by Paul Cook - When the ARU put out an official request for interested parties ahead of the inaugural NRC back in 2014, a bid from New South Wales Country to be a part of the new third-tier competition was, I think most right-minded Australian rugby fans would agree, a welcome prospect. The idea of taking a team of players who - for the most part, hail from outside the big city - around the state in a roving rugby charabanc, was an enticing proposition on many levels. For those players passionate about representing their roots; for the country rugby supporters too often ostracised from the inner sanctum of the game through their perceived geographical handicap; and as a way of recognising just how important the contribution of country players has been - and will continue to be – for the Australian game. But ask any of those involved in putting together that initial bid if they believed that not only would they be accepted into the new competition, but that their fledgling Eagles w