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2011 NRL DRAW
TOYOTA CUP LADDER | Tuesday 3 rd April 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 NEWCASTLE SCHOOLBOYS WIN KNIGHTS CUP Newcastle Schoolboys Representative 13's/14's/15's & 16's teams were successful in winning the Knights Cup played at Salamander Sports Complex on Saturday 31st March. Teams from the North Coast, (Groups 2 & 3), Maitland, Central Coast and Farrar High Tamworth competed in the competition. All four Newcastle teams finished on top of their pool and all progressed to the final. The 13's and 15's won their finals, the 14's and 16's both narrowly losing their finals. It was a combined effort by all teams that saw Newcastle Schoolboys finish on top of the points score therefore winning the Knight's Cup. Congratulations to all the players, coaches and trainers for a very successful result. |
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 FIRST ROUND OF BRONCOS COMPETITIONThe first round of the Broncos Competition kicked off on the Gold Coast this week with some hard fought games. These games seed the teams for National Schoolboys Cup knockout rounds and as such are important for all schools involved. Palm Beach Currumbin played out a 24-24 draw at Galleon Way while at Southport, Keebra Park had a 40-4 win over rivals Wavell. Scores are yet to come to hand from the Coombabah game but will be posted as soon as they do. The Keebra -Wavell game was a physical encounter with Keebra's Physicality eventually getting them over the top of Wavell who seemed happier when shifting wide. Jai Arrow was strong as was Dallas Graham. These encounters set the tone for what is sure to once again be a highly competitive season of representative football. With injured players set to return, competition for spots is also likely to be high and this will further the intensity of what is already the hardest form of Open age schoolboy football. |
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| Sunday 01 April 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 The Group 4 Under 18’s team were not only successful in retaining the Brazer Shield for the best side in the Greater Northern Region, but were also successful at the selection table at the completion of the Greater Northern Region Under 18’s trials today in Tamworth. The Group 4 side opened the day with a victory over Group 21 22 to 18. John Brady scored on the bell to secure the victory. In the second game of the day the GN Chairman’s side defeated Group 19 24 to nil. The Chairman’s side, who were players from the 3 groups played well after meeting at the ground on the day. The 3rd game of the day, was played between Group 19 and Group 21. Group 21 were victorious in this game by 22 to 6. The down side to the game was what looks to be a serious injury to Warialda’s Luke Smith. The final game of the day, was between the 2 early winners in Group 4 and the GN Chairman’s XIII. The Chiarman’s side led 6 to 4 at the half, but a dominate display in the second half saw the Group 4 side run out the winners 22 to 6. The Group 4 side was then rewarded with 9 player named in the Greater Northern squad in preparation of the Country Championships, which will be held at Wingham on the 14th and 15th April. SCORES FROM THE DAYS GAMES Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Group 4 22 (Logan Harris 2, Mitch Dening, Andrew Endicott, John Brady tries, Brady goal) defeated GN Chairman’s XIII 6 (Josh Dicker try, Kurt Aldridge goal) |
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| Saturday 31 th March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It is business time in the 2012 Harold Matthews and SG Ball competitions as we head into Round 8 this weekend. Penrith and South Sydney look like they will battle it out for the minor-premiership in the Harold Matthews, while the Round 9 clash between Balmain and Manly in SG Ball should decide who takes out the title in SG Ball. A plethora of tantalising fixtures across both competitions this weekend, so let's delve into a few. Harold Matthews: In the first of our feature matches, the fifth-placed St George Dragons host the team they are keeping at bay by a mere 42% on the competition ladder in Manly. All the pressure seems to be on the Sea Eagles in this one. They face third-placed Balmain in Round 9 where a loss could knock them out of the finals. Having mentioned that, the Dragons face a tricky trip up the F3 to tackle a Knights side which has won three on the trot so their path isn't any easier. Manly centre Wade Hannell has found some form in recent weeks, Hannell crossed for a hat-trick against South Western Sydney Academy of Sport last weekend and his opposite, Topiese Taufa, will have to front up in defence should the Dragons want to take home the two competition points. In our other feature match for Harold Matthews, we cast our eyes to the F3 derby between the Central Coast Centurions and the Newcastle Knights. We have had plenty to say about the Centurions this year and we still like them as a team yet they now find themselves in 10th position fighting for their lives against a Knights side who, as mentioned above, have won three on the trot and are in the exact same position. Pretty hard to predict but one thing we know is that desperation football normally means exciting football. So in other words, forget the fact that Woy Woy may sign Willie Mason and get down to Woy Woy Oval and check this game out! In other matches, Balmain host the Sharks at Leichhardt Oval, while at Henson Park, Western Suburbs take on the Sydney Roosters as part of triple header which includes a NSW Cup match between Newtown and the Auckland Vulcans. At another triple header, this time at the Windsor Sports Complex, the Penrith Panthers do battle with Canberra and then just down the road at St Mary's, Illawarra head up to do battle with Western Sydney Academy of Sport. At Campbelltown, South Western Sydney Academy of Sport welcome South Sydney and, finishing off the round, the Bears will look to post two points against the Bulldogs in some Sunday afternoon football. SG Ball: The Panthers change their base of operation to Windsor this weekend and they will face this match from some unusual territory, coming off a loss. The Panthers were humbled by a Sharks outfit which has been travelling under the radar. They head into this one placed fifth since dropping four places after their loss to the Sharks. Pretty ruthless competition when you come to think about it! The Raiders head into the match off the back off six straight wins after they lost to Manly in Round 1 at Brookvale Oval. Should be a hum-dinger at Windsor! Turn the tables and the side which inflicted all the pain on Penrith will now look to do the same to the new competition leaders, Balmain. The Sharks head to Leichhardt brimming with confidence after they handed the Panthers at 46-30 defeat last weekend. One of the highlights will surely be the matchup between Mitchell Moses (Balmain) and Justin Rodrigues (Cronulla). Both are extremely talented ball players and have been in good form in recent weeks. Rodrigues was the chief destroyer last weekend and, should his forward pack gain ascendancy again, he and his lethal backline could take this game away from Moses and the Tigers. In other matches across the competition, the Eels head over to the west to take on the Reds at Larkhill Sportsplex, while at WIN Jubilee the Dragons host the Sea Eagles. Saturday at 1.30pm, South Sydney travel down to Melbourne and at the same time at a revamped Henson Park, the Sydney Roosters play traditional rivals Western Suburbs. Rounding out Saturday's fixtures are Western Sydney Academy of Sport and Illawarra at St Mary's and the Central Coast and Newcastle. Finally, on Sunday at TG Milner, before the NSW Cup match between the North Sydney Bears and Illawarra Cutters, the Bears play the Bulldogs. |
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| Friday 30 th March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TEAMS from Orange, Bathurst, Tamworth and Mudgee will help Dubbo junior league kick start the new season tomorrow at Apex Oval. League president Neil Millgate said more than 80 games would be played in a round robin format in divisions from under-10s to 16s. He said traditionally Western associations held pre-season gala days at Forbes, Dubbo and Orange but, for different reasons, only Dubbo would provide coaches with a hit out for their teams before the competitions start. Parkes district teams are a no-show with their competition already under way, according to Millgate. “We’re really pleased with the response to our Dubbo carnival and it should be a great start to the season,” Millgate said. “It’s great to have the kids from Orange, Bathurst and Mudgee come over and having others from Tamworth is an added pleasure for us. “These four areas have a strong junior base and when you add our local area clubs, it all shapes up to what should be an excellent day of football. “The day also gives the coaches the opportunity to have their boys play against teams they don’t normally come up against. “I know that our four clubs in Dubbo - South Dubbo, St John’s, Eastridge and Police Youth Club - are really keen to see how their teams perform and that will be the same with our clubs from Nyngan and Wellington. “Unfortunately Narromine won’t have teams competing this weekend but they’ll definitely be competitive in the various age groups once the season starts after the school holidays on April 21.” Although the main oval at Apex Oval is out of business for the season, the junior league grounds will more than cater for the work load tomorrow. Interest will centre around how the Dubbo under-16 teams perform, remembering we didn’t have a competition for this age group in 2011. “Thankfully things have come together nicely and we have six teams,” Millgate said. “Not having under-16s play was a major concern for us and we’ll be looking for renewed enthusiasm this year.” Teams from St John’s, South Dubbo, PCYC, Eastridge, Narromine and Nyngan will play in the 16s. Dubbo City Junior Rugby League will look after the catering tomorrow and funds will be used to pay referees and the 2012 ground fees for the four local junior clubs. Meanwhile, Western Rams under-18s will play Central Coast Dolphins in the next round of the Country Championships at Wingham after Easter. Under the coaching of Cowra’s Steve Sutton, the Rams proved too strong for Southern Redbacks 24-18 at Picton last Saturday. This weekend Sutton has the boys back under his control with a training camp at Lake Burrendong. And, the start of the Group 11 senior season is just a fortnight away with the first of two rounds before the competition starts on April 29. The first pre-season games will see premiers Dubbo CYMS at home to Forbes; Nyngan play Cobar (at Nyngan); Macquarie travel to Parkes and Wellington play Narromine at Kennard Park. These games are also selection trials for senior Group 11 representation. |
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| Sunday 25 th march 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RUGBY LEAGUE RECEIVES FULL GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION IN UKRAINE Story By : PHIL CAPLAN - RLEF MEDIA Release Eastern European rugby league has received a major boost with the announcement in Kiev that the Ukrainian Ministry of Education, Science, Youth and Sport has granted the game full recognition after several months of consultations with the Ukrainian Federation of Rugby League. “We have made history,” enthused UFRL vice president Artur Martyrosyan. “We have waited for this moment for so long, and it is a major victory for our sport and all of European rugby league. But this is just the beginning of a new era for rugby league in Ukraine, the biggest and most important steps await us now.” Minister Dmytro Tabachnyk made the decision and the UFRL will be eligible for government funding after the end of UEFA’s European Championships – co-hosted by Ukraine – this summer. Rugby league will have full access to state facilities such as gyms, stadia and other complexes. In addition, the UFRL’s fledgling youth programme, which was launched last year with four schools, will now be eligible to all Ukraine’s schools and institutes of physical education. |
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| Saturday 24 th march 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Coast district has named its 19 man squad to contest the State Championship to be held on the Sunshine Coast in May this year. Made up primarily of Keebra Park and Palm Beach Currumbin players there are two other schools featured with Sam Gee representing Trinity College Beenleigh and Jayden Berrell representing the Australian Trade College at Robina. Good luck boys and watch this space for updates relating to the State Championships. |
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| NYNGAN TO HOST EASTER RUGBY LEAGUE CHALLENGE
The Far West community of Nyngan is once again gearing up to host the 2012 Nyngan Easter Rugby League Challenge to be held over the Easter Long Weekend, 6th – 8th April. This will be the sixth successive year the event has ran, and promises to be a great weekend of rugby league action. The Challenge will be contested across two divisions, Opens (U18s) and 15 years boys. The 2012 line up is one of the best yet and includes two international teams along with an interstate team. The line up includes Parramatta, Newcastle, Penrith, CRL Far West Academy of Sport, South Australia, PNG and Group XI. The 2012 Challenge will be boosted with several high profile guests attending the event. Sean Hampstead will be returning to assist with the officiating and will be bringing along with him several members of the NRL Referee Squad. Event Coordinator Col Wright is excited with how the event is shaping up for 2012. “The event has shaped up well this year. The line up of teams is almost finalised and I can’t wait for the weekend to start” said Mr Wright. “We have two sides from PNG and one from South Australia which should provide some added publicity and a different atmosphere to the event from previous years. “It’s great to have the continued support of the NRL Clubs especially Newcastle and Parramatta who have attended every year so far and Penrith who have attended the last three years. “Those who can get out to Nyngan for the weekend will see some of the best junior talent in NSW running around.” In an added boost to the event sponsors Straits and Xylem Water (previously ITT Water and Wastewater) have once again continued their sponsorship of the event. “Straits will sponsor the Opens Boys while Xylem Water will sponsor the 15 years boys division” said Mr Wright. “Their continued support is invaluable and both organisations have believed in the event since the first Challenge in 2007.” The action will not only be confined to the rugby league field. The athletes will participate in the “Golden Tusk Games”, where they get to pit their bush skills against each other in a variety of activities including, damper cooking, herding sheep, milking cows and Traditional Aboriginal Games. More information regarding kick off times will be made available in the coming week. |
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| Friday 23 rd March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 NO LONGER the underdog, Kooringal High School snuffed out 23 years of Hardy Shield shortcomings after eclipsing title favourites Wagga High School at Equex Centre last night. In a commanding performance, Kooringal slogged its way through 40 minutes of defensive brilliance to deny Wagga High’s fiercest campaigners. With passion that would not die, Kooringal bounced from a four point lead at half time to snatch the 26-6 glory from Wagga High’s grasp in the historic schoolboys rugby league tournament. Speaking after the game, Kooringal coach Tim Wykes said last year’s grand final loss was the motivation for last night’s unrelenting effort. “I think they really remembered what it felt like to lose last year,” he said. “The boys had a much stronger resolve I think, and that came through in their defence. “They played much more like a team, it wasn’t a case of relying on one or two players to do something, they did it together.” The trouble started early for Wagga High as powerful five-eighth Nathan Rose busted through defence certain to score before slamming the ball down inches short of the try line. Taking the early indication, Wagga High struggled to find a higher gear as Kooringal created opportunities and shut down any chance of a resurgence. “At half-time it was only 10-6 so anything could have happened,” Wykes said. “We just managed to find the tries when we needed them.” Despite moments of brilliance from pacey fullback Campbell Lovell, Wagga High’s only try came from a Kooringal High mistake that opened an opportunity for Rose to cross in the first half. In true fairytale style, prop Lance Broughton and centre Nick Davoren collected two tries a piece to write Kooringal into the Hardy Shield history books. Full-time: KOORINGAL 26 (Z McCauley, N Davoren 2, L Broughton 2 tries; L Broughton 1 goal, S Tracey 2 goals) d WAGGA HIGH 6 (N Rose try; H Stewart goal) at Equex Centre. Referee: Jake White |
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| KOORINGAL KEEN TO END HARDY SHIELD DROUGHT ONE year later, Kooringal High School captain Aaron Wynne still remembers the feeling of defeat at the hands of three-time champions Mater Dei Catholic College in the Hardy Shield final. In its 22nd year of drought, Kooringal was demolished 24-6 in an overwhelming performance at Equex Centre, adding another hollow series to the total. Heading into tonight’s schoolboy rugby league decider against Wagga High School, the gifted 17-year-old halfback believes a shot at redemption will guide Kooringal to victory. “Everyone keeps telling us how long it’s been since we won so it’s always in the back of our minds,” Wynne admitted yesterday. “We were the underdogs in most of our games last year and then probably this year as well. “We haven’t won it in so long, but we’re getting closer and closer so we feel like it’s going to happen. “I thought we had the players to do it last year, and I definitely do this year.” With burning pride, Wynne said he holds the memory of last year’s defeat in his mind as a reminder not to fold in the hunt for the Shield. Although Kooringal has fielded a new-look team this series, Wynne insists the lead-up to tonight’s final feels eerily similar to last series. “There’s no difference,” he said. “It feels the same but some of the older boys like me remember how it felt last year. “We were almost there, so we have to keep thinking about that and try our hardest not to let that happen again.” Kooringal has coasted through the series with two straight victories over Mt Austin High School and The Riverina Anglican College, despite coach Tim Wykes admitting the team hasn’t yet reached its peak. Along with Wynne, Kooringal hosts a wealth of talent through centre Blake Gardiner, hooker Steven Tracey and second rower Sam Keast. Wynne is adamant the key to victory is respecting your opponent, saying Kooringal is careful not to underestimate Wagga High tonight. “We haven’t played them yet, but we know they’ll be tough,” he said. “We’re definitely not going to underestimate them.” |
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This summer will see four members of the Huddersfield Giants Scholarship 16’s Squad depart for a trip of a lifetime to Australia. Jordan Howden, Matthew Burman, Danny Lidbury and Will Carlos will initially depart for Queensland’s Gold Coast on the 22nd June where they will compete as part of Mackay State High Schools Rugby Academy squad in a Queensland State High Schools Country Cup Rugby League Carnival. The boys will then transfer 1000km north of Brisbane to Mackay to continue their Rugby League Development with the State High School along with a Community Club in the local area. In addition, each player will reside with a host family who will provide for them for the duration of their eight week stay. Player Performance Manager Steve Hardisty commented on the trip: “This is a fantastic opportunity for all four of the lads, one that I’m certain they will all take with both hands. All four possess a very professional approach and will represent themselves, their school, Community Club and the Huddersfield Giants extremely well, all are extremely good ambassadors. Mackay State High School has a history of providing these exchange type opportunities for talented Young Rugby League Players, they are sure to be treated to a fantastic experience with an abundance of opportunities to compete within a very competitive environment and to develop not only as players but as young men.” All four players are currently working hard to raise funds towards the trip, anyone who would like to make a contribution can contact Karen Lidbury on 07900 266863 or via email on karen.lidbury@parksideflex.com  |
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 EMERGING rugby league players from the central west were treated to a high performance training day by the St George Illawarra Dragons at Dubbo’s Apex Oval this week. A dozen players were put through a variety of testing on the day including a 40-metre sprint, beep test and other measures of strength, speed and endurance. Dragons high performance coach Ben Haran and athletic development coach Rob Leslie conducted the session, one of many training days held across country NSW. The Far West Academy players, selected by members of the Country Rugby League (CRL), came from Dubbo, Nyngan, Coonabarabran and Goodooga. Western Region CRL development manager Kyle Myers said the Dragons would come around to the Orana region annually to scout potential players. “The high performance coaches come around doing tests with these younger players and compare them with the current Illawarra Dragons,” he said. The CRL and St George coaches performed numerous tests such as shoulder and chin-up resistance, virtual jump tests, one-legged squat exercises and a 40-metre sprint. Only when the Dragons went across the state, Myers said, would they decide on which of the younger players they would consider training further. “It’s a good opportunity for the kids to know what to expect in the future if they choose to become rugby league players,” he said. He said former league players from Dubbo and its surrounding areas, like Charly Runciman and Jordan Hay, were among a number of players from the Group 11 region selected to play in the under-20 side for the Dragons. “It would be good to get a few more players from these parts to play league. “The kids were aged between 15 and 18 years old, and the training session was to prepare them for the tough battle to get into the NRL.” He said the boys jumped at the opportunity to train with the Illawarra coaches, and were very excited to get a taste of their potential career. High performance coach Ben Haran said the Dragons had a number of players recommended by the CRL. “We were testing protocols for these future NRL players, giving the kids opportunities they’ve never gotten before,” he said. Among the players that stood out, he said, was 15-year-old Dubbo resident Phil Combridge who, despite having a good body shape, was still quite young. “I think it was good for him to see how things work, and because of our partnership with the CRL we’ve contracted a number of players into the under-20 system,” Haran said. He said the next step for country areas was to benchmark those talented players and mould them into future NRL footballers. “We’re seeing if they’re up to NRL standards ... our process is one other NRL teams don’t normally have, and instead of those teams inviting younger players to try out we go and find them.” |
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| Wednesday 21 st March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
You can tell the schoolboys footy season is well and truely here when all the rep nomination form come out. Last years NSWCCC u15 and u18 champions are seeking players to nominate for both the u15's & u18s Presidents squads. PRESIDENTS NOMINATION FORM HERE |
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| Monday 19 th March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CAN A SYDNEY TEAM BRING THE TOYOTA CUP TO THE HARBOUR CITY? Since the inception of the Toyota Cup in 2008 no Sydney team has been able to get their hands on the cherished silverware. The glory has gone to teams that reside outside of Sydney with the Canberra Raiders and Melbourne Storm taking the honours in 2008 and 2009 while the last two seasons have been dominated by the New Zealand Warriors. But is this about to change? After three rounds of the competition many people are noticing the form of some of the Sydney teams. Leading the charge are West Tigers, Canterbury Bankstown, Sydney Roosters, Penrith and Parramatta who have all recorded two wins from three starts. Last year’s powerhouses Warriors and Cowboys look vulnerable. The Warriors got their tails spanked by the Bulldogs today 28-16 recording their first loss at home since 2010. They also managed to get out of jail last Monday against a determined Eels outfit who led them 16-6 at one stage before recording a 38-28 win. The Cowboys have lost two of their three games losing to Brisbane and last night to the Eels at home 30-22. What is not surprising is that the Sydney teams standing out were strong age teams in the Harold Matthews and SG Ball Cup competitions. In 2008 when the boys were under 16 Parramatta and Penrith contested the grand final. Two years later in 2010 it was the Sydney Roosters and Parramatta contesting the grand final. The Bulldogs were also strong in those days. Parramatta still boasts familiar names like Wehbe, Azar, Moefaauo, Jennings, Eisenhuth, Seage and Gagen. Throw in five of their players that are still eligible for the SG Ball Cup. Half Robbie Kamoto and forwards Fraser Masinamua, Pauli Pauli, Kelepi Tanginoa and Kaysa Pritchard are all playing above their age. Can you imagine how strong the Eels SG Ball team would be if this mob were included each week? Have a look at the Bulldogs – plenty of familiar names to ourfooty.com readers – McCallum, Klemmer, Ahofono, Burr, Minute and Carter were all part of junior rep teams coming through the system. Same with Penrith. Does Harry Seijka and Vaipuna Tia-Kilifi ring a bell? Throw in other names from years gone past like Blake South, Tony Satini and Tim Eisenhuth and what you get is footy clubs banking on their local products to bring them success. The Wests Tigers and Sydney Roosters also have plenty of names from the past all competing each week in the greatest under 20 rugby league competition in the world. KEY MATCHES NEXT WEEK: Eels v PanthersBulldogs v Knights Tigers v Raiders Roosters v Storm |
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| Wednesday 14 th March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ASSRL celebrates its 40th Anniversary in 2012 with a series of gala events. These include a reunion of former players and officials, the launch of a book detailing the history of Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League, and a two game series against the English Academy. The reunion will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday 22nd September, 2012. Further details and organisation will be posted soon on this website. The book, written by former ASSRL Team Manager Charlie McGee, explains the beginnings of Rugby League in schools in Australia, as well the development of ASSRL as an organisation from the 1970s to today. Since the inception of the Academy system in England, their 18 Years team has become a formidable force, and every recent series has been exceptionally close. There is no doubt that both of this year’s games will follow the same pattern. In 2004, for example, James Graham and Kade Snowden went head to head, while the 2002 Australian giants, including Tom Learoyd Lahrs and Ashton Sims, were smashed by the strong English side.  LEARN MORE ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN SCHOOLBOYS HERE |
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 FARRER got everything it wanted out of yesterday’s game against league powerhouse St Gregory’s Campbelltown – everything except a win. The Sydney school, which has produced a long list of elite players such as Chris Lawrence, Jason Taylor, Ryan Hoffman and Trent Barrett, is still one of the strongest in NSW and showed that in a 28-12 win at Farrer’s Simpson Oval. St Greg’s dominated the opening stages and raced to a 16-nil lead on the back of three tries. It then held that advantage until halftime. After the break Farrer came back refreshed and capitalised on a mistake from the kickoff. After gaining a line dropout and threatening the line, winger Will Gooch scooted from dummy half and got the ball down to cut the deficit to 10. But a glut of possession thanks to a number of penalties allowed St Greg’s in again and it was 22-6. Farrer capitalised on a penalty close to the line at the other end following a break from Amith Kumar. Kurt Aldridge caught the defence out with a quick tap and scored almost untouched. He then slotted the conversion to make it 22-12. But once again St Greg’s showed its strength on the edges and came up with the final try of the match. The size and speed of the St Greg’s side had Farrer on the back foot for much of the match, but the game will help the green and golds prepare for their schoolboy season coming up. “It was exactly what we wanted, a good, tough hit-out,” Farrer coach Damian Kenniff said. “We learned a few hard lessons in the first half. “They were hard lessons but we wanted to know where we are. “St Greg’s are a good side and that’s what we wanted.” While the Sydney boys were a little bit too strong for Farrer there were some good signs for the home team. Even though it gave up a lot of size the pack worked hard, led by the likes of Ben Allen, Jake Cocking and Josh Purche, while hookers Logan Harris and Kurt Aldridge controlled the ruck area well. Allen’s big hit late in the game was one of the highlights. “I thought Ben Allen was outstanding,” Kenniff said. “Logan Harris and Kurt Aldridge were good. “Tyler Fleming and Callum Hayne are two of the younger guys and they had a run and will be good for us down the track.” The game attracted the attention some NRL clubs with the Newcastle Knights further strengthening its ties with the school. |
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| TRAC TRAMPLES MOUNT AUSTIN THE Riverina Anglican College (TRAC) kick started an assault on the Hardy Shield title with a 16-6 victory over Mount Austin High School last night. Completely reformed from last year’s performance in the historic schoolboy tournament, TRAC delivered Mount Austin a cut-throat rugby league tutorial in the gritty encounter. “We’re very happy with that,” said TRAC coach Ross Kennedy. “It was a good hit-out, a very tidy game.” Perennial star Tom Stubbs opened the scoring with a scampering try from dummy half, breaking a storm of pressure on Mount Austin’s line for 6-0 at half-time. Taking direction, TRAC captain Darcy Bolton followed suit to break through blind side defence and score under the posts for the first of two dazzling tries in the second-half. Mount Austin playmaker Luke Gladman produced some kick-and-chase magic to send Jya Little over and narrow the deficit to six, but Bolton’s second try of the half sealed the deal in the final minutes. “From then on the game got a bit messy, there was too much dropped ball,” said Mount Austin coach Dustin Bradshaw. “They came out on top of their game played really well, their structures set them up in good field possession. “We gave away too many crucial penalties. “We’ve got no other option but to win (on Thursday) and hope that Kooringal can get over TRAC. “We’ll just go back to training and work on a few things.” Bradshaw insists not all is lost for the Hardy Shield hopefuls as they prepare to take on Kooringal High School on Thursday. “They’re a bit of an unknown for us and they haven’t played yet, so we’ll see how we go,” he said. Fullback Tristan Dickson and front rower Leonard Lyons were Mount Austin’s best, while Bolton and Stubbs were unstoppable for TRAC. |
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WITH 60 seconds on the clock and six points behind, Mater Dei Catholic College needed a miracle to best arch-rival Kildare Catholic College in the opening round of the Hardy Shield last night. Camped 10 metres away from the try-line, Mater Dei hooker Harry Burey fed a sharp pass to halfback Jesse Cunningham from dummy half to send the saviour into try territory and two points away from a draw. As Burey lined up the conversion from square in front of the posts, Mater Dei supporters leaped into the air, only to return to ground with a solemn thud as the ball bounced off the upright right on full-time. For three-time champion Mater Dei, being trumped 10-8 on home ground was heartbreaking. “We’re gutted, but that’s football,” said Mater Dei coach Darryl Lawrence after the game. “This is the game we always look forward to, this is the big game. “With a changed program that’s going to be a pretty costly to us. “We just have to make sure we win pretty convincingly on Thursday night. We have no choice.” Despite the missed conversion, Lawrence labelled Burey’s efforts as most outstanding for Mater Dei in last night’s loss to Kildare. The gutsy clash was full of intensity as both teams fought a see-sawing battle with spark until the final minute. Kildare fullback Andrew Heffernan proved a headache for Mater Dei defenders, with an unpredictable sidestep and determined speed his main weapons. Heffernan was crucial in Kildare’s victory, scoring first points for the visitors and delivering a sensational cut-out pass to Daniel O’Connell to score on the wing in the first half. Each team has only two games to make it to the grand final, with last night’s victory proving a huge bonus for Kildare’s campaign. “The boys put in 100 per cent,” Kildare coach Geoff McNamara said. “I couldn’t fault them. “It was a really tight game, but their goal-line defence was fantastic.” Mater Dei will now play a must-win game against Wagga High School on Thursday night, while Kildare will have a bye. Following last night’s games, TRAC captain Darcy Bolton is leading the charge for Player of the Series on six points, with Mater Dei pair Ethan Mackenzie and Harry Burey close behind on five points. |
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GROUP 11 selectors have named a strong squad of players for this weekend’s Western Rams selection trials, with the group selected following a round-robin tournament at Narromine on Sunday. Dubbo Macquarie will provide five players to the 18-man squad, including the halves pairing of Josh Ferguson and Swade Dunn. Centre Jai Dunn, front-rower Dan Kelly and interchange player Daniel Buckerfield make up the Raiders representation. Dubbo CYMS will also be represented, with lock Lincoln Kavanagh and utility Billy Sing both named in the squad. Sixteen-year-old Sing, who defected to the Fishies from Macquarie in the off-season, will come off the bench. Group 11 will face the Castlereagh League under-18s in their first match at 11.30am on Saturday, with the trials being played at Wellington’s Kennard Park. The other trial will be played by Group 10 and a President’s Squad, made up of fringe players from the Group 10 and Group 11 trials. Group 11 secretary Bob Walsh said he is especially proud to see a strong representation of players from the Woodbridge Cup competition make it into the Group 11 squad. Five players - two from both Condobolin and Canowindra and one from Peak Hill - made the 18-man squad, which is being coached by Greg Edwards. “Woodbridge Cup is affiliated with Group 11 and having that in place means they are eligible to represent us at this level without having to leave their home towns,” Walsh said. “In the past the kids that were looking for these opportunities would leave places like Canowindra or Eugowra or Peak Hill, but now they can stay in their towns, keep football strong in those towns but at the same time get a chance to be noticed at rep level.” GROUP 11 UNDER-18s 1. Jack Creith (Parkes), 2. Sam Thorpe (Condobolin), 3. Brent Naden (Wellington), 4. Jai Dunn (Dubbo Macquarie), 5. Brendan Westcott (Peak Hill), 6. Swade Dunn (Dubbo Macquarie), 7. Josh Ferguson (Dubbo Macquarie), 8. Dan Kelly (Dubbo Macquarie), 9. Jake O’Brien (Parkes), 10. Jake Goodwin (Forbes), 11. Kaleb Whitehurst (Cobar), 12. Kain Earsman (Canowindra), 13. Lincoln Kavanagh (Dubbo CYMS), 14. Jordan Hall (Condobolin), 15. Daniel Buckerfield (Dubbo Macquarie), 16. Jayden Brown (Canowindra), 17. Dave Cowhan (Forbes), 18. Billy Sing (Dubbo CYMS) |
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| FORMER NRL COACH EYES TALENT Story BY : GRANT ROBERTSON FARRER won a few admirers yesterday despite losing to St Gregory’s Campbelltown. Former NRL coach and now Newcastle Knights recruitment manager Peter Mulholland was on hand to watch the green and golds play and said he was impressed with a few of the local boys. “It was a good hit-out,” Mulholland said. “They probably lacked a bit of size more than anything, and these St Greg’s players have been together before. “But the nine (Logan Harris) was good and the two Bradys – the three and the six (Matt and John) – were good. A few of the forwards had a go. “It was impressive. “I’ve seen the St Greg’s boys train and they brought up a pretty good side.” In fact Mulholland was a teacher at St Greg’s once upon a time and even taught Farrer coach Damian Kenniff when he was a St Greg’s boy himself. Mulholland went on to coach the Western Reds when they entered the ARL premiership in 1995 and since then has held a number of other elite coaching and recruitment positions with the likes of Penrith and the Bulldogs. But this year he has joined a bulked-up Knights staff at a time when the club is starting to reclaim the Tamworth area as its own. The club has linked with Farrer and the Wests Greater Northern Academy in recent times with high performance manager Keith Onslow and coaching manager Graham Murray visiting the area. Murray was at Farrer on Friday to help the school’s teams, from under 14s up to the first XIII. “The Knights would like to help and not just with the opens but with all the age levels,” Mulholland said. “You have to have the under 15s so that you progress all the way through. “That’s why when I was at school we always had our best coaches in the under 15s.” The relationship between the Knights and the North West could be further strengthened in the future. Mulholland is keen to have the best young local players in red and blue in the future and knows the club has to make the effort if it is to compete with other clubs. Bulldogs recruitment officer and Warialda legend Noel “Crusher” Cleal was also at yesterday’s game eyeing off the talent and other clubs have moved in as well. But with Nathan Tinkler’s cash and Wayne Bennett’s blueprint for success the Knights are back, bigger and better and ready to reclaim their patch. “Keith has been involved with the academy up here, through the CRL,” Mulholland said. “What we’d probably like to do is see more camps up here and get the best players from the area together. “From a recruitment point of view the North West has always been a happy hunting ground. “We want to get back into this area. “Nathan Tinkler and Wayne Bennett want to develop the academies in Group 3 and Group 4.” |
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| Tuesday 13 March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KEEBRA WEEKLY ROUND UP Another busy week at Keebra has seen a succesful Development day, the commencement of round two in the Titans Cup and Challenge and round two in the inter-school competitions. In the Titans Cup the Keebra Open thirds had a good win over the Keebra Under 16's with the thirds managing to contain some determined 16's forward play through the middle to come out on top with a 16-10 victory. Caleb Morehu and Delany Guildford were outstanding for the Opens and big JJ Collins was the 16s best.In the Titans Challenge the Keebra Open 4ths managed a win over Varsity Lakes which is a good result for these boys, many of whom are in their first year of football. In the local interschool sports competition the 13 B'S are off to a fine start with wins over Robina and Merrimac so far.  This week also sees the reknowned Keebra primary school sevens competition with teams from across the state vying for the coveted trophy. Watch this space for next weeks report. ** LEARN MORE ABOUT KEEBRA PARK RUGBY LEAGUE ** |
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| Monday 12 th March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A WASH-OUT may have delayed the Group 11 under-18s selection last Saturday, but Dubbo CYMS are ready to push claims for their players on Sunday. CYMS coach Justin Yeo said the selection trials at Cale Oval in Narromine would show the other round-robin teams how committed and adaptable the Fishies are heading into the 2012 competition. “All the teams will play three 20-minute games, and many of the players have great prospects to make it through to the Group 11 and Western sides,” he said. Yeo said a few of the under-18 boys were young but were integral to the game and up for any challenges. “Lincoln Cavanaugh and Brayden Carney both made it through to the Western Academy squad last year, but there’s a few other players with the potential to make it that far again,” he said. He named players like 17-year-olds Billy Sing and hooker Ben Marlin, along with 18-year-old CJ Ralph, who were shown to be committed and focused on improving their game. Yeo said CYMS finished third last year )behind premiers Parkes and Macquarie Raiders), but believed the team was better than that and will be worthy competition for the other Group 11 teams. “It all comes down to a good attitude, and that’s what they have,” Yeo said. “All I can ask is that the boys do their absolute best ... we have a few new players this season and we’ve taught them the same values as the older players.” He said the older players understood how the training worked with the newer players falling into the same mould. The other clubs, he said, were strong but some had very skilful players - but again injuries would interrupt any season plans very quickly. “We’ve already got Daniel Runciman has a dislocated shoulder, which is unfortunate but does happen,” Yeo said. CYMS will be playing Macquarie, Peak Hill and Condobolin in Sunday’s selection trials, with Yeo confident that the team would prevail, but it was ultimately up to the players. “We’re pushing for those representative spots, and win or lose the kids are there to play a good game of football and that’s the most important thing,” he said. The pre-season training, Yeo said, wasn’t too hard at this stage because it was still early days. “We have about seven weeks until the first official game so we have a little while to work on our conditioning and skill ... but I’m confident that we’re moving in the right direction,” he said. The heavy rain and flooding during the past fortnight is certain to impact on the availability of some players for Sunday’s trials, especially with teams from Forbes, Canowindra and Condobolin. At the end of the day however, Group 11 coach Greg Edwards will have a squad for the Western rams selection trials against Group 11 and Castlereagh League to be played at Wellington next Saturday, March 17. Cowra’s Steve Sutton will coach Western under-18s again this season, with the Rams the defending Country champions. |
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| MURRAY IN THE SHADOWS OFFERING COACHING TIPS Story By : GRANT ROBERTSON FARRER Memorial Agricultural High’s First XIII are preparing to play one of schoolboy football’s elite teams so it was a nice boost to receive some tips from one of the game’s elite coaches. Former NRL and Origin coach and now Newcastle Knights high performance unit coaching director Graham Murray spent most of yesterday helping all of Farrer’s league sides, including the first XIII, which faces arguably the strongest school of the past 20 years, St Gregory’s College Campbelltown, on Monday. The day began with Murray joining the younger age groups and their coaches. “With the 14s and 15s we just worked on core skills – grip, catch and pass,” Murray said. “We went over those and then we got them into some small sides games so they’d enjoy themselves a bit.” Then the Farrer under 16s joined open age players for a training session. First XIII coach Damian Kenniff ran the show but Murray was there to observe and offer tips when necessary. “They’re getting ready to play a game so with the under 16s and the opens I’m just shadowing,” Murray said. “Damian is doing the coaching and I’m just value adding. “Damian is a good coach. “When they ask me what I think I can just say if it’s good and that sort of thing.” The Knights have shared a link with Farrer for a couple of years now and Murray’s visit is the latest activity in that relationship. But he also took the opportunity to talk to local coaches from other clubs in the area. He held a seminar at Farrer’s clubhouse on Thursday night. “It was a coaching update,” Murray said. “There was 12 coaches from the local area. “We just talked about the principles of rugby league and coaching and attack and defence ideas. “We had one from North Tamworth and one from Gunnedah – they were from all over.” Murray’s visit was well-timed. The game against St Greg’s on Monday is only a pre-season game for both schools but it will be a great test for the green and golds as they prepare for what they hope will be another big year of schoolboy football. The game kicks off at Simpson Oval at Farrer at 12pm. |
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| FARRER SCOOPS ACADEMY AWARDS YOU didn’t have to be in Hollywood to win an Academy award on the weekend. Far from the madding crowd, the Wests Greater Northern Academy awards were presented when the GNA played its final games of the summer at Mudgee on Saturday. They won both games against the Western Academy for the GNA coaches to hand out their program-ending player awards with a touch more delight. After playing at halfback in the three tries to nil win over Western earlier in the day, the player chosen as the best for the under 18s squad was Gunnedah local and Farrer High player John Brady. “It’s good for John,” GNA head coach Peter Stevens said. “He has improved this year. “He played well again on Saturday.” Brady helped the under 18s to an unbeaten summer after they also defeated three other teams at Cessnock two weeks ago. He was part of the leadership group in that squad. For the under 17s squad, the day produced a five tries to four win, while the individual prize went to another Farrer player, Jake Cocking. Not only did the Manilla prop stand out for the under 17s in their matches but he also stepped up to the under 18s side for its games to help make up for a shortage of front-rowers. “Jake and Josh Pursche backed up and played in the older side,” Stevens said. “They were both really solid too. “That’s a good effort from those boys.” The award winners were not only chosen for their performances on the field, but also for their efforts at training over the course of the summer. Stevens said there were a host of players who were particularly impressive in both squads, but the coaches agreed that Brady and Cocking deserved the nod. |
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| Thursday 8 March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR the second time in a week, the Hardy Shield rugby league competition has failed to get to the starting line. Three days after the scheduled first round was cancelled on Thursday, the games have again been aborted. In another blow to the important schoolboy competition, the rescheduled Hardy Shield first round games have been called off for tonight (Mon). Hardy Shield convener Tim Wykes yesterday reported Wagga City Council had elected to keep sporting grounds closed, forcing a second cancellation. Wykes said it was hoped the Hardy Shield could now make a belated start on Thursday. “It’s been ready, set, but no go twice,” Wykes said. “We’ll try for third time lucky on Thursday.” Wykes said the Hardy Shield draw would remain intact. “We’ll start from scratch,” he said. “The first round games will be the same. “Mt Austin High will play TRAC (The Riverina Anglican College) and Mater Dei will play Kildare.” Wykes said the players would be banking on fine weather between now and Thursday so as to finally hit the paddock. “I’m sure the boys would be a bit disappointed,” he said. “They’ve had two false starts already. “They’ll be really keen to get into it on Thursday.” Although the schedule is set in concrete, the venue for Thursday’s games is less secure. Wykes said he is unsure whether the games would be played at Equex Centre or on neighbouring Parramore Park. “The drainage work at McDonald’s Park (Equex Centre) is supposed to start on March 5 (today),” he said. “Then there is the oversow of Parramore Park.” For Wykes, the scheduling drama has not detracted from the Hardy Shield. He said the quality of the players involved from the six competing Wagga high schools was imposing. “I don’t think it’s mentioned that there are four state players in the different teams,” he said. “In that respect there are Andrew Heffernan, Ed Ansell, Luke Murray and Troy Barby. “It shows the depth of talent in the teams across the board.” Likewise, Heffernan has been signed by the Raiders, Harry Stewart by the Dragons and Barby targeted by the Roosters. |
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JOE OFAHENGAUE Story By : QUEST NEWSPAPERS Powerful second rower Joe Ofahengaue flies to Sydney every Friday to train and play for the Sydney Roosters in the SG Ball. He also finds time to play for St Peter Claver College and Brothers in Ipswich. Name: Joe Ofahengaue Sport: Rugby League Age: 17 Suburb: Collingwood Park Club: Brothers, Sydney Roosters in the SG Ball How old were you when you started, and why? : I was in under-9s. My dad wanted me to play instead of playing games. I wasn't supposed to take it seriously. Who is your sporting idol and why? Greg Inglis. He is the man. What is the best sporting advice you have been given? - My dad has actually given me a lot of advice. He tells me to train hard every day because someone out there is training harder. What are you sporting goals? - To play first grade for the Roosters and State of Origin. How do you find the task of flying down to the Roosters every weekend? It's not really all that hard. You get used to it. The hardest thing is waking up and getting out of bed but it's worth it. What has been the highlight of your career so far? - Making the Queensland under-15 schoolboys team. |
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GROUP 2 Rugby League's bumper crop of under-18 stars go on display in the East Coast Dolphins selection trial at Advocate Park on Saturday, March 17. Headed by an elite squad from the 2011 premiership-winning Coffs Harbour Comets team, the young players are said to be the best prepared in Group history following a rigorous summer training campaign supervised by head coach Danny Doolan and chairman of selectors Maurie Lonergan. Doolan indicated he often had to put a lid on the enthusiasm and with four sessions remaining before the trials, it's going to be difficult to cull the squad back to the regulation number. "We had an opposed session last month where they split up into two sides and took on each other and it was like a comp game you see any Sunday," he said. "These blokes have really put in the work needed to succeed and while a couple of younger blokes will have to sit out the game - probably the 16-year-olds - we're impressing upon them how much they are valued and their turn is coming next." The side trains this Wednesday (March 7) at Allan Gillett Oval in Macksville with a preliminary drill the night before the contest. Apart from the local competition, the trials series will bring together two teams from Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League and one from southern neighbours Group 3. Dolphins regional manager Kevin Hill said an 18-man squad will then be named to contest the CRL Championships at Wingham on April 13-15 against seven other representative squads from around the state. "Our side will have a training camp in Coffs Harbour on March 31 to prepare for the series," he said. "With so many good players emerging during the last 12 months and the rivalry among the kids for a berth in the first-ever Dolphins team so hard, this is going to be a fantastic line-up to represent the region." The top four sides after the Wingham matches will play off one week later with the top two left to play off in the championship final at the City versus Country match. |
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LUGGING the weight of expectation, Mount Austin High School captain Luke Gladman will take a merciless approach to the opening bout of Hardy Shield action at Parramore Park tonight. Two years since the school’s last hit out in the historic schoolboy rugby league competition, Gladman insists there is a lot to prove when Mount Austin take on The Riverina Anglican College tonight. Speaking yesterday, the 16-year-old Brothers star said he is eager to show sceptics just what Mount Austin is made of. “I mean, we didn’t have a team last year but we all want to change things this year,” he said. “We know how important it is to the school.” Led by the powerful five-eighth, Mount Austin has been bolstered by a flood of interest from burgeoning young talent. Gladman said Australian rules star Lennard Lyons and up and coming talent Djarin King are set to fire for Mount Austin during the Hardy Shield series. “The boys take it pretty seriously, I think we’ve got a pretty good chance and we’ll do well if we try,” he said. “I think we might surprise some people.” Despite having not played in last year’s tournament, Gladman said he isn’t convinced three-time champion Mater Dei Catholic College will be the team to beat. “I actually don’t think Mater Dei will be the team to beat, a lot of their big boys left at the end of last year,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what happens. “We can’t wait, we’re really excited for (tonight).” |
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| Wednesday 7 th March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
: The Canberra Raiders have named rookie Jack Wighton on the wing for potentially his debut match this weekend against the Gold Coast Titans at Skilled Park. Wighton will need to have his Grade two dangerous throw downgraded at the Toyota Cup judiciary on Wednesday night. Wighton will plead guilty to the charge but will dispute the grading. If he’s successful he’ll make his NRL debut on Saturday night. The other change for the Raiders is Tom Learoyd-Lahrs who will miss the match with a re-occurrence of a foot injury, with Trevor Thurling coming into the 17 on the bench. Brett White will move from the interchange to take Learoyd-Lahrs starting prop position. Learoyd-Lahrs is only expected to miss one week and should be available against the Roosters next weekend. Raiders Coach David Furner said the changes due to injury were not ideal, however he said the team was confident with the players coming into the side. “Trevor Thurling has fully recovered from the Achilles injury he sustained at the end of last season and he was very solid for us in both trials,” Furner said. “Jack Wighton will hopefully get an opportunity to make his NRL debut this weekend and that would be an exciting thing for him and the team. We are contesting the grading of his charge at the judiciary and we’re hoping we can get it downgraded.” To view the NRL team for this weekend go HERE To view the NYC team for this weekend go to HERE |
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| Tuesday 6 March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
HAROLD MATTHEWS MATCH REPORT ROUND 4 Central Coast 32 defeated Bulldogs 8 : After a disappointing loss last week to the Tigers, we were all primed and ready to make amends against a big, tough Bulldogs team who also were coming off a loss to WSAS. Our preparation had some good news & bad news just before the game when we were boosted by Sami Tarchichi coming through a fitness test and being cleared to play, but our Captain and main go forward man Jacob Saifiti being ruled during warm up out with a back strain. But as we would expect from this bunch of players, they took it all in their stride and never used it as an excuse to drop our bundle ,and in the wet weather (again!!) we were in another arm wrestle. And we loved it. We took it to the Bulldogs straight from the start of the game, and to be honest, they didn't seem to know what had hit them. We dominated the middle of the field, made plenty of yards with our big men, which gave the outside backs lots of room to move and score points with some great tries out wide. The best of them were a great diving effort in the corner from Luke Sharpe, and a runaway Mitch Casson off the kick off, running 60m before passing to Callum Blinco to burn them down the wing to score back to back 4 pointers. The 2nd half was one where we had to weather the storm as the Dogs came back at us hard from the kick off, trying to get themselves back in the game. Again the team was up to the challenge, and more dominance around the ruck made it hard for them to make any yards with the ball and get some field position. Once we took everything they had, and came back at them we ran in another 2 tries to be up 32-4 before they scored their final points on the bell. Overall this was a really solid team performance, Mitch Casson was voted as Players Player, and almost all players were in the mix for the Best & Fairest points, so to single out names would seem unfair. I am very pleased with our progress, but I would like to assure all of our supporters we are NOT going to rest on our success so far. We will keep pushing as hard as we can in every game, in pursuit of our team goals and do the Central Coast proud.
SG BALL MATCH REPORT ROUND 4 Round 4 vs Bulldogs Poor ball security was to blame, and poor reaction to turn over’s played big part of this game When we did control the ball we proved we can score tries and compete , A good fight back got us to 12 all, but again poor ball control and poor options seen bulldogs race another 2 tries in before half time Again the 2nd half started like the 1st half, turning the ball over in 1st set of six resulting in a try to the Dogs Not completing sets of six and early turn over’s, will always result in giving the opposition fielding position and the end result tries Against Again once we held the ball we showed we can score good tries. Each time we got into Dogs Half we scored, but unfortunately this was not often Good games to Dan Hennessey scoring 2 good tries and Dylan Thorne was one forward who tried hard all game, Josh Whitlam was consistent as always. 3 pts Dan Hennessey 2 pts Dylan Thorne 1 pt Josh Whitlam Players player Josh Whitlam |
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| sATURDAY 3 mARCH 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balmain and Penrith remain as the only Clubs who are undefeated in both the Harold Matthews and SG Ball competitions heading into week four of the 2012 season. Both Clubs have been near unstoppable in the first three weeks and equally deserve to be thought of as competition favourites. Another positive in recent weeks has been the return to strength of the Central Coast Centurions. The Centurions pushed Balmain all the way in the Harold Matts last weekend and their SG Ball side went close to beating a Cronulla side which is fancied by plenty in Round One. HAROLD MATTHEWS: The Bulldogs are coming off a surprise loss to another rejuvenated team in WSAS and will have a point to prove against the boys from up the F3. One to watch for the Centurions is exciting prospect Callum Blinco. Blinco has shown he knows his way to the tryline and his opponent, Godfred Agyemang who also is quite handy in the scoring ranks, will have to keep his eye on him. Another game which should turn out to be pretty exciting for those in attendance will be the match between Cronulla and South West Sydney Academy of Sport. SWSAS registered their first win of the season against North Sydney last weekend so they will be brimming with confidence while the Sharks had a weekend off and will be raring to go. While these teams may not feature come finals time, we would definitely like to watch this one! In other matches, the undefeated Bunnies return to Erskineville Oval for the local derby against the Sydney Roosters while the Panthers head down to WIN Stadium to take on Illawarra. The Dragons are back at home against the North Sydney Bears in one of the four matches due to kick-off at midday in Round 4 and at 12.45, Western Suburbs take on Newcastle as part of the ‘Return to Lidcombe’ day which will see Western Suburbs play Manly in the VB NSW Cup for the first time since 1986. In the afternoon, the Raiders host the Parramatta Eels at Seiffert Oval and Manly front up against the ever improving Western Sydney Academy of Sport at Brookvale Oval. SG BALL: So many exciting young prospects for fans of both Clubs to watch! We spruiked Euan Aitken in our first preview and guess who is leading the try-scoring ranks? Throw into the mix highly talented Penrith fullback Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Captain Bryce Cartwright then you have got enough talent to more than cover the price of entry. Throw into the mix the debut of the Illawarra Cutters in the NSW Cup then you have a super day ahead of you should you get to WIN on Saturday. The other game we believe worth a highlight is the Canberra Raiders and South Sydney fixture at Seiffert Oval on Saturday. Canberra can sometimes sneak under our radar because we don’t usually get to see them as much as many of the other Sydney Clubs but they have got our attention with their 22-16 win over the Bunnies last weekend. Raiders centre Branko Lee’s match up against John Folau should enthral those lucky enough to get to Seiffert Oval on Saturday. In other matches, Balmain host the WA Reds at Concord as part of a two match program with the NSW Cup match between Balmain Ryde-Eastwood and North Sydney to follow at 3pm. The Sydney Roosters head over to Erskineville Oval to take on a Bunnies side desperate to atone for their loss to Canberra last week. The Central Coast Centurions head down the F# to take on the Bulldogs at Belmore Sportsground while the North Sydney Bears play away for the first time in a fortnight against the Dragons at WIN Stadium. The Sharks host Melbourne after they had a 14-all draw in Perth last weekend and at 1.55pm the Western Suburbs Magpies and Newcastle Knights will play the main curtain-raiser to the Fibros V Silvertails fixture at Lidcombe. Rounding out week 4 of the SG Ball Cup will see Manly take on the Western Sydney Academy of Sport at Brookvale Oval at 5.30pm. |
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| Friday 03 March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  ROUND 1 CONNELL & MENINGA CUP TEAMS Story By : QRL Media Release QUEENSLAND’S leading youngsters will be in action this weekend with the highly-anticipated Cyril Connell and Mal Meninga Cups kicking off at numerous venues in the south east. The opening weekend features 24 matches across the Under 16 and Under 18 competitions. Teams in the North Western Conference will be involved in double headers on the Sunshine Coast.
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| 2012 SGB RD 3 BULLDOGS V WEST SYDNEY (Report) The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs SG Ball team has won its first match of the season defeating Western Sydney Rugby League Academy 14-12 in round 3 action at St Marys Leagues Club Stadium. The Bulldogs had to earn victory the hard way coming from 10-0 down at half-time to claim the points. In the opening two rounds the Bulldogs have been very competitive in the first half, but fell away in the second. Against Western Sydney they were dreadful in the opening 35 minutes where nothing went right for them. Half time was the best result for the Bulldogs and they came out a much improved side in the second half although they struggled to put Western Sydney away. The Bulldogs scored two tries to level up the scores at 10-all. Western Sydney kicked a penalty goal to move two points clear, however, a late try by the Bulldogs was enough to secure them the all important two points and a confidence building victory. Best for the Bulldogs were prop Mitchell Mamary, lock Addison Demetriou and fullback Kaupulu Poleo. The Bulldogs next match is against the Central Coast at Belmore Sports Ground kicking off at 1.30pm with the opening round of the NSW Cup to follow at 3.00pm with the Bulldogs taking on Mounties, who are the Raiders affiliate side this year. The opening match of the day at Belmore will be the Harold Matthews clash against Central Coast starting at 12.00pm. SG BALL CUP Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 14 TRIES : L Jackson, R Leoso GOALS : L Jackson 2 |
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| 2012 HM RD 3 BULLDOGS V WEST SYDNEY (Report) The Western Sydney Rugby League Academy side produced one of their finest and most disciplined performances to defeat the Bulldogs 16-10 in round 3 Harold Matthews action at St Marys Leagues Club Stadium. The Bulldogs struggled from the outset making many unforced errors whilst Western Sydney controlled field position and possession to perfection to run up an early 16-0 lead. Tries either side of half-time to Godfred Agyemang and a sideline conversion from Simon Fonua gave the Bulldogs a chance of stealing victory when all seemed lost. The Bulldogs improved in the second half to dominate field position, but desperate defence from Western Sydney and at times poor attacking options from the Bulldogs meant that victory was always going to be out of sight. It was the Bulldogs first loss in 2012 following victories against the Roosters and Raiders in the opening two rounds. Best for the Bulldogs were utility Patrick Kopu, front-rower Lorima Sautu and outside back Godfred Agyemang. The Bulldogs next match will be against Central Coast at Belmore Sports Ground on Saturday 3rd March 2012 with kick off at 12.00pm. SG Ball will follow at 1.30pm with the opening round of the NSW Cup to conclude the afternoon at Belmore beginning at 3.00pm with the Bulldogs taking on Mounties, who are the Raiders affiliate side this year. HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 10 TRIES : S De La Paz, H Kotoa, D Tonise GOALS : J Bergamin 2 from 3 |
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| Wednesday 1 st March 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday 25th February 2012 was a historical day for the SWSAS programme following five years of hard work and this year the introduction of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the SWSAS setup. SWSAS enjoyed their first ever victory at Harold Matthews level defeating the North Sydney Bears 24-16 in a very sweet result. Coming off two large losses, the team knew they had a great chance to bounce back with victory against the Bears. The start to the game for SWSAS wasn't exactly text book gifting Norths early opportunities with soft penalties and errors at the play the ball. With a strong breeze behind Norths it didn't take long for them to post first points with their winger crossing over in the corner. Down 4-0, the SWSAS team settled down and began completing their sets. As soon as SWSAS got into the arm wrestle, Norths began to crack. On the 15 minute mark, prop Billy Aboulhaf from Bankstown Sports scooped up a loose ball and dived over beside the uprights. Takiika Tairi from the Dragons JRLC landed the conversion, which took SWSAS to a 6-4 lead. SWSAS should have kicked on from there. Their tails were up and the forwards were rolling and making 12-15m per carry. Excitement would get the better of SWSAS and once again, a couple of back to back errors gifted Norths great field position. From 5m out, back-rower Soloman Pope crashed over sending the Bears to the break leading 10-6. Down by only four points, the SWSAS coaching staff challenged the boys to go out and do it for each other in the second stanza. With the wind behind SWSAS now, there was a positive feeling that this would be the day for the historic victory. The SWSAS team came out blazing in the second half. SWSAS completed their sets and kick chased well. With sustained pressure, and excellent go forward. Ray Stone crashed over after some quick exchanges around the ruck. Matthew Wicks from Moorebank landed the conversion to put SWSAS up 12-10. It was a lead 12-10 that SWSAS would never relinquish. With confidence sky high, the SWSAS team marched down the field with ease. Once again the forwards laid the platform. With some more quality ball, Veiru Mapesone threw the dummy and sliced through to score an important try. Matthew Wicks landed an important conversion to push SWSAS eight points lead. Once again excitement got the better of SWSAS. Some pushed passes invited Norths back into the game. After back to back sets, Soloman Pope crashed over from close range. With the conversion, SWSAS were clinging onto an 18-16 lead with 11 minutes remaining. SWSAS lifted and literally snuffed out any hope the Bears had. SWSAS muscled up in defence and forced an error. With a fresh set of six inside the redzone, this was the big opportunity for SWSAS to take the game. They got close twice and produced a repeat set. In the ensuing set, Josh Tupuola-Leoto sent the team into a frenzy scoring a great individual try. Matthews Wicks successful conversion secured a memorable 24-16 victory. It's hard to pinpoint any particular player ... The SWSAS forwards all played with passion and lead the team well. The outside backs contributed while the halves directed the team around the park. The SWSAS programme is alive and well with their first victory. The Bulldogs are officially represented in the SWSAS programme for the first time in 2012 with 13 players from the Bulldogs Junior League & Development System and three team officials - Ken Harris (Assistant Coach), Charbel Khoury (Trainer) and Sam Barake (Trainer). The Bulldogs logo is proudly displayed on the SWSAS jersey and team gear. A picture says a thousand words of the delight from the SWSAS players and officials at being a part of history. |
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| TRAGEDY MARS UNDER 18S RUGBY LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL IN LEBANON The first international under-18s rugby league fixture in the Middle East, which saw Lebanon and a Saudi Select draw 22-all, was overshadowed by off-field tragedy with the death of Lebanon scrum half Khaled el Masri, who was killed after he had been out celebrating with his family. Khaled was hit by a car in Batroun when returning home in the early hours of Saturday morning. His cousin is fighting for his life in intensive care. Khaled attended Amer Faker El Dine School in Tripoli, where he had also begun his rugby league education aged 13, and had played a major role in the match. It was his third year as a Junior Cedar after playing in the under-16’s in 2010 and 2011. The under-18s team led by captain Omar Marhaba and Area Manager Nader Mgheit, representing the Lebanese Rugby League Federation, paid their respects to Khaled’s family during the burial today. LRLF COO Remond Safi said, “We are so very saddened by the death of Khaled. He was one of the brightest rays of light on the junior rugby league scene. He was a very good player and had a great future in the game. But more than that, he was a beautiful young man and a most supportive and encouraging spirit.” He continued, “On behalf of all its players, coaches, staff and everyone associated with Lebanese Rugby League, the LRLF board wishes to send its deepest condolences to Khaled el Masri’s family and friends on his passing.” “There will be a one minute silence before the next LRLF game in the remembrance of this bright light that was snuffed out way too soon.” Rugby League European Federation General Manager Danny Kazandjian added, “I coached Khaled as a 14-year-old and despite his size, he was always one of the most promising kids. He was quiet and came from a very deprived area but was a terrific defensive player - he thrived on the pitch.” The outcome at the American University of Beirut’s Charles Hostler Student Center was exactly the same as the under 16s fixture between the nations two years before. The Cedars were first on the score board through Maxime Chalhoub in the sixth minute, courtesy of a barnstorming run. KSA responded with winger Saeed Anam crossing twice in four minutes to take the lead. Chalhoulb went in for his second shortly afterwards, Youssef Safadi giving the Saudis a 12-8 half time lead. With the intensity raised, Adam Dahbache scored for the Cedars in the opening exchanges of the second half to level, Hisham Nassar then putting the Camels back in front on the hour. Prop Chalhoub claimed his hat trick and, in the thrilling closing stages, Omar Marhaba and Nassar swapped tries to leave honours shared. MENA U18S INTERNATIONAL - LEBANON 22 (8) v (12) 22 KSA SELECT LEBANON Mohammed Mannaa, Saeed Anam, Abdulrawoof Abbas, Yousef Safadi, Liam McRaith, Usman Naveed Ahmad Obeid; Salman Abualnasr, Hasan Zakzouk, Omer Rathore, Samer Balaa, Mazen Ghobara, Farid Abdulwahab Subs: Hisam Nassar, Osama Abdullah, Nawaf Alquadaibi, Zander Potgieter |
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| Tuesday 28 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KEEBRA SEASON UP AND RUNNING Keebra Park have begun their 2012 campaign with good showings in the under 13, 14 and Open trials against Brisbane school Wavell and a convincing 24-0 win over Coombabah in the Titans Cup. Jumior school trials against Wavell saw the Keebra boys play some solid structured football to outgun the Brisbane side with a feast of tries showcasing some undoubted future talent. The Opens faired equally as well but with these games only trilas it was obvious that both sides were keeping some ammunition up their sleeves to be revealed atthe business end of the season. In the first round of the Titans Cup the Keebra Open 4ths took on local school Coombabah at a very fine looking Parkwood venue. Scrappy play by both sides saw nerves and excitement keep the score at 6-0 to Keebra at Half time and it wasnt till the middle of the second half that the Keebra dominance began to show on the scoreboard. Well done boys. Special mention to Kelly Tate, Elijah and Ra who put in the hard yards and well done to Liam whos game seems to have come on in leaps and bounds in the off season. Inter school sports begings tomorrow with the junior teams up against Robina...good luck boys. |
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NOT content with one Tony Williams at the club, the Sea Eagles have now unleashed “T Rex Mark Two” on unsuspecting rivals. While Williams has been making a big impact for Manly in the NRL, powerful backrower Fabian Goodall is now doing the same job with the club’s SG Ball side. And the similarities between the pair were evident at Brookvale Oval on Saturday as Goodall starred for the young Sea Eagles side that defeated the Roosters 30-16. The blockbusting forward proved a real handful for the opposition and capped his impressive display by leaving the defence in his wake by sprinting 60m to score a late try. Goodall has been with the club for three years and is signed until the end of 2013. The victory maintained the Sea Eagles’ undefeated record after the first three rounds and with that kind of talent coming through the club’s future looks bright. After racing to a 20-4 lead at halftime, they had had to withstand a fightback by the Roosters who trailed 20-16 at one stage. “While it was ugly in the second half it was good to see the effort, in the middle of the paddock in particular,” coach Mark Mahoney said. He was especially happy with the performances of big props Jake Trbojevic and Chris Alavanos and hooker Fabian Natoli. At one stage in the second half Natoli made an amazing 11 tackles in nine minutes. Skipper and fullback Clinton Gutherson, showed why he has recently been signed by the Sea Eagles until the end of 2014. “He is pretty special, he came up with two saves in the first half when we really needed them,” Mahoney said. |
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| Monday 27 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 This year is hoped to be the dawn of new junior Denman Devils. The Denman and Sandy Hollow Junior Rugby League teams are scouting for new players for the 2012 season. The club has struggled to field full teams in their 12- to 16-year age groups in previous years. Organisers don’t want to deny kids the chance of playing and would prefer to not start a combined team. Therefore, they are keen to hear from anyone who would like to take the field. “We believe there are players out there that want to give rugby league a go,” secretary Peter Barry said. Barry said joining a junior club would give kids the chance to make new friends, build skills and improve fitness. Players in the 12-to-16 divisions also get to experience home and away matches, as they enter in the Maitland and Newcastle competitions, which are both graded competitions for fair play. Kids don’t have to be from Denman or Sandy Hollow to join a team. “We can give kids opportunities that they might not get in a bigger town,” Mr Barry said. “Playing here in Denman, we offer a small town club and make sure kids aren’t sitting on the bench.” Denman juniors have been playing for more than 50 years. To be a part of that history and become a little Devil, register at Denman Oval on Tuesdays from 5pm to 6pm. Training also happens at the same time. Registrations for six- to 16-year-olds is $50 and includes playing shorts, socks and a club shirt. New signings also receive a pair of training shorts. The fee is a one-off and there are no weekly fees. |
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| Sunday 26 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| FOUR OF DUBBO’S BEST TO PLAY AT WESTERN ACADEMY DUBBO will provide four players at this Saturday’s Western Academy rugby league trials and Dubbo Junior Rugby League president believes all four will acquit themselves well. CYMS juniors Linc Kavanagh and Dan Runciman will play in the under-18s while Billy Sing and Alex Bonham will represent in the under-17s. Braden Carney, who spent last season with CYMS but is now listed as being from Narromine, is also in the under-18s squad at lock. Western will face Northern Academy in Saturday’s trials and, while the opposition is strong, Millgate says the Dubbo players are all talented and up to the standard. “Linc Kavanagh played his junior footy with Eastridge and is now with CYMS and he can play in either the front row or the back row,” Millgate said. “His game is really coming along nicely and if he keeps improving he will keep making these sides. “Dan Runciman is learning his footy and still has a lot to learn but he can play the game. “He’s a front-rower and he’s very enthusiastic for his footy. When he puts his head down he goes well but he still has areas to improve on.” The under-17s Western side squad is dominated by Cowra, with Dubbo’s two players listed to come off the bench. Billy Sing, son of former NRL player Wayne Sing and grandson of Westside legend Noel Sing, has come on in leaps and bounds and was a vital part of Macquarie’s charge to last season’s Group 11 under-18s grand final despite being eligible for the younger age groups. Bonham also spent time in the Macquarie under-18s in 2011. “Billy is an 80-minute player whose work rate is phenomenal. He’s a special player,” Millgate said. “For a younger guy he handled the under-18s well last season and I’m pretty excited to see how he comes along again this year. “Alex Bonham is a hooker and he has really progressed the past two years or so. These are all talented kids and they deserve their chance in these squads.” WESTERN ACADEMY Under-18s and under-17s games against Northern Academy at Mudgee, Saturday, February 25. 5pm start (18s), 3.30pm (17s).
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UNDER-16s football will return to Dubbo during the 2012 football season, with Dubbo Junior Rugby League president Neil Millgate revealing as many as seven teams could be on the field. A lack of numbers saw the competition fall by the wayside in 2011, robbing junior league of its showcase competition and leaving players in that age group with no choice but to step up to the under-18s or find another sport to play. But this year’s junior league season, which kicks off on March 31, will see the age group return to the schedule. “We’ll have at least six teams and maybe seven competing in the 16s this year,” Millgate said. “The four Dubbo clubs will all be represented as well as Nyngan and Narromine, and maybe Wellington as well. “Hopefully the situation from last year is behind us. It wasn’t good but we’re back with the 16s this year which is good because for these kids, reaching the 16s is their last year of junior league.” Millgate will once again be the figurehead of junior league in Dubbo as president, with Bernard Wilson and Gavin Hayton his vice-presidents. John Walkom retains the position of treasurer, with Sue Egan the secretary and Cathy Dries the registrar. Clubs have held registration days in recent weeks and they will continue up until the the start of the season. “It’s a bit hard at the moment because a lot of kids are still playing junior cricket and they’re not really thinking about footy much,” Millgate said. “We will probably have an open rego day about a fortnight before the season starts and by that stage we will probably get a few more indicating they want to play.” Like everyone else involved in the sport, junior league officials are wondering what benefits they will get after last week’s formation of the Australian Rugby League Commission. But Millgate isn’t sure where junior leagues across the code fit in on the list of priorities. “Obviously it would be nice if some resources were pumped into junior league but they’re only new and we’ll see how we go,” Millgate said. “It would be nice if they could maybe help fund trips to NRL games for kids. “Jock Colley spoke in the Liberal this week about getting players out to the bush but that can be hard so if we can go the other way and take kids to watch matches and meet players that could help. “But it costs a fortune by the time you hire a bus and organise accommodation and parents have to pay for food and drinks. “If they could look at paying some of those costs it would help. You only need to look at the work the GWS AFL side is doing in the bush to realise we need to be a bit more proactive in making kids want to be involved in junior league.” |
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HELP NEED TO KICK OFF JUNIOR LEAGUE JUNEE Junior Rugby League is looking for more players, volunteers and coaches for the upcoming season. Players to join the under 6s to under 16s are welcome and girls junior leaguetag teams are also being fielded for this year for ages 10 to 14. Two more coaches and two more managers are also needed to help prepare players for the games and more referees are needed to control the players on field. Referees from age 14 and up are welcome, providing a good way to start refereeing. The committee holds meetings on the first Tuesday of the month at 7.15pm with more volunteers for the committee and general helpers needed to make the season a success. |
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| Friday 24 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JUNIOR REPRESENTATIVE PREVIEW ROUND THREE Round Two was billed as an exciting round of games and it didn’t disappoint as it had it all with several close games and also some explosive efforts that kept the score board attendants on their toes at various grounds. Perhaps the most impressive of the SG Ball winners was the Balmain Tigers who are now one of five sides that remain unbeaten following their big win against the Roosters while the Knights registered their first win of the season with a ten point victory against the Eels in Sydney. In the Harold Matthews Cup, the Panthers took no prisoners as they ran in 60 unanswered points against the SWSAS side while the Centurions made it two from two in a very encouraging start to the year as they defeated the Bears 26-4. But we are here to look forwards, not backwards, so let’s check out this weekend’s clashes… Harold Matthews Cup In a fixture that will see first hosting second, the Penrith Panthers will welcome the St George Dragons to St Mary’s Leagues Stadium as both sides look to remain unbeaten. The Dragons boys should be the fresher of the two having had the luxury of the bye following a first up win against the SWSAS while the Panthers will be at home for the third straight week and will look to capitalize on the home cooking while they can. Matt Dufty scored four tries for the Dragons in Round One and will need to be watched here while Jake Ennis is one to keep an eye on for the Panthers after he recently returned from representing the NSW Indigenous U/16 side in which he scored a try in their 16-16 draw against QLD on the Gold Coast. In another clash that sees two top four sides butting heads, the third placed Centurions will welcome the fourth placed Tigers to town as they lock horns at Woy Woy Oval. The Centurions have started the season brightly in 2012 with good wins against Cronulla and Norths respectively while the Tigers have accounted for both the Western Sydney Academy and Sydney Roosters. The Tigers were ruthless last Saturday as they posted a point a minute against the chooks while the Centurions were clinical at TG Milner. Junior Tatola scored four tries during the Tigers romp last week while Connor Watson is one to watch for the Centurions. Other clashes see the battle of the steel cities as Newcastle host Illawarra while down in the nation’s capital the Raiders will seek their first win of the year against the Bunnies. At TG Milner the Bears tackle SWSAS, down at Brooky the Sea Eagles host the Roosters while back out west the WSA host a western derby as the Bulldogs travel to St Mary’s Leagues Stadium. Rounding things out in the Harold Matthews Cup will be the Eels up against the Magpies at New Era Stadium. SG Ball Cup While their Harold Matthews side hasn’t quite hit the ground running in 2012, the same can’t be said for the Cronulla SG Ball side. The Sharks sit third on the ladder following wins against the Centurions and WSA. Some may ultimately question the strength of these victories but one has to be impressed with the way they went about it, particularly their professional 34-0 last weekend. But they will certainly be tested against the Reds as they face the daunting trip to the west coast. The Reds would not be overly happy with the start to their 2012 campaign but historically they are a far tougher proposition at home than they are away and the Sharks will need to be at or near their best if they want to return home with the competition points. The Manly Sea Eagles are another side that has looked the goods early on in the 2012 season with solid wins away from home against both the Canberra Raiders and Western Suburbs Magpies. Clinton Gutherson is currently the competitions leading point scorer while Fabian Natoli has scored in each of their opening matches and will need to be marked closely. The Roosters had a good first up win back in Round One but were brought back to earth last weekend by the Tigers. Taane Milne is a powerful centre and looms as potentially the Sea Eagles biggest threat to not claiming the points here. In other SG Ball Cup games, the Panthers take on the Dragons, the Bears host the Storm, Canberra take on South Sydney and the Knights joust with the Steelers. Rounding things out will be the Centurions hosting the Tigers, WSA tackling the Bulldogs and last but not least the Eels taking on the Magpies. |
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MENA CHAMPIONSHIP U18s KICKS OFF Always on the lookout for new initiatives to expand the appeal of Rugby League, the Lebanese Rugby League Federation with a clear passion and drive to develop the game of Rugby League in Lebanon and the region, will see the first ever under 18's international game in the MENA region. 2012 will see a continued focus on junior development which continues to bear fruit with the national sides improving week in and week out, in an impressive development structure. Lebanese Rugby league currently has more than 500 players who participate in the Bank of Beirut Championship and the Shield Championship, with a thirst to expand these numbers even further. More than 10 schools are also involved in the School Championships which are held each year. Remond Safi the MENA Regional Director, is exultant with the way rugby league is shaping up in the area. “We are seeing the organic growth of the sport being played out in front of us. The Lebanese now have U14s, U16s, U18s, U20s and open age national teams to represent the sport and the country all over the world. We have seen the KSA going from U14s and U16s to expanding their growth to U18s and hopefully will have their own U20s next year. I hope to see the other MENA Nations attending the U18s ranks next year as I know the Palestine are already experiencing the same organic growth.” Meanwhile, the Saudi Select team returns to Lebanon this month keen to expand into a new age group with a young U18s squad. Many of the players have moved up from the successful U16s Camels and returning captain Hasan Zakzouk is confident of success “We have been working hard in preparation and feel this is strongest team we have taken to Beirut”, alleges Zakzouk The Camels coaching staff of David Kinkead, Wayne Stewart and Chris Stander are also confident of success. “In the team’s two warm-up matches we have seen them go from strength to strength and in the last game play some fast, free-flowing rugby league” says the Head Coach David Kinkead. “The side is driven by a core of last year’s U16s and whilst not the biggest team are technical and very fast. We are looking forward to another tough game against the Lebanese side”. The squad contains 5 uncapped players for the Saudi Select and they are eager to prove themselves worthy of a place in the squad selected from over 50 players in Jeddah. Kinkead’s counterpart, Robin Hacahche “The boys are anxiously looking forward to Friday’s game, they are ready mentally but unfortunately due to weather, facilities and other circumstances preparations have not been what I wanted them to be, but despite that we will be fielding the most experienced skilled and the strongest under 18s squad to date. Most of the players have come through from the last years U16s squad. This week’s practice will be the first time the whole team trains together so as you see that doesn’t give us much time to organize the team, but I am confident that on the day the boys will give their best, after which I am sure we will come out victorious.” The ranks that the game is working on in the area will allow newer teams and less experienced teams to play against one another and continue their development while the more established teams will compete against each other and enhance the player’s skills for games against other representative teams. Prime example of this strategy is the Lebanese U18 squad is now being prepared to participate in the World U18 Rugby League Championship that will be held in Serbia during August, where 18 schools will be fighting it out to be the best of the best and this week’s KSA game is just another step down the Lebanese Rugby League Federation’s pathway. KSA SQUAD: LEBANON TRAINING SQUAD:
The same progression is true of the visiting KSA squad with skipper Hasan Zakzouk noting, "We have been working hard in preparation and feel this is strongest team [at any age group] we have taken to Beirut." The Camels coaching staff of David Kinkead, Wayne Stewart and Chris Stander are also confident of success. "In the team's two warm-up matches we have seen them go from strength to strength and in the last match play some fast, free-flowing rugby league," Head Coach Kinkead added. The Saudi travelling contingent contains five uncapped players in a squad selected from over 50 who attended trials in Jeddah. The most experienced, Farid Abdulwahab, spent two weeks in the summer training with the Warrington Wolves Academy. Remond Safi, the MENA Regional Director, is delighted with the progress being made in the region. "We are seeing the organic growth of the sport.'" He commented. "The Lebanese now have U14s, U16s, U18s, U20s and open age national sides. We have seen the KSA going from U14s and U16s to expanding their growth to U18s and hopefully they will have U20s next year. I anticipate seeing the other MENA Nations involved in the U18s ranks next year." Lebanon Under-18s training squad: Abdulraouf Abbas, Ahmed El Obeid, Farid Abdulwahab, Hasan Zakzouk (c), Hisham Nassar, Liam McRaith, Mazin Ghobara, Mohammed Mannaa, Nawaf Al Qudaibi, Omer Rathore, Osama Abdullah, Saeed Anam, Salman Abualnasr, Samer Balaa, Usman Naveed, Yousef Safadi, Zander Potgeiter |
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| Wednesday 22 nd Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CRL ACADEMY TRI-SERIES The Country rugby league academy Tri-series will be held this Saturday 25th February at the Lank Bain Sporting Complex in Wauchope. North Coast Academy Squad which takes in Both Group 2 and group 3 Rugby League areas has been together since last October which has 40 players in the program. Half of the squad are in there 2nd year of the academy with the U/17 squad in their first year. This Saturday the CRL North Coast Academy squads will take on the Northern Rivers Country Rugby League academies and the 2 squads from the Newcastle Rugby League. Games will kickoff at 1pm with the last game at 6pm at Wauchope. The players that are a part of Country Rugby league North Coast academy squads are:
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2012 SUNSHINE COAST FALCONS CC AND MM U16 - U18 SQUADS NAMED
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| Sunday 19 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MIXED RESULTS FOR JUNIOR SHARKS The Sharks SG Ball team scored a clinical win while the Matthews Cup Sharks went down in a closely fought contest in round two junior rep matches. In games played at St Mary's Stadium against Western Sydney Academy, the Ball Sharks, despite being minus a number of their week one starters due to injury, never gave their opponents a chance in running in seven tries in a 34-0 victory. The Sharks began well with two first half tries to winger FInlay Dibley, who would eventually score three on the night, before taking an 18-0 advantage to the break. The under-18 Sharks came out in the second half with a similar attitude to the first and a four pointer to prop Kurt Dillon, his second try of the evening, converted by fullback Keiron Rollinson, seeing the score blow out to 24-0, effectively putting the result beyond doubt. The win was their second from two starts for the Ball Sharks following on from a scrappy victory against the Central Coast in round one. In the Matthews Cup there was disappointment when the Sharks failed to turn a 6-0 half time lead into a victory in going down by 13-7 to Western Academy. While the Connor Tracey try, scored after some excellent lead up play from hooker Jayden Brailey and fullback Scott Allen, had the Sharks optimistic about a positive outcome, second half penalties and errors invited their opponents back into the match, with their opposition capitalising in running out narrow victors. After suffering a frustrating loss in week one against the Central Coast, the under 16 Sharks will now go back to the drawing board in a bid to get their season on track. The Matthews Sharks have a bye next weekend, while the Ball Sharks travel to Perth to play the WA Reds. MATTHEWS CUP SHARKS 34 Finlay Dibley 3, Kurt Dillon 2, Anthony Moraitis, Sage Wilder tries, Keiron Rollinson 3 goals beat WESTERN ACADEMY 0 |
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| Friday 17 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 THE rugby league hibernation of the summer is almost over for the cubs at the Holy Family Bears club. The new season starts on Sunday, April 22 and will be the Bears' third. Their home ground is Craik Park, Austral. Training is held on Wednesday nights. Bringelly's Anthony Bucca founded the Bears in 2010. There are 72 registered players in teams from under 6s to under 11s. They play in the Parramatta Catholic Convents Association competitions. Bucca has now stepped aside as president and Pat Bugge has taken on that role. Bucca has switched to publicity officer and remains a devoted parent watching three of children play at the club in the red, white and blue colours. Many of the Bears players are students at Holy Spirit Primary School at Carnes Hill. "The school has been very supportive helping our club with players," Bucca said. "We like to promote the fact we are a family club. "Many of the the kids live near the ground at Craik Park, and their families know each other. There are a lot of brothers and sisters playing and many of the parents help out, which is a great thing." Siblings Leah Grech, 11, and Angelo, 8, of Leppington, are playing again this season. This Saturday and Sunday the Bears are holding player registrations at Craik Park, Austral, 10am-1pm. Details: Anthony Bucca, on 0418 972 882. |
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| Wednesday 15 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 NSW UNDER 16S YOUNG ACHIEVERS FRANCE TOUR
The NSWRL Academy will this year be conducting a NSW Under 16s Young Achievers Tour to France. Any player who is in the Under 16 Age Group is eligible for this tour. The tour will be conducted from Friday 21st September to Sunday 7th October. The cost of the tour is $4,400 The NSWRL Academy has been conducting youth development tours for over 10 years now, travelling to all corners of the league-playing world. For this year’s tour players will meet on Friday 21st September 2011 and travel to France for a 17 Day Rugby League Tour. Players will take part in 6 matches on the trip as well as visiting Paris, Barcelona, Toulouse, Carcassone, Andorra and Avignon. Highlights of the tour will include a visit to the Eiffel Tower, Euro Disney and to the Catalans Dragons Super League Club. The tour price is $4400 – which will cover all accommodation, meals, travel, transfers, gear and insurance.
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| Tuesday 14 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Redcliffe Dolphins Rugby League Football Club - Sea change agrees with Mortimer ROBBIE Mortimer has taken a new path in his rugby league career and he's loving it. The Orange CYMS junior joined the Redcliffe Dolphins colts squad in November last year. The youngest son of Canterbury stalwart Peter Mortimer, Robbie had been with the Parramatta SG Ball side in 2011. While Robbie was with the Australian Institute of Sport, he was approached by the Dolphins recruitment manager. "I looked into it and it's a great club and I'm really enjoying it," Robbie said. The 18-year-old will play in the Queensland Cup colts and has a challenging pre-season with the Dolphins. "This [pre-season] is the toughest thing I've ever done," he said. "I've never experienced anything like it. I did the Eels SG Ball [pre-season] last year and I thought that was tough but this was really hard. I'm feeling the most fit and strong I've felt. Hopefully the hard work pays off." Robbie started out at fullback with the Dolphins but has moved back into the halves. He said his time at fullback was valuable. "I had the move to fullback and I think it made me a better half," he said. "I told them I'll play in the forwards if they want me to. I just love playing footy." The Dolphins are the main feeder club to NRL club the Brisbane Broncos. Robbie hopes he might get a chance to eventually play in the Broncos Toyota Cup side. "This is a good opportunity for me," he said. "Hopefully this year or next year I could get a run [in the Broncos Toyota Cup side]. You never really know where you could end up." The pre-season training may have been tough, but there have been other challenges for the young footballer. "It's been a learning experience because it's my first time living away from home. I didn't realise how much mum and dad did for me," he laughed. |
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| Sunday 12 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
THe Bulldogs hosted the Sydney Roosters at the historic Belmore Sports Ground on Sunday with 5 big games to entertain the sold out crowd. The game kicked of with round one of the NSWRL Junior Reps and the defending Harold Matthews Cup Champions again showed they will be a major force again this year with a 50 - 6 thumping of a valient Roosters team. The National u16 Club champions were too strong and too big all over the park for the Roosters running in 10 tries in very hot and trying conditions. But in the SG Ball it was the Roosters who dominated the game and looked to be going home with a comfortable win until the home side stood up and rattled the Roosters and coming within a try of winning the game only to see the Roosters score again to put the game out of the Doggies reach. The comeback began with clever halfback Brendan Cox chip n chase and some good foot wortk by lock Addison Demetriou.v MORE SOON |
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A spirited fightback was not enough to give the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs victory in their SGBall season opener on Back to Belmore day, going down 40 points to 28 to the Sydney Roosters. The Bulldogs led 12-nil early through tries to Brendan Mafi and Addison Demetriou, however the Mark Riddell-coached Roosters kicked into gear to lead 18-12 into half time. The Bulldogs then conceded three straight tries on the resumption to find themselves down by 34 points to 12 with 25 minutes of play remaining. But four pointers to Jaelen Feeney, Costner Lemafa and Demetriou got the Bulldogs right back into the contest at 34-28 seven minutes from fill time. Despite pressing for the leveller it would be the Roosters who’d seal things a minute from time, Codey Kennedy crossing for the winner and a final score of 40 points to 28. SG BALL Bulldogs 28: Addison Demetriou 2, Brendan Mafi, Jaelen Feeney, Costner Lemafa tries; Addison Demetriou 4 goals from 4 attempts; Brendan Cox 0 goals from 1 attempt. Roosters 40: Brendan Elliott 2, Willis Meehan, Misi Vaikeli, Alex Thomas, Jack Johnson, Codey Kennedy tries; Brendan Elliott 6 goals from 7 attempts. At Belmore Sports Ground |
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4 SEASONS IN ONE DAY ACTION PHOTO GALLERIES |
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| Saturday 11 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
After months of pre season training its's finally on, the footy season officially kicks off today with the NSWRL junior reps round 1. In what promises to be the best season for a while after some much needed changes to the draw, all team will have a shot at making the finals this year. An amazing 1st round we will see how all the training transfers to actual playing conditions. If you remember last years opening rounds, the boyz played in the true heat of a Sydney summer, this years summer has been a rip off and its most likely to be a wet weekend for all teams. The NSWRL media department have written a pretty good story on the opening round, we recommend you have a bit of a read, we would like to add a few comments to their story to round it off a bit more. With the new draw, some of the smaller clubs like the Central Coast Centurions, the Sharks, SWSAS and the Raiders have a much better chance at the final 8 and this that can only be good for junior rugby league. |
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| JUNIOR REPRESENTATIVE PREVIEW ROUND ONE Footy season is back folks! Junior Representative matches kick-off across New South Wales, the ACT, and Western Australia this weekend as teams take to the field in Round One of the SG Ball and Harold Matthews competitions. Round One kicks off when traditional rivals South Sydney and Western Suburbs at Erskineville Oval with Harold Matthews set down for an 11am kick-off with SG Ball to follow at 12.30pm. Both sides are traditionally strong in the Harold Matthews and we expect 2012 to be no different. In SG Ball, a few standout performers from seasons gone by in Tyrone Phillips, Zac Walsh and NSW Under 16 representative Alex Johnston will again line-up for the Bunnies. For Wests, Sol Kamuta looks to be the only returning member of Wests highly successful SG Ball side from last year. Another set of matches which looks interesting is the Penrith V Newcastle clashes at Centrebet Stadium. The Knights were arguably the best performing Club at the junior level last year and the Panthers are always strong in the junior grades. The Panthers will be lead at the SG Ball level by impressive lock Bryce Cartwright and his match up against Newcastle back-rower Jake Lawrence will be a feature of the day. The Knights look to be strong again this year and, the fact NSW Rep player Luke Yates can only force his way onto the bench is a strong indicator to that very point. In Harold Matthews, NSW Indigenous U16 halves Travis Edwards and Tyrone Walsh have been named as the halves pairing for the weekend. After a week in camp on the Gold Coast these two boys will be firing and ready to go for Round One. Sunday will also feature two bumper Junior Rep double headers with the Bulldogs V Sydney Roosters fixtures set to kick-off a SOLD OUT back to Belmore day at the Belmore Sports Ground and will be followed by NYC, VB NSW Cup and NRL trials. We here at the NSWRL (Media Department) pride ourselves on our research. We have looked through the draws and you could argue that the Bulldogs, bar this match, have a very favourable run of games in season 2012. Their SG Ball side is littered with representative talent with names like Addison Demetriou, Brendan Cox and Michael Morgan and their Harold Matthews squad is rumoured to be just as strong. The Roosters, who will be guided by former NRL star Mark Riddell, aren’t to be discounted though as they traditionally recruit well at the SG Ball level and we believe they will be there come finals time once again. The other Sunday fixtures will also give NSW Junior Rep fans their first look at Illawarra’s Euan Aitken when they take on Parramatta. Aitken was picked from the CRL to represent NSW at Under 16 level last year and excelled in the Origin like atmosphere at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane where he was named Man of the Match. Aitken is joined by members of last year’s Grand Final Harold Matthews team in Dee Jay Harris and Josh Vaartjes. In other matches on the weekend St George host Melbourne Storm and South West Sydney Academy at WIN Jubilee Oval while Manly head down Hume Highway to take on Canberra a Seiffert Oval. Central Coast Centurions will look to start their season with a win against Cronulla when they host the Sharks at Woy Woy Oval. North Sydney head across to Nullarbor to play Western Australia in a curtain raiser to the Cowboys V St George Illawarra trail match at nib Stadium. In the final match on Saturday at St Marys League’s Stadium, Western Sydney Academy host Balmain in what both Clubs would be confident of picking up maximum points. (NOTE : Euan Aitken was one of the stars on last years AIS tour) |
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| Friday 10 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOOTY CHALLENGE HELP SOUGHT Football season is fast approaching and so is Easter. The combination of the two things can mean only one thing and that is the annual Nyngan Easter challenge. This event has been running now for four years and is becoming an important fixture on the football calendar The Nyngan Easter challenge has gained momentum during the past couple of years, last year’s challenge being attended by Phil Gould. This year will see the likes of International Development Officer Tas Baitier and NSW high performance Wayne Portlock. Regular guest referee Sean Hamstead will continue his support, along with a list of other NRL guests soon to be confirmed. An exciting host of new teams will be in attendance this year with sides from South Sydney and the West Tigers showing interest. Development teams from South Australia and PNG will be special guests this year, along with regular attendees Parramatta and the Hunter academy (Newcastle juniors) as well as our own Far West Academy, Western Academy and Group 11. Event organiser Col Wright is, as usual, very excited about the upcoming event. Col and his small band of helpers put an enormous amount of time and energy in each year to ensure everything goes off without a hitch, but they are always looking for more help. If you are interested in helping in whatever small way you can, we ask that you please meet at the RSL on Wednesday February 15 at 7pm. This event is a huge boost for the Nyngan area and for young footballers from across the west. We need to keep the concept alive and that can only happen if we have people willing to help. |
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| TAMWORTH HAS HOME POOL ADVANTAGE WHEN Tamworth hosts the State U14 Championships this weekend it will aim for some home town success. That was achieved two years ago when the girls team won the state title and a repeat performance this year would be a huge achievement. “There’s 38 teams, 19 boys and 19 girls,” Tamworth U14 girls coach Gail Salter said. “We were girls state champions in 2009 and the boys finished fourth that year. “That was a particularly good year. “We had a very good team.” This year’s side has been working hard in preparation for the titles. They are up bright and early, rain or shine, to train at the South and West Memorial Pool. “We’ve been training four days a week,” Salter said. “At 6am. “Even when it’s raining, water polo training still goes ahead.” Kate Farquhar will captain the team that includes five 13-year-olds and eight who are even younger. They come up against some strong opposition in their first pool games on Friday at Tamworth City pool. At 7am they face Sydney Uni and then come up against one of the favoured sides, Cronulla Blue A, later in the day. “The favourites will be Cronulla A and Drummoyne A,” Salter said. “Cronulla A is in our pool, but our pool is not too bad. “I think we’ll be very competitive. “We hope we’ll be in the playoffs on Saturday afternoon.” Tamworth also plays pool games on Saturday morning against SNB White B and UNSW Black B. The teams are split into four pools – all girls games are at city pool – and the finals conclude on Sunday. Tamworth’s boys are also in action. They will play two pool games on Friday and two on Saturday with all boys games at Scully pool. Tamworth has become the regular home of the under 14s titles in recent years. “It’s the third year in a row and the fourth year out of the last five,” Salter said. “It’s quite a coup to get it three years in a row.” |
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After a huge two days the Canberra Raiders have reached the border city of Albury-Wodonga, following visits to Cootamundra and Junee Schools as part of the 2012 Community Carnival. The Green Machine joined students in Cootamundra and Junee as the bell sounded for the start of school this morning, with eight schools in the two towns getting a visit from the Raiders top squad. One Raider who knew the area well was local Cootamundra product Glen Buttriss, who said it was great to visit a couple of his old schools and give the next generation a chance to meet some NRL players. “I remember when I was a kid the Raiders coming out here to Coota and we were lucky enough to get some signatures and meet guys like Laurie Daley and Kenny Nagas which was awesome back then,” Buttriss said. “Now the kids of Coota can say they’ve had a chance to meet guys like Brett White and Josh Dugan which they can talk about for years to come.” The trip further along to Junee was a jam packed occasion for the Raiders as they visited a further four schools, before getting the chance to get up close and personal with the statue of rugby league commentating legend Ray Warren. The Raiders then travelled south along the Olympic Highway to Albury, where Terry Campese, Bronson Harrison and Blake Ferguson visited Aspect Riverina School, which specialises in teaching students with Autism spectrum disorder. Terry Campese said the school visit to the Aspect Riverina school was a highlight of the day and said the children who were there absolutely loved having the chance to tackle a rugby league player head on. “The kids here are so friendly and we’ve had a lot of fun running around the playground and playing footy with them this afternoon,” Campese said. “It’s a great way to end whats been two huge days of traveling to the regional areas and we will now shift our focus to the first trial against the Storm this weekend.” The Raiders will wrap up their preparations for the trial tomorrow as they get their first look at Lavington Sports Ground, before attending the Men of League dinner in Albury tomorrow night. |
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The entire Jetstar Gold Coast Titans playing squad visited over 2500 kids at 24 schools and 13 Junior Rugby League clubs across the Gold Coast and regional Queensland today as part of Rugby League’s 2012 Community Carnival. The entire Jetstar Titans squad was deployed in different groups to a host of schools across the Gold Coast to deliver important health and literacy messages through programs like Rugby League Reads and “Eat Well, Play Well, Stay Well”. The Jetstar Titans also paid special visits to different locations in regional Queensland, with Jamal Idris and Ben Ridge travelling to the small town of Miles 340km west of Brisbane while Scott Prince, Ryan James and Aidan Sezer travelled to Murgon in the South Burnett region 270km north-west of Brisbane. New recruit Beau Champion, who is playing his first match in Titans colours at Pizzey Park, on Saturday night in a pre-season trial match against the Broncos, and inaugural Titan Luke O’Dwyer travelled to the northern end of the Gold Coast today for visits to Ormeau State School and Lords School in Pimpama. The pair read books to students and helped them sharpen their rugby league skills on the field and Champion said he had been impressed by the Jetstar Titans strong emphasis on community work since joining the club in November last year. “Yeah it’s fantastic, the little kids enjoy it and we all enjoy getting away from training so it is a fantastic initiative and the Gold Coast community always support us so it is good to give something back to them,’’ said Champion. “I was very heavily involved when I was at South Sydney. We had ‘Souths Cares’ down there and we used to be heavily involved in the community and I really missed that side of things when I was in Melbourne, so to get up to the Gold Coast and give back is really rewarding for the players and for the kids and people involved. “I see the importance in it and the Gold Coast are a really community based club and it is something I want to be a part of.” Tweed Heads Seagulls junior O’Dwyer said the Community Carnival was a great concept and joked that his recent experience with reading children’s books to his young son Jax had him fully prepared for today’s group reading session. "It's a great concept the NRL community Carnival so to come out here and give over 2,500 kids some Titans love today, it's good to get out on the Gold Coast and see some schools,’’ said O’Dwyer. “We read a couple of books, the ‘Ugly Bug’ was one of them - not like the old ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ that I use to read a few years ago – and that was a huge hit over there today. "Jax loves his books and we have a few good ones for him at home so it was good to read to the kids. "It's been a big couple of weeks for the Gold Coast with the All Stars and Indigenous game and all the build up to the kick-off for 2012, so it's great to be out amongst the community and they are enjoying it as much as we are." The Jetstar Titans will return to the training paddock tomorrow morning for their final session in preparation for Saturday night’s pre-season trial match against the Broncos at Pizzey Park, Miami. |
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| NOMINATE FOR RHYS WESSER SHIELD Story By : QRL Rocky juniors ROCKHAMPTON will host the inaugural Rhys Wesser “Positive or it’s Pointless” Super 9 Shield over the upcoming Easter weekend. The Rhys Wesser Shield will be held on the second week of the Easter School holidays; however, nominations close on February 29. The carnival is designed for the Under 14 age group, and will be played in a nine-a-side format, with teams of up to 15 players nominated. Wesser, a former Emmaus College and Rockhampton Brothers player, is one of the region’s favourite sons and is delighted to support the event. The former Maroons star retired from the NRL at the end of last season after a career of 218 first grade games for the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs. The cost of the carnival is $250 per team, which includes a tee shirt for each player, a Stockland gift pack, a burger and drink at the Thursday night function. Each team will also receive an ARL Development Pack. Depending on team nominations, the organisers are looking to hold up to four division finals so the players get to play as many games as possible. For further information, contact Michael Fletcher 0428 113 148 – while nomination forms can be found by visiting the Rockhampton Brothers Junior Rugby League website here: www.rbjrl.leaguenet.com.au Age Group: Under 14 The Carnival is proudly sponsored by Capricorn Enterprises, Stockland Rockhampton, CQ Leagues Club, Webbers Retravision and Sports Scene Super Warehouse Rockhampton. It is also supported by the QRL, ARL Development & the CQ NRL Bid Team. |
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| 2012 EASTER "BLUES" CAMP The NSWRL Academy will be again conducting the annual Easter "Blues" Camp from Tuesday 10th April to Friday 13th April. ALL PLAYERS RECEIVE: · Top class coaching and instruction from NSWRL Development Staff, guest coaches and the opportunity to meet current NRL players (subject to availability). . Dormitory room accommodation with dining, recreation, video, seminar · All meals · 3 nights’ accommodation, Steeden Football, 3 training shirts, 1 pair of shorts, Socks, Cap, Water bottle, Camp Photo and Certificate of Attendance The Camp cost is $415.00. There are no additional costs and the four-day camp provides the players with an invaluable Rugby League experience they will always remember. Throughout the duration of the camp, players will follow a carefully balanced program designed to promote skill development, sportsmanship, fun and enjoyment. All players are fully supervised throughout the duration of the camp by trained NSWRL Staff and Academy of Sport Staff. Four Players from this camp will be selected to be Ball Boys at State of Origin 2 at ANZ Stadium. Each boy will be kitted out in State of Origin uniform and get the best “view in the house” of one of the Games most prestigious events. Discount Rates for Participants: Clubs or Schools with 10 or more participants are $400.00 per player. Click here to find out more about the camp or to download an enrollment form |
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| Thursday 9 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NEW FORMAT FOR ELITE CUPS Queensland’s premier under age competitions – the Mal Meninga and Cyril Connell Cups – are ready to launch next month under an exciting new format. This year will see the competing sides divided into two conferences – a North Western Conference and a South Eastern Conference – each consisting of eight teams. The four most northern teams – Northern Pride, Townsville Stingers, Mackay Cutters and CQ Capras – along with the Sunshine Coast, Central United, Ipswich and Toowoomba Clydesdales – make up the eight teams in the North Western Conference. The remaining eight teams – Gold Coast Green, Wynnum Manly Seagulls, Easts Tigers, Norths Devils, Wests Panthers, Souths Logan Magpies, Gold Coast Gold and Redcliffe Dolphins – will be grouped together in the South Eastern Conference. Other changes this year will see the: • North Western Conference split into two sections. As in previous years, the winner of the Under 16 and Under 18 finals will play the NSW champions. These games will be played at a Queensland venue on May 12. (The Draw is Attached) DRAWS COMING SOON North Western Conference Northern Pride South Eastern Conference Gold Coast GreenWynnum Manly Seagulls Easts Tigers Norths Devils Wests Panthers Souths Logan Magpies Gold Coast Gold Redcliffe Dolphins |
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| Tuesday 7 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
PENRITH halfback Luke Walsh left the Knights in search of regular NRL football, but his younger brother Tyrone Walsh hopes to one day establish himself in the red and blue of his home town. The 15-year-old Western Suburbs junior took a major step in his quest to become a professional footballer on Saturday when he played halfback for the under-16 NSW Koori side against Queensland at Skilled Park in a curtain-raiser to the Indigenous All Stars match. The two states followed last year’s 20-all draw by finishing level at 16-16. Singleton’s Travis Edwards played five-eighth for NSW, scored a try and was named man of the match. Edwards and Walsh will combine for the Knights Harold Matthews side this weekend when they play Penrith in the opening round of the under-16 competition at Centrebet Stadium. Luke Walsh appeared in 13 first-grade games for the Knights in 2007, but was forced to move to the foot of the Blue Mountains in 2009. Since joining the Panthers he has played 63 games and has become renowned for his kicking game. But younger brother Tyrone wants to earn his stripes with the Knights. ‘‘I want to stay at my home team,’’ he said. ‘‘I follow Penrith now, but I still want to play for the Knights as I wouldn’t want to move from Newcastle.’’ His older brother has been a massive influence on his rugby league development. ‘‘He’s helped me out heaps,’’ Tyrone said. ‘‘He taught me how to talk heaps on the field. He couldn’t come and watch as he’s busy training.’’ Maitland Pickers first-grade coach Ron Griffiths mentored the under-16 NSW Koori side and reckons Tyrone’s dreams of playing for the Knights are achievable. ‘‘He’s a player with a lot of potential, who, with the right type of guidance, could play at the highest level,’’ Griffiths said. ‘‘I don’t think he actually realises how much ability he’s got.’’ Griffiths benched Tyrone for 10 minutes in the second half and reintroduced the lively playmaker when the score was 16-4 in favour of Queensland. ‘‘I told him that we’ve got 20 minutes left for him to get us back in the game and over the line. It wasn’t just him, but he played a big part in getting us back to a 16-14 lead,’’ Griffiths said. ‘‘I asked the question and he was able to provide.’’ Queensland were awarded a penalty 40 metres out in the middle of the park on full-time, which was slotted over by David Nogar to draw the match. |
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THE WESTS Greater Northern Academy program is hotting up and not just because the warm weather has returned. Yesterday’s training session at Werris Creek was the last before the GNA teams play their first matches of the summer at Cessnock next weekend. After rain and cooler temperatures made last week’s first training run after the holidays a comfortable one, it was a shock to train in hot conditions at David Taylor Park. “It’s all heating up really,” GNA head coach Peter Stevens said. “The games are what they are looking forward to. “It’s been a bit disjointed because of the weather but we’re pretty happy with the younger squad.” The flooding in the Namoi and Barwon areas kept a few players away but those who were there prepared well for the games next Saturday. The under 17s will play the Balmain Tiger Cubs and the Western Academy U18s while the GNA under 18s face the Hunter Academy and Western. Stevens said the effort at training had been good but expects it will take time to adjust to on-field conditions. “I’m happy at the moment,” he said. “Some of the old habits will probably creep back in. “But by the time we play Western we’re usually pretty good.” GNA faces Western again in three weeks at Mudgee in its last set of games. One of the other players missing from training was Armidale’s Fred Campbell, but he had a good reason to be missing. He played for the NSW Indigenous U16s in one of the curtain- raisers to Saturday night’s All Stars game on the Gold Coast. He and his cousin Jimmy Widders-Leese and Tamworth’s Jarmarley Jerrard helped the NSW side to a 16-all draw with the Queensland Indigenous U16s. Widders-Leese scored a try late in the game to give NSW a 16-14 lead but the Queenslanders booted a penalty goal on fulltime to level it. |
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| Monday 6 th Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NSW and QLD U/16 Indigenous play out a draw... AGAIN In a case of deja vu or just a little bit of history repeating, the NSW & QLD Indigenous U/16 sides played out an enthralling draw, just as they did one year ago. The opening stanza of the match provided neither side with any real scoring opportunities as a combination of some stinging defence and poor ball handling kept the match deadlocked for the first 15 minutes. But finally it was NSW who struck first after Kaji Buchanan did remarkably well to offload near the line, and he found a wide open Jake Ennis who scored in the corner to make it 4-0. Unfortunately though these were to be NSW only points of the half as QLD replied with two tries of their own, one in the 22nd minute and another from a scrum which was allowed to be fed despite the half time siren sounding long beforehand. And so it was QLD leading 10-4 at the main break as both sides headed to the sheds for a well deserved break. Early points would have been what NSW were chasing in the second half but that wasn’t going to be the case. In the 35th minute Kieran Kennedy went close for NSW but was ruled to have lost control as he attempted to ground the ball, and as luck would have it, from the resulting set of six, QLD went the length of the field to extend their lead to ten. Chances were few and far between for the boys in blue for the next ten minutes or so as they spent most of their time resolutely defending their own line. And despite not scoring themselves, NSW had managed to repel QLD time after time and in doing so they gave themselves a chance of victory. And the comeback was on in earnest when in the 50th minute Travis Edwards put in a daring chip and chase from ten metres out and won the race for the ball thus reducing the deficit to just four points. The resulting restart was put out on the full by QLD and you sensed that NSW now, and perhaps for the first time in the match, had all the momentum. And with around five minutes left on the clock a QLD error 20 metres out from their own line was swooped on by James Widders-Leece who shrugged off some would-be tacklers to score, and when Edwards calmly converted, NSW lead for the first time in over half an hour. With time winding down, QLD were throwing everything at NSW and on the last play of the match an inside ball from QLD was knocked to the ground and fallen on by a NSW player, but unfortunately for NSW the referee deemed that the NSW player who fell on the ball had been offside and awarded QLD a penalty 40 metres out, right in front as the full time siren sounded out around Skilled Park. The penalty kick was successful by the barest of margins and for the second year running, these two sides would have to settle for a draw. NSW once again retain the shield as they won it back in 2010 and have now remained unbeaten at Skilled Park for the three years the fixture has been played there. Coach Ronald Griffith understandably had mixed feelings with the outcome but overall he felt the result was a fair one. “We certainly didn’t complete a lot of sets but we hung tough and I was proud of the way the boys fought back,“ Griffith said. “Obviously we would have loved to have won but in the end the score was probably a fair indication of the match. “It has been a wonderful week and all of these boys have carried themselves well and represented their state and people with pride.” Ethan Roberts from the South Grafton Rebels won the NSW Man of the Match award. NSW 16 (J Ennis, T Edwards, J Widders-Leece tries; T Edwards 2 goals) drew with QLD 16 Click here to see a gallery from Skilled Park The NSW Indigenous U/16's and their support staff would like to thank the following sponsors for their wonderful support. Without it, these types of events would not be possible. Kari Aboriginal ResourcesSydney Markets Message Stick Coles Supermarkets Carbine Club |
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| Friday 3 rd Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CHANGE OF VENUE - SHARKS VS WESTS TRIAL Due to the wet weather there has been a venue change to our Junior Reps Trial tomorrow. All 3 games will now be played at Milton Park, Railway Parade, Ingleburn (Brooks Rd turn off M5). Times all remain the same at 4pm, 5:30, 7pm |
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At just 19-years-of-age, Chad Redman finds himself training full-time with the Hunter Ports Newcastle Knights first grade squad and can’t believe his luck in getting the chance to train alongside his childhood hero Danny Buderus. An Australian Schoolboy, big things are expected of this young hooker who enters his third year of the Toyota Cup competition, after joining the team in 2009 while still eligible for the SG Ball competition. Ben Rogers caught up with Redman during pre-season training click here to watch. |
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| JUNIOR GAMES CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER The Knights Chargers Youth squad and Hunter Academy U17's games scheduled for this weekend at Lyall Peacock Field, Toronto have been cancelled due to the weather. |
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| Thursday 2 nd Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Bulldogs affiliated SWSAS Harold Matthews (u16) squad will play the Cronulla Sharks in their final trial match at Toyota Stadium on Saturday 4th February with kick off at 4.00pm. The Bulldogs have entered into a partnership with the South West Sydney Academy of Sport (SWSAS) that will allow an additional 13 players from within the Canterbury-Bankstown Junior League the opportunity to play Junior Representative Rugby League whilst remaining a part of the Bulldogs system. The Bulldogs announced their 13 SWSAS representatives on Saturday 14th January 2012 and they resumed training as one SWSAS group on Monday 16th February 2012. The SWSAS squad have had encouraging results in their opening two trials. Saturday's trial will be the final match for SWSAS before their Round 1 clash against St George at WIN Jubilee Oval in Kogarah on Saturday 11th February 2012 with kick off at 12.00pm. JUNIOR REP TRIAL |
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Dreams became a reality today when the NSW Indigenous U/16 squad took to the field with the Indigenous All Stars as both teams continued their preparations for this weekends NRL All Stars fixture. After having had lunch with the guys yesterday, today was an opportunity to actually pull the boots on and get out on the park with the likes of fellow New South Welshman in Jamal Idris, Greg Bird and Nathan Merritt, just to name a few. And despite some early nerves the boys took to the experience like ducks to water as they cheekily attempted to dummy and step some of our games greatest superstars in what was a hot and testing session. The NSW Indigenous teams Coach, Ronald Griffith was proud of the way the boys carried themselves both today and since they have come into camp. "The boys have come together pretty well," Griffith said. "We have been a little unfortunate with the weather in regards to getting on the grounds for training but they have adapted and done everything that we have asked of them. "Today was massive, you could just see the smiles on their faces and although I hope a lot of these kids go on to have NRL careers, at the very least they will always have today to share with their family, friends and kids." The team rounded out the day with a visit to 'Wet and Wild' which is sure to be a welcomed distraction from what has been a rigorous few days of training since their arrival here on the Gold Coast. Tomorrow will see the boys training once again followed by a special dinner which will include their jersey presentations. Click here to see a photo gallery from today's session against the Indigenous All Stars And don't forget to check www.nswrl.com.au daily for more updates from inside camp but for more immediate updates be sure to follow us on Twitter @NSWRL as we will tweet updates, pics and vids throughout the week as well as LIVE scores from the match on Saturday. The NSW Indigenous U/16's and their support staff would like to thank the following sponsors for their wonderful support. Without it, these types of events would not be possible. Kari Aboriginal ResourcesSydney Markets Message Stick Coles Supermarkets Carbine Club |
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 CENTURIONS V WSAS TRIAL The penultimate trial matches are being played this week and this weekend in the lead up to this years NSWRL Junior Rep season which kicks off on the 18 th of Febuary. Tonite at St. Marys Stadium the Central Coast Centurions smacked the WSAS in the Matthew Cup to the tune of 34 - 6. In the u18 SG Ball trial, the WSAS were in front 28 - 6 with 10 to go. FINAL SCORE 40 - 4 In todays other trial game, the WA Reds had a skinny victory of the Melbourne Storm winning 18 - 20 in Melbourne |
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| Wednesday 1 st Febuary 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| STORM SG BALL TRIAL V WA REDS This Wednesday 1st February at 11.30am the Melbourne Storm U18's (SG Ball Competition) will play a trial match against the WA Reds. The Melbourne boys will be looking at producing a strong performance in tomorrow's match as this will be their final trial before the season commences on February 11. The match will be played at Cross Keys Reserve in Essendon (corner of Pascoe Vale Rd and Woodland St) So check out the Storm U18 boys in action tomorrow The Current squad list is as follows: Hayden Butler (Waverley Panthers)Jackson Brenchley (Waverly Panthers) Brandon Manase (Waverley Panthers) Josh Kanongata’a (Altona Roosters) Tremaine Jensen (Waverley Panthers) Nicholas Lafaele (South-East Titans) George Edwards (Auckland) Jonah Lolesio (Altona Roosters) Aaron Presnell (Altona Roosters) Romia Matangaro (Waverley Panthers) Aaron Teroi (Northern Thunder) Jeremiah Leasi (Northern Thunder) Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad (Altona Roosters) Mitchell Vincent (Christchurch) Francis Tualua (Brisbane) Phil Salue (South-East Titans) Billy Walters (Brisbane) Joseph Watene-Lavina (Casey Chiefs) Henry Sang-Yum (Altona Roosters) Jarred Hargreaves-Mataese (AltonaRoosters) Jose Makai (Northern Thunder) John Filipo (Northern Thunder) Xavia Siola’a (Altona Roosters) Poai Togia (Auckland) Naseri Seve (Northern Thunder) Dillan Brittain (Waverley Panthers) Note: There are also 5-6 players from the Storm’s NYC squad who will join this group for the trial matches and the beginning of the SG Ball season.  CHECK OUT THE STORM SG BALL LOCKER ROOM |
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| Tuesday 31 st January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| KNIGHTS GIVE LITTLE KNIGHTS A RUN The Knights Chargers Youth squad and Hunter Academy U17's will play this weekend at Lyall Peacock Field, Toronto. Saturday 4th February 2012 Lyall Peacock Field, Toronto map 2.30pm: Knights Chargers Youth Squad v CRL Western Academy 2 x 30 mins3.40pm: Hunter Academy U/17s v CRL Western Academy 2 x 35 mins KNIGHTS JUNIOR REP LOCKER ROOM |
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| Monday 30 th January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The NSWCCC have looked to defend their ASSRL Champion status by selecting new coaching staff for the 2012 schoolboys footy seaon Congratulations to the following teachers who have been appointed as officials to NSWCCC teams: Under 15'sCoach: Brian Battesse (St John's Woodlawn) Assistant Coach: TBA Manager: Michael Whitton (Clare Catholic College Hassal Grove) Tranier: Michael Fisher (St Mary's cathedral College Sydney) Under 18's Coach: Tim White (Holy Cross College Ryde) Assistant Coach: Dane McKay (St Paul's College Manly) Manager: Chris Bettiol (Loyola College Mount Druitt) Trainer: Peter Burke (La Salle Catholic College Bankstown) The following teachers have received the NSWCCC nomination for ASSRL selectors. Their nominations will be forwarded to ASSRL. 15's ASSRL Selector: John McKnoght (McCarthy Catholic College Emu Plains) 18's ASSRL Selector: James Clancy (La Salle Catholic College Bankstown) |
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| Saturday 28 th h January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS GET TASTE OF WESTS TIGERS Twenty-five talented young rugby league players enjoyed a taste of life as a Wests Tigers player at Concord Oval this week. Under the guidance of Wests Tigers Elite Junior Player and Coaching Manager Grant Jones, the players were addressed by Wests Tigers NRL and Australian Test Coach Tim Sheens as part of the Club's annual Scholarship Camp. Aged 15-17, the contracted Wests Tigers players came from across the country and New Zealand to participate in the intensive three day camp. Each player received Wests Tigers training gear and Blades football boots. Wests Tigers NRL Assistant Coach Steve Georgallis and Skills Coach Steve James put the players through intensive coaching and skills session. Wests Tigers NYC Strength and Conditioning Coach Balin Cupples made a presentation on strength work and the importance of nutrition. “From last year’s camp, 7 of the players will play for Wests Tigers U20s team this season,’’ Jones said. “Judging by what we saw this week, I say we will be looking at 4-5 players for next year’s U20s side. “We will also be inviting the top 6 players from this week’s camp to join a selected group of players from the Western Suburbs Magpies and Balmain Tigers SG Ball and Harold Matthews teams to play in a development trial against NSW Combined Catholic Colleges in May. “Centre Rory Humphreys, full-back Jamian Iroa, and half-back Jyden Murray got the awards at the camp this week for exceptional performances.” Wests Tigers Scholarship Camp contracted players Nathan Biessel (lock, Logan Brothers, Qld), Michael Cochrane (half, Wests Panthers, Qld), Richard Ene (prop, Keebra Park High), Jacob Junior Felise (prop, Keebra), Francis Fifita (back-row, Keebra), Daley Forese (five-eighth, Keebra), Ryan Gardner (centre/wing, Noosa Pirates, Qld), Watson Heleta (centre, Keebra), Kain Humphreys (back row, Northern Suburbs Qld), Rory Humphreys (centre, Northern Suburbs, Qld), Jamian Iroa (full-back, Keebra), Rima Kamoe (lock, Keebra), Romey Lavea (prop, Keebra), Jyedn Murray (half, Cowra, NSW), John Ogden (centre, Keebra), Jayk Sinclair (five-eighth, St Georges Basin, NSW), Billy Sing (lock, Dubbo, NSW), Marshall Sing (five-eighth, Dubbo, NSW), Huietau Vili Tuli (prop/back row, Keebra). Triallists: Jayden Summers (hooker, Noosa Pirates, Qld), Curtly Scott (half, Wauchope, NSW), Santino Battagliolo (back-row/centre, South Coast), Jake Keighran (prop, South Coast), Matt Hemstead (centre, Charleville, Qld). |
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| Saturday 28 th January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NSWRL JUNIOR REP Trials
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| Wednesday 11 th January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Raiders fans, meet the youngest member of the fulltime first grade training squad for 2012: Jack Wighton. At just 18 years of age, Wighton, on the back of a marvellous 2011 season in the Toyota Cup, was invited to train with the top squad and has shown great maturity and physical prowess in his efforts so far in pre-season training. Blessed with a plethora of natural attacking ability and a sublime athletic frame, Wighton impressed many astute judges in the Toyota Cup this year. Plying his trade at either five-eighth or centre, the Orange CYMS product went on to register 15 tries, 11 try assists, 13 line breaks as well as averaging 4 tackle breaks per game. Not one to shirk the hard work in defence either, Wighton also averaged 18 tackles per game. In what is sure to be a scary thought for opposition teams in 2012, the former Australian Schoolboy representative believes his game has improved immensely under the expert tutelage of the Raiders NRL players and Coach David Furner. “Pre season’s been tough. It’s been a good experience though getting to train with all the older boys in first grade and learning from them.” “Crokes [Jarrod Croker], Campo [Terry Campese] and Joely T [Joel Thompson] have all been awesome in helping me out. At first I was a bit shy when I started but those guys really helped me out and got me talking to make me feel more comfortable and less shy. It’s been really good.” After captaining the NSW under 18s side in the curtain raiser to Game Two in the State of Origin series this year, Wighton revealed that he plans to take on more of a leadership role next year in the Toyota Cup. “I’m going to try and take on more of a leadership role next year in the 20s. I’m only as young as them myself but I’ll try and help them out as best I can from what I’ve learnt training with the first graders.” Wighton has also added some bulk to his growing body over the pre-season, which will make him even more of a nightmare to opposition centres when combined with his dangerous footwork, strong fend and electric speed. “I’ve worked hard in the gym and I’ve put on a little bit more weight. I’ve increased my fitness too which has been good.” “I’ve been working more in the centres in first grade and learning more about the little things like talking more, shape in attack and positioning. "Centre’s probably my preferred position at the moment because it’s where I’ve been training mainly but I quite like playing five-eighth too." “I don’t really mind where they play me in the trials I just want to have a consistently good year." |
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| GLADMAN SCORES A TRIAL WITH RABBITOHS Story By : BEN HIGGINS
BROTHERS young gun Luke Gladman is the latest rugby league prodigy to earn a trial with an NRL club. The 16-year-old was in Sydney yesterday for a practice match that could net him a full-time contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Gladman starred in Brothers' Sullivan Cup team last season, smashing a club record for most tries and most points in one match. The fullback/centre scored nine tries and racked up a massive 52 points in a game against Tumbarumba. His 244 points led the team to third last season and a preliminary final, where Gladman kicked one conversion in the loss to Young. Speaking from Sydney, Gladman said it was a huge opportunity. "It's something I've wanted my whole life," he said. "Being at training has been exciting and my mum and dad are very proud and all my mates were pretty happy when they heard." If his trial is successful Gladman may have to switch allegiances as he grew up a Canterbury Bulldogs supporter. Mother Kay and father Jason are in Sydney with their son and said he was driven to achieve. "Luke's grandfather Neville Gladman passed away a short time ago and that has been a huge motivation for him," Jason Gladman said. "His pop was always with him and I know Luke wants to achieve his goals to honour his memory." Brothers coach Steven O'Neill said Gladman had huge potential and was a good kid. "He's a likeable, down-to-earth young man," he said. "Luke's got all the skills, the size and the mentality to do very well if given the opportunity ... I know everyone is hoping for the best." Gladman joins a long list of Riverina stars who have been hand picked by NRL clubs ahead of season 2012. Brothers teammates Brody Rigg and Harry Stewart have been selected by St George-Illawarra. Southci ty pair Tim Hurst (Wests Tigers) and Jordan Shephard (Melbourne), as well as Gundagai's James Luff (Wests Tigers), are also chasing their NRL dreams. |
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| Tuesday 10 th January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When most people at the Raiders think of Shannon Boyd one word resonates profoundly: BIG. What is even more impressive though is that this 193cm and 123kg powerhouse is just 19 years old and already in the first grade training squad. He is the second youngest squad member behind Jack Wighton. After an extremely impressive season last year in the Toyota Cup, in which the Cowra Magpies product averaged 104 metres and 16 tackles per game, Boyd has been elevated to the top squad despite having a year left in the under 20s competition. The Raiders coaching staff believe that having Boyd training with seasoned front row campaigners such as Brett White, David Shillington and Dane Tisle will enhance Boyd’s development considerably. “It’s been pretty full on but it’s been good and I’ve learned a lot of stuff which should help me out this year,” said the NSW Under 18s representative. “It’s a lot different to training with the 20s. It’s definitely more serious and more full on than the Under 20s but that’s what I need to develop my game.” “I think I’ve handled it pretty well. I struggled the first few weeks but my fitness improved with each session which made the transition easier.” The proof is in the pudding – or lack thereof – for Boyd as he aims to play more minutes in 2012. “I lost about 5kgs in skin folds of fat and then regained the 5kgs in muscle so I’ve stayed about the same weight but I’m a lot more fit.” “With all the aerobic testing we do out on the field, I’ve gone up in every category so I’m happy with myself and just want to keep on improving.” Boyd also has a greater understanding of the importance of on-field communication since training with the NRL players. “Talk’s a big thing out on the field. Without that you struggle, so I’ve got to improve in that area. It helps with knowing where you have to be all the time and that there’s always a job for you to do out on the field be it positioning yourself for the next hit up or running a decoy for another player.” Whilst it has a been a steep learning curve for the young tyro, there is no better place to learn the art of front row play than at the Raiders. Boyd has soaked in all the tutelage provided to him by the experienced stars at his disposal such as Brett White, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Dane Tisle and David Shillington. “It’s unreal being able to train with those sorts of players. They teach you a lot of stuff and are always helping you out. It’s definitely going to help my game out so I’m blessed to be able to listen and learn from them.” “Whitey’s been really good and showed me a few things along with Tommy (Learoyd-Lahrs) and Tilse. Now that Shillo’s come back from injury he’s also been a big help.” “My goal this year is to hopefully debut in first grade so we’ll see how I go. All I can control is how I play so if I’m playing at my best hopefully I’ll be pushing for a spot. It’ll be such a proud moment for me running onto Canberra Stadium in first grade.” Boyd’s efforts in preseason haven’t gone unnoticed by the established first grade stars at the Raiders either, as Josh McCrone explains. “I think everyone’s been pretty impressive in pre season but if I had to nominate someone I’d say big Boydy [Shannon Boyd] has really impressed me even though it’s the first time he’s trained with the first grade squad. I remember the when I first trained with the top squad and it’s a tough gig but he’s killed it and keeps getting better with every session. The opposed sessions aren’t good when he’s running straight at me so I’ll be looking forward to him running off my shoulder,” said McCrone. Another goal for this exciting young prospect is to notch a try after registering zero last year, although he was fortunate enough to avoid the dreaded nudie run. “I didn’t get a try at all last year butI wasn’t able to go to presentation night because I had an operation booked in then so I missed out on the nudie run though luckily.” “Hopefully I get one this year so I can avoid it two years in a row although my skin folds are down so at least I’ll be looking trim,” laughed Boyd. |
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| Monday 9 th January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dragons take on Illawarra in the SG Ball trial this coming Saturday 14th January 2012 at 10.15pm. Game was to be played at WIN 2 but has been moved to Robert Zeims Park, Corrimal at the same time. Come along to see some of the Junior St George Illawarra Rep players in their preperation for this season SG Ball Competition. Chere will be some classy players on display |
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| Friday 6 th January 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| JANUARY LEVEL 1 REFEREES COURSE
On Wednesday 25th January 2012 the NSWRL will be conducting a Level 1 Referees Course. The course will be held at Sports House, Homebush. Participants after completing the course will then be eligible to go and join their local Referees Association. The course will run from 9:00am to 4:00pm and will cost $25. For more information contact Doug Keen - dkeen @ nswrl.com.au or 0409 031 711 |
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| Thursday 22 nd December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DYLAN Cartwright is a young man who has a bright future in the game of rugby league. The 18-year-old last week returned home to Darwin after representing the Australian Institute of Sport on a month-long tour of the United Kingdom and France. A product of the Palmerston Raiders and NTIS scholarship holder, Cartwright received the Col Matthews Medal for his efforts on a tour featuring four wins from five matches. "It was a great honour, winning (the Matthews medal) was pretty much the same feeling as winning a game for the green and gold," Cartwright said. "Going on the tour was a once in a lifetime opportunity, I was stoked to go and I just put my head down and gave it everything." That approach certainly worked for Cartwright, who was one of four Territory rugby league products who were on tour. Chris Smith, Ado Waianga and Tom McLennan also featured in conditions that Cartwright admitted were far different to what they were used to at home. "It was the coldest weather I've ever played in," Cartwright said. "We had a few games in minus temperatures, we didn't play in snow, but we saw some over there." Adding weight to Cartwright's appearance on the tour is the fact he was a late starter to the game of rugby league, having first played the sport about three years ago. "I started martial arts when I was five and did it for 10 years with the NT Tang Soo Karate Academy," Cartwright said. "That got my strength and mindset for what (sport) I wanted to do and Mark Nolan first got me into rugby league when I was playing school sports for fun. "I'm glad I went from martial arts to rugby league. "I was lucky to be picked for the NT side after a year with the Raiders. "From there I got into the NTIS program and went on from there." A Brisbane Broncos fan who lists Sam Thaiday as undoubtedly his favourite player, Cartwright will head to the Sunshine State early in the New Year to try out with the Queensland Cup powerhouse Redcliffe. |
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| Friday 16 December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dubbo College Senior Campus student Alex Bonham was among three rugby league players from the region to participate in a country-to-city camp in Sydney last weekend. A talented hooker, Bonham - along with Forbes’ David Cowhan and Zac Noble of Cowra - learned from the best in the business after being identified by ARL staff at a Western Rams Academy training camp help at Lake Burrendong recently. Among the selection panel was Dubbo’s Andrew Ryan, who is now an NRL player welfare and education officer, and ARL development officer from Bathurst, Wade Judd. Bonham, who was a member of the Macquarie Raiders under-18s side which lost this season’s Group 11 grand final, has recently linked with Cronulla and admitted he is looking forward to seeing how things work when young players arrive at NRL clubs. “It will be good to see what programs they put the players through because I think they will all be different,” Bonham said. “I’ve been training with Rod Fardell every Monday and Wednesday and he works me hard but it’s good to stay fit because we might do a bit of training at the camp as well.” Also a member of an extended training squad at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and a NSW Country representative, Bonham has the lure of a possible trip to France next year to work for. “I go to the AIS in January and spend eight days training there and at some stage after that camp they will pick a squad to go to France for a month,” he said. “I’m still at school and have a year to go with that before I hopefully go down to Cronulla so I’d like to get the grand final win with Macquarie that we missed out on this year as well.” The selection of Bonham, Cowhan and Noble was based on their attitude and commitment shown to all parts of the program, according to Ryan. “The young players got to mix with current and former NRL players such as David Peachey, Alan Tongue and John Wilson, and listen to talks from specialist strength and conditioning staff and sports therapists,” Ryan said. “The camp is designed to give the country players an experience of professional rugby league and a feel for city life as well as tours of the Sydney Roosters and Sydney Football Stadium facilities.” The country representatives also attended the Toyota Rookie Camp and joined with the NSW Origin “Emerging Blues” camp at Narrabeen where they listened to an address by NSW Origin coach Ricky Stuart. |
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| Friday 9 December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Story & Photo By Nth Sydney BEARS See a gallery of photos of the visit in the Galleries Section. Most of them are still at school, certainly none are on a fulltime NRL players contract (As yet), but 20 players from the North Sydney Bears under 18s SG Ball side, took time away from their busy training schedule to make a social visit to the childrens’ ward of Nepean Hospital. Head Trainer Ben Jack was the organizer. “We usually do training sessions out at Wanda Beach and we did one at Cronulla last year. This year we thought we’d do a community based training session and we came here to visit the kids in the childrens’ ward.” “I think the kids loved it! You could see it in the faces when they saw a football and the presents that they got and especially the boys. When I saw some of the babies, they are quite surprised and I think they enjoyed it as well. “Definitely worth doing again. I’ve just had heaps of good reviews from the boys. Even for a future SG Ball team and maybe again later in the year if we could fit it in, it will be fantastic. Gill Astbury Acting Nurse Unit Manager Childrens’ Ward.. “Great day was had by all the children and staff when u'18s Sydney Bears “The kids thoroughly enjoyed their presents and interacting with the Matt Langfield - Lock Forward for the North Sydney Bears “I found it a lot easier to what I expected, to talk to all the little kids and make conversation with them and their parents. I thought it was going to be a lot harder than what it was.” “It was really an enlightening experience to go down there and sit with the kids. I enjoyed it a lot. I want to go again!” “I think on a day like Christmas, going down there would be amazing. Just see how the kids smile, like they were so excited today. If you get down there on a day like Christmas they’d just be over the moon, it would be amazing!” Frank Reaiche – Forward for the North Sydney Bears “You know, it was very good to see all the kids and to think how lucky we are to have what we’ve got and to give something back to the kids.” “Yeah, it was good, it really opened my eyes, just to see what it’s like for other people.” Should we do more things like this? “Oh, yeah. Of course, its great just to help the kids and help other people that are less fortunate.” The S G Ball is a NSW based under 18s Rugby League competition that is regarded as one of the toughest junior sporting competitions in the world. The season is due to begin in mid February 2012. |
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| Thursday 8 December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MACKAY STATE HIGH SCHOOL RUGBY LEAGUE ACADEMY 2011 WRAP 2011 has been very busy year for the Rugby League Academy. Our teams have competed with distinction both at home and around the state. Once again we have collected a number of trophies for our year 8, Under 15 and Open teams including The Mick Shew Shield (Mr Ottaway’s Year 8’s) and the Booka Primrose Shield (Mr Billing’s U/15’s) both with victories over Mercy College. Mr Doyle’s open team also secured the Col Grosskreutz Shield with victory over St Pat’s in the Division 2 final at the junior league grounds. St Pats deserved their win with a good performance in a keenly contested final. If we want to win the trophy back we have a lot of work to do between now and next season. In June a group of year 11 and 12 students with Mr Ottaway, Mr Dell and Mr Billings travelled to the Gold Coast for the Brisbane Bronco’s Country Carnival, eventually suffering a narrow defeat in the final. Our team was joined by four exchange students from Castleford Academy in England who were linking with us for eight weeks to sample our way of life and work with our school coaches. Eight other exchange students from Wakefield’s Outwood Grange Academy and from Hull’s Archbishop Sentamu Academy also attended our school for an extended period to taste the experience of our Rugby League Academy program. The players from Outwood Grange Academy Wakefield were Thomas Consterdine (Shawcross Sharks), Brandon Conway (Shawcross Sharks), Chad Moss (Methley Warriors), and Josh Kittrick (Methley Warriors). 2011 was an England Tour year and for the third time we followed in the footsteps of our 2007 and 2009 rugby league tours. Traveling together were 21 students, Kyle Krisanski – Kennedy, Blake Atherton (Mirani SHS), Tyler Heading, Ryan Sainsbury, Nathan Benson, Zach Schill, Ben Ivey, Baeden Flynn, Kyle O’Brien, Damon Stokes, Jacob Pinyon, Corey Neilson, Lane Grayson, Cody Simpson (Calen SC), Brad Simpson (Calen CS), Adam Lucas, Andrew Warren, Mark Jorgenson, Jackson McCormack, Cody Cocup, and Damon Mooney. Also traveling with the group were teachers My Billings, Mr Dell, Mr Doyle and Mr Esau, who makes the tour for the third time. Two parents also helped on the trip, Mr Krisanski and Mr Flynn. The team played games in Wakefield, Castleford, Hull, Rochdale and London. No other school rugby league program in Australia offers a tour of this quality, a once in a lifetime opportunity for any young player to travel and play in the UK. While there we visited Super league games, museums, theme parks, historic castles, schools and many other tourist attractions like the London Eye and The Tower of London. The 2013 tour will be available to any current Year 8 and 9 students who confirm their intention to continue their rugby league course through their senior years (11 and 12) at our school. One of our students and our head coach deserve special mention this year. Regan Grieve was selected in the Under 15 Capricornia representative team which went on to win the state titles with our own Mr Nathan Doyle as coach. This is a major achievement for Mr Doyle in what is arguably the most keenly contested of all Queensland School sports. Also in 2011 Mr Doyle was invited to coach the North Queensland Marlins for the first time, an achievement that reflects huge credit on his ability putting him up there with the very best of coaches currently working in Queensland schools. Well done Mr Doyle! From the Queensland Championships Regan was selected in the Queensland team to contest the Australian titles in Perth. Although his Queensland team were narrowly defeated in the final, Regan’s performances at the carnival earned him a spot in the Australian ‘merit’ team named at the closing ceremony. Even though Regan has decided to move on from our school, and we wish him well at his new school, we are proud to know that he will not be able to achieve any higher honours in the schoolboy game than he has with the support of our friendly staff and students here at Mackay High. Another of our students to reach high representative honours this year was Kellen Jenner who made Mr Doyle’s U/15 Capricornia team as a 14 year old. A great year for this exciting talent was capped with his selection in the under14 Queensland team. Well done Kellen. Other notable representative honours in 2011 have come to:
This is also an opportunity to recognise the enormous contribution of two of our Academy staff who are moving on in 2012. Mr Glenn Ottaway will be taking over the Chief Executive role at the Mackay Cutters and Mr Andrew Dell is taking some time out to enjoy some travel in Europe. This is a very exciting opportunity for Mr Ottaway whose undoubted organisational and personable coaching skills have been a real benefit for the Academy over his time here. We are all looking forward to maintaining close contact with him in his new role and invite Mr Dell to come home to MSHS when the money runs out. Both these popular and talented teachers will be missed as we move into 2012 but we are sure that some equally keen and capable teachers will move in to take up the challenge. The Academy coaches would like to acknowledge these students who have worked hard in the program since they arrived in Year eight five years ago. Evert Taylor Hanson, Brydon Sutton, Aaron Ward, Josh Wallace, Matt Turton, Eden ‘Cletus’ Duffy and Hamish Walding, we thank them for their loyalty and commitment and wish them all the best in the future and hope they remember with pride the MILTON call and the camaraderie and good times we enjoyed together. We know the students in the Academy program appreciate and acknowledge the hard work that the Academy staff and their helpers have completed on their behalf, and, most importantly, have considered the sacrifices that their parents, carers and loved ones have made to make this wonderful opportunity available to them.GO MILTON!!! |
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| THURSDAY 1 st December 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  LANE COVE RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB SET TO MAKE COMEBACK
The mighty Lane Cove Rugby League Club is set to grace the fields of the north shore once again, and will be fielding teams to take part in the local North Sydney District Rugby League 2012 competition. North Sydney Junior League administrator Kevin Nicholls said, “It is wonderful to see the resurgence of this distinguished club. To witness kids running around in the famous black and gold of the Lane Cove Tigers will be very special, and will give local players an opportunity to take part in Rugby League. I’m hopeful we will see the Tigers grow again into the force that they once were.” The Lane Cove club will hold an information evening, as well as a free come and try session for 5-12 year old boys and girls on Thursday 8th December, at Lane Cove public school at 7pm. All those interested in being part of the club are more than welcome to attend. For inquiries call Kevin Nicholls on 0412 405 881. |
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| 2012 ENGLAND ACADEMY AND YOUTH SQUADS NAMED 2012 England Academy and Youth squads named England Academy and England Youth coach Dave Elliott has named his respective 39- and 42-strong squads for the 2012 season. England Academy and England Youth coach Dave Elliott has named his respective 39- and 42-strong squads for the 2012 season. The England Academy squad includes the 21 players currently preparing for Sunday’s match against the Australian Institute of Sport at Leigh Sports Village (3.00pm) and Elliott is hoping that fixture will provide the squad with further momentum to take into 2012. Elliott guided both sides to victories over their French counterparts earlier this year and with the Youth team set to continue their traditional Easter rivalry against France and the Academy to embark upon a tour of Australia, 2012 promises to be a big year for English Rugby League. “The Academy selection for Sunday reflects what will come in 2012,” said Elliott. “But I could easily have picked 59 players for next year’s squad. “There are also a lot of players on a watch list who aren’t in the initial squad, but that doesn’t mean that anyone not included will be out of contention and it doesn’t guarantee anyone in the squad a place on the tour. “There are a lot of players who have played well in the academy competition this season and we now want to see how they cope in the England environment, but it’s not a closed shop. “Last year seven of the 17 players who took on the Australian Schoolboys weren’t in the original squad at the start of the year, but they earned their place on the back of their performances during the season, so no one can rest on their laurels.” 2011 Engage Super League Grand Finalists St Helens and Leeds Rhinos are represented with the largest contingent in the England Academy squad, providing 15 players combined while Carnegie Challenge Cup winners Wigan Warriors have five players included. Warrington Wolves and Bradford Bulls both have four players selected with Castleford Tigers represented by a trio of young prospects. Super League newcomers Widnes Vikings are joined by Huddersfield Giants with two representatives each while Hull FC, Salford City Reds, London Broncos and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats all have one player each included in the 39 strong squad. In the England Youth squad, Wigan provide the bulk of the 42, with nine young Warriors called involved. Leeds have six players included and Warrington have four young stars named in the squad while Huddersfield, St Helens, Bradford, Hull FC and London Broncos all have two players each. There are also 13 players included in the squad who have been identified through regional development centres. “The Youth side includes a lot of newcomers to the international environment and that helps keep us on our toes as staff because we have to make it fresh and interesting for the lads every time we come together,” said Elliott. “It’s a real honour for me to work with all these young professionals and it makes me very proud to see how they progress and develop. There were 10 players from the 2012 Academy test group who have gone on to first team Super League level this season and that’s the sort of success we all want to see. “It’s great to be able to work with these players and they are all very keen to push themselves with an eye on Steve McNamara’s ETS squads so it keeps me working hard to try and give these players the tools to try and better themselves.” The 2012 squads in full:
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| Tuesday 29 th November 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Harold Matthews and SG Ball squads will play their first trial in preparation for the 2012 season on Friday 2nd December 2011 against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Erskineville Oval. The Harold Matthews trial with kick-off at 5.00pm with the SG Ball trial to follow at 6.30pm. The match will be played at Erskineville Oval. The venue is located on Fox Ave, Ashmore St, Copeland St and Mitchell Rd in Erskineville. JUNIOR REPS TRIAL |
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| 2012 HAROLD MATTHEWS & SG BALL SUMMER SQUADS The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are pleased to announce their Harold Matthews Cup & SG Ball Cup Summer Train on Squads for 2012. The squads will further be reduced after the pre Christmas trials against South Sydney (December 2nd, 2011) and the Sydney Roosters (December 14th, 2011). The final squad of 25 players will be selected after the trial against Penrith (January 21st , 2012).
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CC Cup & MM Cup DRAW & LADDERS
CHECK OUT THE AIS 2011 TOUR LOCKER ROOM
| RUN @ ME 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE NEWS |
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 ** ACTION PHOTO GALLERIES ** |
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| HAROLD MATTHEWS CUP ACTION PHOTO GALLERIES |
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| SG BALL CUP ACTION PHOTO GALLERIES |
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| NEW RUGBY LEAGUE BOOK A DECISON NOT REGRETTED.  THE EARLY YEARS FO RUGBY LEAGUE IN SYDNEY SCHOOLS A MUST FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN RUGBY LEAGUE Life in the city of Sydney from the 1880s to the 1930sThe beginning of Rugby Union, Australian Rules, Soccer and Rugby League in Sydney The problems faced by schools wishing to play Rugby League The first school to play Rugby League The first schoolboys Rugby League competition in Sydney and Australia Profiles of the pioneer schools The development of Rugby League in Catholic schools during World War One, the 1920s and the 1930s The beginning of Rugby League in Country NSW and Brisbane schools A great story on an area of Rugby League history about which little was previously known DOWNLOAD ORDER FORM |
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 2009 AIS TOUR |
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 DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL NSWCCC CUP MANUAL |
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2010 NSWRL JANUARY PLAYERS CAMP |
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| NSWRL SG BALL CUP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NSWRL HAROLD MATTHEW'S CUP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CYRIL CONNER CUP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MEL MENINGA CUP | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 30 YEARS of NSW CCC SCHOOLBOYS RUGBY LEAGUE BOOK LAUNCH The NSW CCC have launched a brand new book. 30 years of NSW CCC Rugby League. Its a fantastic book filled with great stories & photos of the history of the NSW CCC rugby league system. This book is available for sale at the bargain price of only $20.00, if you would like a copy, contact us and we can point you in the right direction. | LeaRN MoRe | ORDER NOW |
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 2010 STRUDDY'S CHALLENGE DRAW & TEAM LISTS |
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2011 ASSRL TOUR 
2011 AIS TOUR 
2009 
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