Blayney's Nicholas Tilburg selected for Italy's rugby league World Cup squad

The foundations for it originate in Eboli, an Italian town one hour from Naples with a population just over 37,000.

That's where his grandmother, Anna Fearnley, grew up and it's that heritage that's landed him on a plane to England for the rugby league World Cup.

Tilburg has spent the last year within the Azurri system but only found out last Monday of his selection.

"I was a bit shocked at the start but I'm very excited," he said of finding out.

"I've also wanted to do it for my gran, who passed away in 2017.

"Since then I've always wanted to play for Italy, I was able to play one game for them and then got picked in the World Cup which was good."

With the Italian squad split between Australia and overseas, the half has only been able to hang around 11 team-mates since selection.

The inability to get a full training session together means the group have performed a deep dive into what's brought them together.

"We've been doing cultural activities, sharing our stories and where you get your heritage from, we'll do more of the footy work over there," Tilburg explained.

"We've had to research the region our family were from, what it's famous for, the journey and what they did for jobs.

"My grandmother came from Eboli, where they make olive oil and mozzarella. She came out to Australia in 1950 and landed in Bathurst where the family had a market garden. Her father bought small town country pubs and landed in Carcoar where she met my pop."

With the Italian heritage on his mother Sonia's side, and father Tony being a successful school rugby league coach, Tilburg understandably had some very chuffed parents.

"Mum was very proud obviously and dad was ecstatic for me to go over and mix with our players and the opposition, the types of players in those teams will be very good," he said.

Tilburg's selection for the tournament has come off an impressive campaign in Ron Massey Cup.

His side, Wentworthville Magpies, finished with a preliminary final berth before being beaten 22-12 by eventual winners Hills Bulls.

The former Western Ram said it's been a thoroughly rewarding season, as he even rubbed shoulders with Parramatta Eels players at times.

"It's been excellent, I had a great time there. We started off slow but then had a great run into the finals," he recounted.

For the World Cup, Italy have drawn a tough group of fixtures in Pool B.

Their first game will be against Scotland on October 16 before playing Fiji on October 22. Both games are in Newcastle. The final fixture will be against Australia on October 29 at St Helens.

Tilburg added a first-time trip makes the selection even more pleasing, although it won't be a lavish flight for the Azzuri when they fly out on Friday night (October 7) compared to Australia's business class experience.

"The Italian boys are a bit more budgeted I think, we'll be in economy at the back," he laughed.

"I've never been to England before so that's exciting in itself to see a different part of the world."