REDS SIGN LOCAL LAD
FIRST ALL SAINT IN A DECADE:
ALL Saints Anglican College graduate Ben Grant has become the first Gold Coast Associated Private Schools talent to sign with the Queensland Reds in more than a decade.
The 204cm, 114kg lock will join the Reds development squad after cutting his teeth with the Western Force for the past two seasons.
Grant follows in the footsteps of fellow All Saints alumni Ben Daley, who was the last APS graduate to sign with Queensland in 2009.
Grant’s former school coach Sean Bale said the 22-year-old was ready to do his community proud on and off the field.
“Ben was a really good, wellrounded kid who had his share of setbacks and has worked through them,” Bale said.
“Early on he suffered quite a devastating knee injury and then he did it again, which he took pretty hard.
“I think those setbacks made him into the determined player he is.
“He’s an outstanding trainer, was always 10 minutes early and was a brilliant student who was gone from strength to strength and I can’t wait to watch him play for the Reds.”
Grant was an instrumental member of All Saints’ most successful school team, going undefeated from under-12s through to a First XV crown at the conclusion of his school journey in 2015.
He signed with the Western Force’s Future Force Academy in 2017 and was named in the Junior Wallabies squad that season before playing five senior matches for the Force.
He will train with the Reds as part of their development squad in 2021 while gaining experience in Premier Grade rugby with a club yet to be determined.
Grant and Melbourne Rebels winger Tom Pincus will fly All Saints’ flag in Super Rugby alongside a host of Gold Coast talents across the remaining Australian teams.
At the Queensland Reds these include returning Gold Coasters James O’Connor, Angus Blyth, Feao Fotuaika, Alex Mafi, Jock Campbell and former Bond University representative Hamish Stewart.