Forbes’ talented young rugby league players will have access to the same training programs as their city counterparts in the future – right here at Red Bend Catholic College.
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Penrith Panthers and Red Bend officially kickstarted their relationship as part of the Western Rams Rugby League program on Wednesday.
The partnership will see the College facilities used for the Western Rams Academy programs over the coming months.
Red Bend students and staff gain access to Panthers’ strength, conditioning and fieldwork programs and coach education sessions. There is weights equipment for the new weights room, as well as training and medical equipment.
It’s all about keeping kids in the country during their education and making sure they’re up to speed with their league skills if they relocate to the city in future.
“A traditional recruitment or development model is there's some boys in the western area we identify at an early age and we bring them to Sydney at 18 … and they play in our SG Ball competition,” Penrith High Performance Manager Matt Cameron told the Daily Liberal when he was in Dubbo scouting academy locations in August.
“Alterations to the pathways model going forward, it looks like the stipulation will be NRL clubs won't be able to bring players down until they're 19 so philosophically we've decided if we can't bring the players to us then we'll bring Penrith to the where the players are, hence the setting up of these three academies.
“It's a win for us because the kids are playing a good standard of football and it's a win for the CRL because it enhances their competition.”
This week, Academy Coach Ben Harden and Academy Strength Coach Sam Jones ran through the upcoming program with local coaches at Red Bend, as well as at St John’s Dubbo and Charles Sturt University Bathurst.
Red Bend’s Steve Hooper says the College looks forward to a long and successful association with the Panthers and Western Rams.
Of course, the Panthers club is already excited to have a couple of Red Bend alumni on board.
Graduate Brad Gaut played with Penrith’s 18s this season and was named the side’s Player of the Year.
Billy Burns, who played with Penrith’s 20s, is coming back from injury and training full time with the NRL pre-season squad.
Now Lilyann Mason has been signed with the club’s Tarsha Gale squad – but more on this exciting young player to come in another edition.
