Bears’ heroes sign deals with Raiders
THEY spearheaded Kirwan’s rise to the National Schoolboys Cup, but next year Adrian Trevilyan and Brad Schneider will trade shorts and Tshirts for their winter woollies.
The pair have been snared by the Canberra Raiders on multi-year deals that will see them join the under-20s squad for pre-season next month.
They will be joined by Townsville Blackhawks under-20s player of the year Adam Cook as part of a northern raid by the Canberra club.
Raiders’ recruitment manager Peter Mulholland confirmed the club had its eye on the Kirwan Bears pair since strong showings at the Queensland School Sport Championships in Roma back in May.
The club approached the pair just before their National Schoolboys glory last month with deals that were too good to pass up.
Trevilyan, who was awarded the Peter Sterling Medal for player of the final in the Cup, said it was a tough decision to leave home and he had turned to his coaches at Kirwan High.
“It was a really good deal and all my coaches said I should take it,” he said. “At first I wasn't sure, I wanted to stay at home. It has been hard making the decision but I am 100 per cent sure I made the right one.”
Trevilyan will start in the Raiders under-20s system but said he did not expect to get a starting jersey. “I will be in the squad but I still have to fight for my position,” he said. “It is always good to have competition, it makes you a better player. It will be unreal to be down at the Raiders.”
Former Cronulla Sharks premiership winner Michael Ennis works with the Raiders dummy-halves and is expected to do one-on-one mentoring with the 18-year-old as he adjusts to life in a professional organisation.
Mulholland said the Kirwan pair would be part of a succession plan after 2019 heroes Josh Hodgson and Jack Wighton moved on.
“Hopefully it is only a couple of years, but we are not going to rush it, we want to educate (them),” Mulholland said. “Our welfare managers have spoken with the boys about moving down. We want to expose them to NRL training, and our NRL strength and conditioning coach does a lot of work with the under-20s.”
Trevilyan could be exposed to the NRL squad as early as this pre-season with Canberra coach Ricky Stuart positive about bringing the developing players through the system.
“It depends on how he comes down, at his age it is a matter of getting his head around the training programs and all the other things that go into it,” Mulholland said.
He said the Kirwan duo had been targeted because of their attitude off the field and their values.
“I think there are players that suit what you look for. I look at what their ability is, we do our homework on what sort of people they are,” he said.
“Ricky is very big on the fact these people we bring in must buy into the culture at the club.”
It is understood fellow Kirwan Bears champion Steven Numambo has also been targeted by the Raiders with the club in discussions with the teenager.