Region a hotbed of talent

Team WA confidently continued its domination of the Affiliated States Championships last weekend with a strong representation of past and present Rockingham Senior High School rugby league players selected for the 2016 squad.

Year 12 students Aniheta Te Rangi, 17, Hayden Hewat-Lawrence, 17, and Curtis Dansey-Smaller, 17, flew to Adelaide last Thursday to compete in the under-18s competition over the weekend alongside RSHS specialist rugby program co-ordinator Isaac Thomas, who was a member of the WA men’s side.

Yuri Taipeti, 15, Tamati Clarke, 14, Lachlan Christy, 12, and Tama Phillips, 12, were selected for the under-15 and under-12 squads, which will soon compete in Port Macquarie and Canberra.

The players were selected for team WA after impressing during a series of trials and club-based performances.

They will compete against teams from the Affiliated States — Victoria, Northern Territory and South Australia.

Along with their training as part of the RSHS rugby league program, the boys play in the NRL WA Perth-based competition as members of the Rockingham Sharks and South Perth Lions.

Thomas was happy to see the school’s program pumping out State players across the different grades.

“These boys put in a lot of hard work, so it’s great to see it pay off,” he said.

“They train twice a week on the WA squads in the lead-up to the competition and this is on top of training for their clubs and an additional four hours each week as part of the school program.”

The hard work continues late in the school term for RSHS rugby league students, who will join 300 others and participate in a try-a-thon on July 1 to raise money for Telethon and the Make-A-Wish foundation.

Students will participate in six hours of physical activity, scoring as many tries as possible while encouraging sponsorship from families, friends and local businesses.

RSHS has participated in the active fundraising event for the past three years and raised more than $80,000 for Telethon.