Port Macquarie Magpies junior player Tom Ryan has returned from the national Primary School's titles in Canberra

The 12-year-old had to clock up 8000 kilometres in the car with dad Adrian in a lengthy selection process that covered Grafton, Newcastle, Barooga and ended up in the Nation’s Capital.

He is believed to be the first-ever player to be selected from Port Macquarie and a lasting memory came from the final selection trial at Barooga.

If he had have taken another step further south he would have ended up Victoria – 1080 kilometres from home.

Mr Ryan said the NSW team played nine games in total and won five to finish at the top of Pool B and fifth overall.

“Victoria dominated everyone, but he was quite good,” he said.

“Victoria barely had a goal scored against them; they were the strongest team anyone had ever seen.”

The youngster has played in the Sydney Swans Academy over the last couple of years and the experience gained from playing in that system had been of benefit.

“He’s been training there for a few years,” Mr Ryan said.

At the titles, all states played round robin matches before they were split into a first and second division.

As luck would have it, playing in their first match together, an inexperienced NSW side faced the AFL powerhouse.

The southerners had played in about a dozen matches together, had held 15-20 training sessions and part of their selection process was they had to train to be selected.

NSW didn’t win the match, but the experience the team gained from the fixture will benefit them in years to come.