THE boys, staff and parents are living the dream as Great Sankey High School year seven rugby league team prepare for tomorrow’s Champion Schools final at Wembley.

After becoming the first Warrington school to the decider of the national competition at this age group, they will face Standish in the curtain-raiser to the Challenge Cup Final between Warrington Wolves and St Helens.

Today, they joined the professional players in having a look around Wembley in preparation for the big day.

“The boys are bouncing, they’re so excited.,” said Andrew Gee, head of PE at Great Sankey High School.

“I think the parents are as excited as the kids, it’s fantastic.

“We set off on Thursday morning. We started off with a breakfast at the Village Hotel and a video of well wishes from different people from all over the globe.

“Then we headed down, had the afternoon at Harry Potter World and then we stayed at the Village Hotel in Watford last night.

“Then this morning we had a bit of a chill-out time and a bit of a swim. Then we came down to Wembley to tour this fantastic building.

“They’ve absolutely loved Wembley, with all the history behind it and some of the events that have happened here. It’s just unbelievable, what a great place.

“We were going to train this morning but it was too hot so we had the swim session instead but we’ve trained right through the summer, so it’s been good.”

He is confident the team can do themselves proud in the wide open spaces of Wembley on what is set to be one of the hottest days of the month.

“If we turn up, we’re a good rugby playing side. We’ve got some good plays ready for Standish,” said Andrew.

“But it’s a big pitch, they’ve got some athletes. We’ve played them before. I think it’s going to be tight but I think we can edge it out.

“I’ve been teaching at the school for 34 years, and we’ve been doing rugby for a good percentage of that.

“This has always been a dream. We’ve been to Wembley before for the pitch parade but never to play.

“These boys are really special. A lot of them play at Crosfields and it’s quite nice to inherit part of a team, but we’ve got some lads who are completely new to the game.

“And with having Lee Westwood as coach too its been really good to see their development and they’ve really come on as a team over the season.”

Captain Junior Westwood spoke on behalf of the team.

“I’m really excited, especially playing in this massive stadium with my mates,” he said.

“It’s a really good opportunity and we’re going to make history.

“My mates are a really good group. Some have really different personalities – some are funny, some are chilled. It’s good.”

And what were his first thoughts on walking out at Wembley?

“It’s big isn’t it, it’s massive!”

He has been at Wembley before and walked out with his brother Dec Patton, the Wire scrum-half, as a mascot at last year’s Challenge Cup Final.

Not all the Great Sankey boys will be cheering for The Wire tomorrow though.

“Some are Saints fans, some Widnes fans, some Wigan fans,” he revealed.

As for the curtain-raiser itself: “Hopefully it’s going to go smoothly and hopefully we’re going to beat them.

“It went good the last time we played them. It was throwing it down then, it’s going to be warm tomorrow apparently so it’s going to be different.

“We’ve played in these conditions before.

“We’re all going to try our hardest. It’s going to feel good and we’re going to be buzzing.”