The AIS program is also celebrating 10 years of this successful program this year and is normally only boyz from the 2 eastern states of New South Wales & Queensland, this year there are also four kids from the top end, the Northern Territory and home home grown Victorian in Leki in the AIS squad.

During the awards night, each of the players are given an opportunity to talk about the tour, what it means to them as individuals and what they will be taking away form this fantastic experience, overwhelming the boyz spoke of the camaraderie and mate ship they have formed while in the AIS program.

Now for the major Award Winner - Drum roll please

PLAYER of the TOUR award goooooesssss tooooo : Corey Jensen - Corey played in all 5 games he has been impressive on and off the field, Corey is one of the younger players in the squad and has a very bright future in our fantastic game of rugby league.

This year we have a new medal in honour of long time coach Col Matthews, Col has been involved in coaching since the late 1600's and was most likely one of Queen Victoria's toy boys. Col Matthews is without doubt one f the best rugby league coaches in Australia and has bee involved with the AIS for some 20 or more years. Col has had much success with junior footy teams as well as senior teams in country NSW and in particualr in his home town of Mudgee

Winner of the Inaugural COL MATTHEWS MEDAL isssssss : Dylan CARTWRIGHT - Dylan has been in the program for 3 years and is a fitting reward for a stella performance through out his scholarship, we remember Dylan as a young shy kid from the NT, since he has been in the AIS program.

BRAVE LIONS GO CLOSE

The touring AIS were given a real freight by the Community Lions last night before picking up their third win on UK soil with a 38-24 success.

In a hard-fought battle the hosts stunned the tourists as they raced into 16-0 lead inside the first 22 minutes.

Full-back Sam Forester got the ball rolling on nine minutes with a well-taken effort, before winger Scott Pink drew a great cheer from the home crowd with the Lions second touchdown just three minutes later.

The boot of Jack Jones made it 10-0 and things got even better when the impressive Adam Jefferson crossed the whitewash for another Jones improved score.

After seeing off the England Academy side just days earlier the AIS were clearly shaken by the home sides start, however, they slowly worked their way back into the contest before hitting back in dramatic fashion in the final ten minutes of the first period.

Jack Creighton opened their account in the 25th minute and by the time referee Chris Kendall had blown for half time the tourists were back level thanks to further tries from centre Euan Aitken and winger Bosam MacDonald, plus two conversions from the boot of Brendan Elliot.

The opening exchanges of the second half were pretty even, before scrum-half Daniel Clarke stepped his way over for a converted try to give the AIS the lead for the first time.

The crowd were soon cheering another Community Lions try when winger Ben Garner went over to cut the gap to just two points, although strong-running Brandan Klee soon re-asserted the Australians advantage when he powered over for another six-pointer.

Winger Brody Rigg was the next tourist to add his name to the score sheet and the 12-point gap that opened up was to prove crucial.

With the contest entering the final 10 minutes Barrow Island winger Garner helped himself to a second try to give the Lions a glimmer of hope, however, the game was sealed in the final minute when Corey Jenson crossed to give the AIS winning finish to their 2011 tour.

Lions head coach Kelvin Lockett was understandably pleased with his side’s effort.

“I’m really proud of the lads,” said Lockett.

“I couldn’t have asked for any more from them and they weren’t far off from coming away with a win.

Tonight the entire touring party are doing the York ghost walk? look out the ghosts is all we can say - LOL

The weather in York is a shocker, Dave Norman reports its very very cold and the rain is belting down

We hope to find out more about the Ghost walk in the near future

ENGLAND ACADEMY	20 - 22	Australian Instute of Sport
TRIES : James DUCKWORTH, Mark PERICVAL, John Bateman, Greg Wilde GOALS : Williams 2		TRIES : Jarrod WATSON, Aleki FALEPAINI, Addo WAIANGA, Rhett WEBSTER GOALS : Doug HEWITT 3
The AIS squad celebrate defeating the England Academy side last nite (Photo : kt8photography.co.uk)

The Academy side, captained by Bradford Bulls Loose forward John Bateman, ran in four tries in a stellar performance but couldn’t find the killer touch late in the game to secure the win.

The Australian’s opened the scoring on the five minute mark after Jarrod Watson was on the end of a perfectly placed cross-field kick to dive over the whitewash. Scrumhalf Doug Hewitt added the extras to give the tourists an early six point lead.

England responded through some excellent play, with first Stevie Ward and then George Williams breaking through the defence, but England couldn’t capitalise on either opportunity.

James Duckworth then levelled the scores when he caught an arrowed kick from Williams on the last tackle to make it 6-4 and England went into the halftime interval ahead by 8-6 after centre Mark Percival snaked his way into the corner, eluding the defence moments before the whistle.

The second half began poorly for England when Alexi Falepaini was put through to score under the posts after Hewitt had carved open the defence to put the tourists back in front.

England looked to have responded almost immediately when captain Bateman went in under the posts to the roaring approval of the 1,054 crowd in attendance only to see his try ruled out for a forward pass.

England were made to pay when AIS captain Rhett Webster slid in down the left hand touchline after some inventive play to keep the ball alive saw the Australians go from one side of the pitch to the other.

With just over ten minutes remaining, Bateman collected the ball 30 meters out, shrugged off the first tackler to create an opening and the big forward then showed a blistering turn of pace to beat the cover defence and dive in on the left hand touch line. Williams slotted the extras to bring the scores to 16-14.

In an thrilling final few minutes, Ado Waianga collected a high kick to seemingly secure the win only for England’s Greg Wilde to hit back with an instantaneous response, but it proved to be the last throw of the dice for England as the game finished 22-20.

“We’re obviously disappointed to get beat but I was very pleased with the performance that the lads put in today and there are lots of positives for us to take from the game,” said England Academy coach Dave Elliott.

“The lads are all distraught but this is the start of a journey for them and we’ve emphasised the need to give these players access to International competition. The players have had that and we’ve got a platform to work on and build on.

“It was a great effort from the boys. There were some outstanding individual performances in our side but we made a few errors and collectively at times we just couldn’t get over the line and you pay for that at this level.

“In the end their experience told and they held on for the win but we know where we went wrong and what we could have done better so now we’ll go away and work on that and look to improve going forward.”

It was the second win in a week for the Australian’s following their 36-0 victory over Wales mid-week and they travel to York next for a clash against the Community Lions at Heworth ARLFC on Wednesday, December 7 (7.30pm).

England Academy Squad
1. Jack Owens (Widnes Vikings, Halton Hornets) 2. James Duckworth (Leeds Rhinos, Whinmoor) 3. Mark Percival (St Helens, Halton Hornets) 4. James Saltonstall (Warrington Wolves, Siddal) 5. Greg Wilde (St Helens, Golbourne Parkside) 6. George Williams (Wigan Warriors, Ince Rose Bridge) 7. Daniel Yates (St Helens, Waterhead) 8. Liam McAvoy (Bradford Bulls, Broughton Red Rose) 9. James Cunningham (Hull FC, East Hull) 10. Mike Learmonth (Warrington Wolves, Hunslet Warriors) 11. Ben Currie (Warrington Wolves, Golbourne Parkside) 12. Stevie Ward (Leeds Rhinos, Hunslet Warriors) 13. John Bateman (C) (Bradford Bulls, Bradford Dudley Hill) 14. Connor Spencer (Bradford Bulls, Hunslet Warriors) 15. Jordan Baldwinson (Leeds Rhinos, Hunslet Warriors) 16. Greg Richards (St Helens, Ulverston) 17. Jack Cockerham (Bradford Bulls, Castleford Lock Lane)

Tries: Duckworth, Percival, Bateman, Wilde
Goals: Williams 2

Australian Institute of Sport
1. Addo Waianga
2. Nane McDonald
3. Jarrad Watson
4. Rhett Webster (C)
5. Brady Williams
6. Kodi Nikorima
7. Doug Hewitt
8. Joshua Northam
9. Logan Harris
10. Brendan Lee
11. Jack Creighton
12. Aleki Falepaini
13. Corey Jensen
14. Hayden Hansen
15. Euan Aitken
16. Dylan Cartwright
17. Andrew Saunders

ENGLAND ACADEMY	20 - 22	Australian Instute of Sport
TRIES : James DUCKWORTH, Mark PERICVAL, John Bateman, Greg Wilde GOALS : Williams 2		TRIES : Jarrod WATSON, Aleki FALEPAINI, Addo WAIANGA, Rhett WEBSTER GOALS : Doug HEWITT 3
Jack Owens	1	Addo WAIANGA
James Duckworth	2	Nane McDONALD
Mark Percival	3	Jarrad WATSON
James Saltonstall	4	Rhett WEBSTER
Greg Wilde	5	Brady WILLIAMS
George Williams	6	Kodi NIKORIMA
Daniel Yates	7	Doug HEWITT
Liam McAvoy	8	Josh NORTHAM
James Cunningham	9	Logan Harris
Mike Learmonth	10	Brendan LEE
Ben Currie	11	Jack CREIGHTON
Stevie Ward	12	Aleki FALEPAINI
John Bateman	13	Corey JENSEN
Connor Spencer	14	Hayden HANSEN
Jordan Baldwinson	15	Euan AIKEN
Greg Richards	16	Dylan CARTWRIGHT
Jack Cockerham	17	Andy SAUNDERS
	18	Chissy SMITH
COACHES		COACHES :
Dave ELLIOTT		Brian Johnson
		Col MATTHEWS

Story & Photo By :

The Poms have made a huge build up for this game and are anticating a huge crowd at the Leigh Sports Village.

"We are fielding what we believe is our strongest available team", says Storming Dave Norman.

The England Academy will be the challenge of the tour with this star studded side full of Super League players, but this AIS side have talent from one side of the field to the other well led by brillaint halves.

If the Aussie boyz can be disiplined and get plenty of footy, the results might indeed suprise our pommie mates

The game will be remembering one of the all time greats of our game with a minutes silence in memory of former Australian Skipper Artie Beetson, the entire AIS squad will be wearing black arm bands during the Test to show respect to Artie.

ENGLAND ACADEMY SQUAD

The AIS Team with coach Col Matthews after the test v Wales u18's (Photo : Ian LOVELL)

WALES U18s 0 - 36 AIS TRIES : GOALS : TRIES : Aleki Falepaini, Jarrod Watson 2, Jack Creighton, Kodi Nikorima, Doug Hewitt, GOALS : Doug Hewitt 3, Cory Jenson

WALES AIS 1. Jacob Morgan 2. Chris Leyshon 3. Jack Pring 4. TJ Collin 5. Ben Burgess 6. Olly Olds 7. Courtney Davies 8. Rhys Pugsley 9. Dale Evans 10. Rhys Watkins 11. David Palmer 12. Bradley Hill 13. Rhodri Lloyd (c) Sub: 14. Efan Ellis 15. Jack Molloy 16. Dan Mock 17. Osian Phillips 18. Lewis Barnett 1 Addo WAIANGA 2 Brad WILLIAMS 3 Rhett WEBSTER (c) 4 Jarrad WATSON 5 (Nane) McDONALD 6 Kodi NIKORIMA 7 Doug HEWITT 8 Brendan LEE 9 Hayden HANSEN 10 Corey JENSEN 11 Jack CREIGHTON 12 Aleki FALEPAINI 13 Ajuma ADAMS SUBS 14 Andy SAUNDERS 15 Brandan LEE 16 Euan AIKEN 17 Josh NORTHAM 18 Chissy SMITH AIS WELSH Man of the Match : Rhodri Lloyd AIS Man of the Match : Brandan LEE

The Welsh end their autumn campaign with a win and a defeat while the Australians will be full of confidence before their games against England and Great Britain Community Lions, the latter of which will surely contain a number of Welsh youngsters following some healthy individual performances this month.

The home side were beaten but not disgraced and the scoreline doesn't show how much effort they put in against a strong Aussie side, many of whom are affiliated to NRL clubs.

An early Australian attack was well picked up by TJ Collin, but from the next play, Jack Creighton dived over. Doug Hewitt missed the kick.

Mawedo Waianga attempted a second but was held up over the line, but Aleki Falepaini scored following the play-the-ball. Doug Hewitt missed both conversion attempts.

Wales attempted to fight back. Jack Molloy was held up over the line while Jacob Morgan's grubber was too long for anyone to latch onto.

At the other end, Rhett Webster fumbled a Kodi Nikorima pass as he looked for Australia's third try and Hayden Hanson had a score disallowed for a forward pass.

However with two minutes to go in the first half, Falepaini was sent over for his second of the game. Hewitt converted to make the score 14-0 to the visitors at the interval.

Wales started well in the second half and with the rain now stopped, both sides were able to play more of a skilled game with the visitors especially excelling.

The home side attempted to break through but were denied by some strong defence.

But the Australians scored on their first major attack of the period and a good passing move ended with Kodi Nikorima running home. Hewitt converted to make the score 20-0 before adding a try of his own minutes later.

Jarrod Watson scored the next Australian try, breaking free of the Welsh back-line to run 30 metres to the line. Hewitt easily added the extras.

There could have been more but Brandon Lee and Dan Clarke were both called back following forward passes leading to their disallowed tries.

Wales battled but couldn't get over the line. Rhodri Lloyd and Ben Burgess combined to set up Chris Leyshon but he was pushed into touch.

IAN LOVELL PHOTOGRAPHY
Ado Waianga runs around the Welsh defender	Jack CREIGHTON dives in for his try against the Welsh u18's
	Kodi NIKORIMA runs at the Welsh defensive line during the Test match
Jarrod Watson bashes his way thru the Welshline	Rhett Webster lines up the running Rhys Pugsley
	PHOTO'S thanks to our long time mate & Official Welsh Photographer IAN LOVELL ORDER YOUR FOTO'S FROM THE AIS v WALES u18's game from Ian www.ianlovell.com/
Rhys Watkins get wrapped up by the Aussie defence
WALES	AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF SPORT
1. Jacob Morgan (Crusaders) 2. Chris Leyshon (Crusaders) 3. Jack Pring (South Wales Scorpions) 4. TJ Collin (Crusaders) 5. Ben Burgess (Crusaders) 6. Olly Olds (Leeds Rhinos) 7. Courtney Davies (Crusaders) 8. Rhys Pugsley (Crusaders) 9. Dale Evans (Crusaders) 10. Rhys Watkins (Crusaders) 11. David Palmer (Crusaders) 12. Bradley Hill (South Wales Scorpions) 13. Rhodri Lloyd (Wigan Warriors, capt.) Subs: 14. Efan Ellis (Crusaders) 15. Jack Molloy (London Broncos) 16. Dan Mock (Crusaders) 17. Osian Phillips (Crusaders)	1. Mawedo Waianga 2. Brady Williams 3. Rhett Webster 4. Jarrod Watson 5. Nene McDonald 6. Kodi Nikorima 7. Doug Hewitt 8. Brandon Lee 9. Hayden Hanson 10. Corey Jenson 11. Jack Creighton 12. Aleki Falepaini 13. Ajuma Adams Subs: 14. Dan Clarke 15. Andrew Saunders 16. Joshua Northan 17. Eaun Aitken
Referee: Ian Curzon Half-time: 0-14 Attendance: 325	Tries: Creighton (3), Falepaini (9, 38), Nikorima (51), Hewitt (54), Watson (59, 86) Goals: Hewitt 3/6, Jenson 1/1

Herbert Bolt (1893–1916) was a pioneer Australian rugby league player, a state representative centre and soldier who served and fell in World War I. He is one of 75 Australian soldiers whose remains were identified by name in 2010 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as part of the Fromelles Military Cemetery project.

Story & Photo By :

The AIS schaolarship is not only to provide a pathway to the world of professional rugby league, it is also to give squad members a look at some of our Nations history.

Over the past couple months at the AIS in Canberra, the boyz were givensome home work, which was to find some information about someone from their own home town who died on the fields of battle in France during the 1st world war, then find that guys grave and pay respects on behalf of the community.

Story & Photo By :

Half time French u17's 26 - 18 AIS

The Aussies are down to 12 men when Tommy McLellen got 10 in the bin for an alledged late tackle
AIS COME BACK ALMOST ENOUGH
The highly rated French Under 17 have held off a strong second half come back to defeat the touring AIS in the 2 Test 35 - 32 this morning

The touring Aussies went down to the French u 17s this morning despite a strong second half come back

FULL TIME : French u17s 35 - 32 AIS

AIS TOUR UPDATE
Contact with the squad is a bit spaz atm, we are working on sorting out our communication probs and hope to interview a few of the players this evening Sydney Time.

Yesterday the boyz all went shopping on the Spainish boarder when the bargins are plentiful

Also a bit of a tradition these days on the AIS tour is the tasting of National French foods, and 5 lucky (or unlucky) squad members got to taste a sample of French tucker, tonite we will be talking to big prop forward Andy Saunders who we are sure will have a pretty straight opinion of what was on offer

THE AIS rugby League squad at the AIS in Canberra on Monday (Photo : OurFootyMedia)

AIS CAMP FOTO'S MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY

SCHOOLBOYS v CRONULLA SHARKS

CHECK OUT THE ACTION

Coachs Brian Johnston and Col Matthews have done a magnificent and patient job again this year and the boys are starting to look sharp.

The AIS rugby league program offers country boyz the opportunity to progress their rugby league careers with expert coaching, conditioning and the program also includes many educational aspects.

AIS Coach Col MATTHEW'S talks to the AIS Rookies during the Yo Yo Test (Photo : ourfootymedia)

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AIS RUGBY LEAGUE PROGRAM HERE

Story & Photo's BY : & Brian Johnson

So we asked AIS Rugby League Head Coach Mr. Brian Johnson, once again Brian was only too happy to help and send the following statement.

The AIS Program selects players from areas outside the NSW junior rep system. We cannot scholarship anyone who lives within that area.

To clarify – we cannot scholarship anyone from Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Wollongong.

On occasion however, when we are preparing for the overseas tour we are allowed to offer places on the tour to players whom we feel would “plug a gap” for us in our playing roster.

This happens occasionally as some clubs don’t want their players that have been involved in the program to go on the tour.

Scouting for the program: Players are selected on the basis of their performance in representative games.

By watching the rep games we get a chance to watch the good players compete against other good players.

The higher up the rep ladder a player is the more likely he is to be offered a scholarship.

The system of rep matches that currently exists allows us to look at players at different levels and make a determination on which of those players we would like to offer scholarships to.

Coaches and Scouts are watching these rep games in all Australian States.

The 2010 AUS Squad at Sydney Airport about to go on their European Tour (Photo : ourfootymedia)

The 2008 AIS squad celebrate a good victory against the old enemy the Great Britain Community Lions

The Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra will tomorrow welcome the 2011 AIS Rugby League Squad for a year going through the footy program which has included players like Israel Falou, James MacMannis, Tommy Leroy Lars, the Aubusson Bro's, Cale Hobday and Steve Coombes.

As the new inductees gather in the Nations Capital for camp, the 50 odd players who turn up this morning will be in for a good first week of intence trianing.

Some of the north queensland boyz may be late, some of the Rockhampton boyz are stuck on their farms surrounded by water and can't make the Canberra trip.

"The past 9 or 10 years we have shown we have a very viable program, i really believe we (The AIS Program) have made the difference between playing NRL football and not playing NRL football" AIS Head coach Brian Johnson told ourfootyteam by phone last nite.

"We have four camps a year, this is the first camp for the 2011 squad", said legendary team manager Col Matthews, "we have had about 50 players from the AIS program go on to play NRL football"

The first camp this week is all about basics, "we teach basic skills, a set of basic skills we teach, we think it is important players pick up these skills", said Brian Johnson.

The highlight for the AIS squad for those selected is a European Tour at the end of the years which includes matches in France and the United Kingdom.

The AIS have invited ourfootyteam up to the camp this year, so not only will we be covering the AIS squads European tour, but we will be following the progress of all the squad members.