In western Sydney, two high schools have become certified champion factories for NRL clubs.
Churning out players for 15 of the NRL’s 17 clubs, Patrician Brothers’ College Blacktown and Westfields Sports High School in Fairfield West educated 52 players in the current competition, and their playing fields are teeming with future stars.
Patrician Brothers’ College students Charlie Xuereb and Roman Tuaimau attend the top high school for producing NRL players in the country. Credit: Kate Geraghty
Data on the high schools attended by 98 per cent of NRL players, compiled by this masthead, reveals the league’s 500-odd players attended more than 250 high schools, with an almost even split between public and independent education.
Boasting 31 players across 13 teams, Patrician Brothers, in Sydney’s north-west, leads the pack, with Spencer Leniu, Terrell May and Jarome Luai among its alumni. Further south, Westfields Sports High School has 21 ex-students across nine teams.
This masthead categorised schools as either being public, independent, or overseas. The Gold Coast Titans had the highest percentage of publicly educated players, at 77 per cent.
Eighty-one per cent of Sydney Roosters players went to private schools, including Knox Grammar and Newington College, more than any other team. In fact, more Roosters players attended Bellevue Hill’s Scots College than public school.
Public schools were seven top 10 schools for educating players, and 45 per cent of total schools attended by players. Independent schools made up 41 per cent, and overseas schools 14 per cent.
NSW also claimed seven schools in the top 10. Queensland public schools Keebra Park, Palm Beach Currumbin and Wavell State High took out third, fifth and eighth place, respectively.
Patrician Brothers’ head of rugby league, Greg Beacroft, said that the school’s reputation “means a lot” to students, but the competitiveness of the sport meant there was a broader responsibility in ushering players through its halls.
“We tell the kids – particularly when they come in year 7: ‘You’re not coming here to play rugby league. Your first priority is to get a good education. Your second priority is to be a good, respectful person.’ We see rugby league as a bonus.”
Of the school’s ex-students in the league, more than half play in local clubs, with four players in the Bulldogs, Eels, Panthers and Tigers, respectively.
The school has up to 15 rugby league teams, with teachers and many former students serving as coaches. Training – typically two or three sessions a week – is scheduled around students’ external club commitments.
Beacroft said the X-factor that made Patrician Brothers so successful was a school community that “as a whole wants to help students achieve their best” and prioritised community outreach, including volunteering missions to feed the homeless.
Patrician Brothers head of rugby league Greg Beacroft at the school’s playing field. Credit: Kate Geraghty
“We live in an area where rugby league is very dominant,” said Beacroft. “You put all those factors together, and you get a school that wants to help kids do well and has high expectations in all areas. That’s a perfect partnership for those kids who are looking to further themselves.”
At Westfields Sports High – the alma mater of nine Tigers players – players train three to four times a week on the field and in the gym.
Westfields’ sport director Troy Weeden said each student came with a different set of skills, and he didn’t “want to put a label on them when they’re 12 years old, that they’re going to play NRL or not”.
“They’ve all got their own pathway. Some come here almost ready to go physically, and it might be a matter of upskilling them. Some might have a very different path where it might take them five or six years before they really have the confidence to show that ability.”
However, some players, like Raiders prop Trey Mooney and Tigers five-eighth Lachlan Galvin, show promise for a professional career from day one.
Director of Sport Troy Weeden behind schoolboy players Caleb Wright, Jesse Ropata, and Daniel McBride.Credit: Steven Siewert
“From quite an early stage, he had all the makings,” Weeden said of Galvin.
“He had the competitiveness, he had the ability to read the game, he had the skill level, but probably didn’t have the physical nature that some of the other kids have had.
“I don’t think you ever see it when they’re 12 or 13. By the age of 16 or 17, you get a pretty good gauge of whether a kid could kick on. But you could never write off a player at a young age because of the different pathways they’re on.”
Athletes in Westfields’ rugby program are required to maintain good grades and 90 per cent attendance to play in their teams. Weeden said this was vital as many players are the first in their family to complete an HSC.
“They come to us with a focus on rugby league, but we’ve got to show them that rugby league only gets them 10 to 12 years of a great career. They’ve got another 30 years where they’ve got to figure out their pathway through work, and not everyone’s going to get there. There are 230 students in this rugby league program. At most, we might get 10 to 15 in [the NRL].”
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