They faced tough opposition in round one, playing reigning premiers Manly-Warringah at Belconnen Oval. Despite a 28-22 loss, the Batemans trio performed well, with Stewart scoring two tries and Lole-Ngarima scoring one.

The Raiders then played Balmain in round two, and had a 24-12 win at Belconnen Oval. Henry scored a try in the win to make sure all three Batemans Bay players have scored in the first two weeks.

The Raiders Harold Matthews coach, Bill Thomson, said he was impressed by the three boys.

"I have a very high opinion of all three of them," he said. "They've been training for about four months now, and they've been extremely dedicated, hard-working, and committed.

"I've been very impressed with them since they joined the squad."

Thomson said the boys had bought into the culture of the squad, and will help the side's push for finals football in 2019.

"They've all worked their way into the run-on side," he said. "They're listening at training, and they're playing really good football.

"There's the potential in this side to play semi-final football, but the season's only two games old. It's been good to play the two tough games to start with, because it's shown the team they can play for each other and play good football."

Thomson believes Stewart, Henry, and Lole-Ngarima have a future in the Raiders junior setup.

"Jahream has another year in the Harold Matthews set up, but both Matty and Liam will have the opportunity to push into our SG Ball side," he said. "That's up to them though, it's a tough, physical system down here."