Northern Queensland beats Northern NSW in the National Indigenous Under 16s national title

Northern Queensland has successfully defended its National Indigenous Under 16s national title after beating Northern South Wales on the Gold Coast.

An initiative of the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team (LMRDT), the two day Championship, held at Bond University, exposes athletes from across the country to Rugby and life skills.

Executive Officer of LMRDT, Tom Evans, said the two day Championship provided young Indigenous athletes with more than just a weekend of Rugby.

“Ultimately the Rugby objective is selection, but the off-field objective is to encourage these young men to stay in school and continue to become better individuals and community leaders.

“At all of the tournaments the Lloyd McDermott Team run, we try to ensure the Rugby is complemented by education.”

Northern Territory, Northern QLD, Southern QLD, Northern NSW, Southern NSW/ACT and Combined States were represented in the competition, with Northern Queensland defeating Northern New South Wales 38-19 to retain the title and Southern Queensland taking third place with a 38-24 win over Southern NSW/ ACT.

This tournament provided the platform for selection of players to represent the National Indigenous squad at the Australian Rugby Union National Under 16s Championships.

The ARU National Under 16s Championships is a National residential tournament for Under 16 players for National, State or Territory representative teams, conducted annually by the Australian Rugby Union and is another important element of the Player Pathway at National, Provincial, Regional and Affiliate level.

The 2013 ARU National Under 16s Championships will be held at St Ignatius College Riverview from Sunday 29 September until Friday 4 October. Nine of the 23 strong squad come from New England. They are:

• Cody Walker, Maclean High
• Kurtis Langdon, Hunter River High
• Liam Kelly-Wynn, Jetty High, Coffs harbour
• Dylan Chown, Farrer memorial High School
• Jakobi Robinson, St Mary's College
• Ngangarra Barker, Hunter River High
• Buddy Mumbulla, The Armidale School
• Jayden Harradine, The Armidale School
• Keiren Ford, Brewarrina Central School
• Luke Roberts, Maclean High