A week of friendly banter and sledging between Canberra Raiders teammates will be on display in tonight's inaugural under-20s State of Origin clash in Penrith.
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Dynamic centre Edrick Lee will make his representative debut in any age group for Queensland, while hard-hitting prop Shannon Boyd will be used as an impact player off the bench for NSW.
Lee - a cousin of Canberra-bred NBA basketballer Patty Mills - has enjoyed a breakout season with the Raiders, scoring six tries in seven games and earlier this year had his contract extended until 2013.
Boyd trained with Canberra's NRL squad in the pre-season and has previously played for the NSW under-18 team.
Rather than deliberately avoid the middle of the park and the 123kg Boyd, Lee is relishing the prospect of running headfirst into the Cowra product.
''It'll be good fun, me and Boydy have been flicking text messages to each other during the week,'' Lee said. ''Both teams have stayed at the same hotel so we've run into each other a few times.
''I'm going to run at him with my kick returns.
''Hopefully I can use a bit of footwork to get around him from side to side.''
Raiders under-20s captain Mitch Cornish has also been in camp with the Blues squad as 19th man.
■ TODAY
Under-20s State of Origin: NSW v Queensland at Centrebet Stadium, Penrith, 7.30pm. TV time: Live on Fox Sports 2.
