be played at Redfern on February 29.

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