Program to give NRL hopefuls a vocation
A “historic” partnership between the Northern Pride and TAFE Queensland is set to give up-and-coming rugby league players rare opportunities, the likes of which have never been seen in Australia.
As part of the new Cairns Academy of Sport Northern Pride Program, which will take its first cohort of students in 2021, players will be able to train in a full-time environment while studying a vocational education course.
Northern Pride under-20s coach and pathways and development manager Dave Scott said it was a pioneering program and presented a massive opportunity for participants.
“There’s no system outside the NRL which will allow young, aspiring rugby league players to step into a full-time environment,” he said.
“To get that full-time training benefit you need to be in an
NRL system, and those spots are few and far between. This is something that nobody else can offer within Australia, never mind Queensland.”
He said the partnership was the brainchild of TAFE Queensland (North region) general manager Tim Campbell, former Pride football operations manager Chey Bird and himself.
“Tim was involved with some of the football clubs over in the UK, which run a very similar system,” Scott said.
“At Hull FC, where I was heavily involved for a number of years, it was a way for us to get our academy players in a full-time system.
“It’s something which I’ve been looking at since I came to Australia, wondering why teams don’t do it. Australia does really well in school — we have a lot of high-performance schools competing at a very high level — but post-high school, there’s nothing being offered at this capacity anywhere in Australia.”
TAFE Queensland (North region) project manager Jesse O’Hara said they would be looking at a squad of 25 players to participate in the inaugural program.
“This is a historic partnership between TAFE Queensland and the Northern Pride,” he said.
“It will provide a great ecosystem for our young and upand-coming rugby league players to train in a full-time environment and to do a vocational education program in an industry of their choice.”