As if finishing high school wasn’t enough to make him a little nervous, this year Bryce Hegarty will also have to contend with being pummelled by the biggest rugby league players he has ever encountered.

And the 17-year-old can hardly wait.

The Samford Valley resident is one of a handful of local players enlisted by the Brisbane Broncos to tackle the National Youth Competition this season.

Warner’s Anthony Atkinson, Delaney’s Creek’s Aaron Whitchurch, Brendale’s Mitchell Frei and former Kobble Creek resident Tyson Brookes are also in the Brisbane under-20 team.

Former Samford Stags player and Bray Park resident Ryan Hansen, who has returned to Brisbane after a stint with the Melbourne Storm, will also turn out in Broncos colours this year.

Hegarty, who played his junior football for the Stags, said he was “very excited and very thrilled” to be chosen for the Broncos despite still studying at Marist College at Ashgrove.

“I’ve still got year-12 to go this year and I’m the only one (in the Broncos squad) like that, so I’ve got to learn to manage both football and study on my timetable,” Hegarty said.

“That will be my biggest challenge.”

Like Gold Coast Titans player, Camp Mountain local and good friend Lachlan Creighton, Hegarty decided to pursue a career in rugby league despite having played rugby union for Queensland as a junior.

The son of Steve Hegarty, who played for Manly and Valleys in the 1980s, said while his father was “more than happy” with his choice he doesn’t feel pressure to emulate his Dad’s feats on the field.

“He’s taught me a lot but I’ve never felt under pressure to live up to what he did or what anyone has said he’s done, I’ve just really sailed my own boat,” he said.

Atkinson, 18, is an engineering student who is set to go from flipping burgers at McDonald’s to playing for the same club as his childhood hero and fellow prop forward Shane Webcke.

“A guy from Broncos recruitment rang me up and asked if I wanted to start training,” Atkinson recalls.

“I thought it was like a 50-man squad and then they cut it down, but going straight into the 30-man squad I was pretty rapt.

“I didn’t really want to go to any other club except the Broncos, especially because they’ve got such a good culture.”

Using Webcke as his template, the former Albany Creek Crushers player welcomed the training regime that has seen his Broncos squad sweat it out five days a week over summer.

“It would be good to talk to Shane Webcke about what he’s done when he played as a prop because he, like me, was just a hard worker who worked hard at what he had to do and that’s what I’m hoping to do,” Atkinson said.

“I’ve got a bit of talent but I know I need to work really hard to keep my fitness up and keep my strength up as well.”

Hegarty, who plays as a five-eight or halfback, said intense pre-season weights sessions had allowed “small guys like me” to “get at least half as big as the real big boys”.

“It (Broncos training) is very different to what I’ve experienced so far and it’s a lot more a mental game now too,” he said.

The Broncos under-20s play five pre-season matches around the state in February before kicking off their season against North Queensland on 12 March.