Five boys from Northland will have the opportunity to make National honours in July when they attend the NZRL National Performance Camp in Rotorua between the 21 and 24th of July.
The players were all selected from the NZRL National Provincial Premiership in 2012 where they represented the Northern Swords at either 15s or 17s. Every week all the coaches from the seven NZRL Zones dial into a conference call to select players. Two teams of 20 – Possible vs Probables are selected to attend the NZRL performance camp.
The performance camp follows NZRL’s motto of “More than Just a Game,” and incorporates workshops around leadership, lifestyle choices and future responsibilities. The Camp is run by Kiwis’ Assistant Coach and High Performance Manager, Tony Iro and has some of the games greats presenting, like Warriors Recruitment Manager – Dean Bell and Kiwi selector – legend Tawera Nikau and his corporate team/culture building company Team One.
The camp runs for four days with the final day being the Kiwis 16s and 18s trials. If the players are successful they will play a two match series against their Australian Counterparts in October this year.
Previously Northland has been represented at the 16s age group in 2011 and 2012 by Kadince Christensen who in 2012 was the NZRL 16s Captain. As result of the 2012 campaign – Kadince has a contract with the Parramatta Eels and lives in Sydney.
The five players in 2013 are:
NZRL 16s trialist:
- Taui Arona – Marist RL, Pompallier College
NZRL 18s trailists:
- Corey Naera – Otaua Valleys RL (Currently attending the NZ Warriors RL Academy)
- Tumoana Halkyard – Muriwhenua RL, TK Rangianiwaniwa
- Joachim Edmonds – Hikurangi RL, Tikipunga High School
- James Dean Fisher Harris – Marist RL, Whangarei Boys High School
James Dean Fisher Harris is one player being rewarded for his consistent hard work. James was the Swords 17s 2012 player of the year as well as being named Man of the Match in both Adam Blair XIII (Northland Secondary School Selection) matches against Warriors Development teams.
2013 NZRL Premiership kicks off with on the August 25th at Toll Stadium with the Northern Swords hosting the South Island Scorpions.
Click here for Northern Swords Draws
