It seems Lachlan Buckton was always destined to play for Orange City Lions such were the signs pointing him in the direction of Pride Park.
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The Central Coast product moved to the region when he enrolled at Charles Sturt University, playing rugby for CSU Mitchell in the New Holland Cup.
A couple of his uni teammates ended up moving to City and then when Buckton landed a job in Orange post-graduation, he had a decision to make.
Fortunately for the Lions, some of his new colleagues were also of the orange and green variety and Buckton has hit the ground running for his new club.
On Saturday he will play in his first derby against Emus after missing the first game at Don Strachan Field.
He said the feeling amongst his teammates had him "pumped" ahead of the Blowes Cup clash.
"I went to uni with a couple of people that were from Orange and now play for City and then had three people at work that told me to come play for them," he said.
"It's been good, getting some results and all the boys have welcomed me.
"I actually didn't play the first derby, I was away. But the way they all speak about it sort of gets you pretty pumped.
"So I'm excited to see what it's like."
The young lock said he was enjoying playing under the tutelage of new coach Greg Lee as he adjusts to the step up from the New Holland Cup.
"It's been good, obviously I've known no different at the club but it's been good to have a good coach, he knows what he's doing and everyone's sort of picked it up well," he said.
"It's gone good so far.
"The quality is better, obviously it changes from team to team but it's quicker and it's a bit more competitive than what I remember in the New Holland Cup.
"It took a couple of weeks to get used to the speed of the game but playing around other boys makes it a bit easier and there's always things to learn."
City sit in fourth position, two points ahead of the rapidly improving Cowra Eagles and 10 behind Emus.
They went within a whisker of the upset of the season, losing 31-27 to the statistically perfect Bathurst Bulldogs, who have nine wins and nine bonus points from nine starts.
Buckton said the side would be trying to keep a level head even though motivation to avenge the opening 45-7 derby defeat would be high.
"I think we'll try to just remember it's another game that we've got to win," he said.
"We want to place well as we get closer to finals, it just happens to be the hometown derby, so everyone's keen to rip in.
"We've struggled to play consistently this season, which shows in our results.
"But being able to see what we can do when we play our game of footy was good. It gives us confidence for this week and the rest of the season."
