Auckland College Rugby League underway

Fifteen Premier sides will compete in this year’s Auckland College Rugby League competition, which has been one of the proven pathways to under-20 and NRL success.

Warriors player David Fusitu’a was a special guest at the official launch at his old school, Kelston Boys High. If the boys there needed any inspiration of how quickly you can go from turning out for your school to the toughest competition in the world, they need look no further than him. Fusitu’a came straight out of class into the Junior Warriors in 2012, moved on to the Vulcans side in the NSW Cup before making his debut in first grade last year. Only a week and half ago he scored the opening try for the Warriors in their match against the Gold Coast Titans in front of 18,000 fans at Mt Smart Stadium.

While Fusitu’a’s journey to the NRL was a seemingly conventional, local route, it’s worth remembering that NRL scouts keep an eye on college-aged students on this side of the Tasman too. Many have connections with local clubs and it’s not uncommon at all for 16-17 year olds being offered academy contracts with Australian clubs. They’re not just restricting themselves to league players either, one notable example of this is former Wellington College 1st XV member Nelson Asofa-Solomona. He’s now plying his trade with the Melbourne Storm and was most recently seen in these parts in their team for the Nines tournament.

However, for all the teams competing in the Auckland competitions this year the goal will be primarily on taking out the Premier, Senior A, U85kg and U15 9-a-side grades.

The Premiers have been split into three pools:

Pool A: Kelston Boys High School, Massey High School, Western Springs College, Westlake Boys High School, Mt Albert Grammar School

Pool B: Avondale College, Manurewa High School, St Paul’s College (AKL), Lynfield College, Papatoetoe High School

Pool C: Aorere College, Otahuhu College, Papakura High School, Sir Edmund Hillary College, Southern Cross Campus

Pool A will be a tight battle between reigning champs Kelston and traditional powerhouse MAGS. In the other pools St Paul’s will be tough to beat while Pool C is wide open.

Players can get a taste of what it’s like to be scrutinised on air as one game a week will be streamed live through the Auckland Rugby League website, which may save the Aussie NRL clubs an airfare to check out the rising talent.

MAGS, Otahuhu, Southern Cross and St Paul’s will also field teams in the entertaining U85kg grade. They’ll be joined by Howick College, James Cook High School and Mangere College in a grade that had was televised as part of Sky’s coverage of the National Provincial Championship a couple of years back.

In the first round of Premier action Kelston had a tight win over Westlake 12-4, while Western Springs had no trouble overcoming Massey 40-0. In pool B Papatoetoe eked out a hard fought 20-18 win over Manurewa and St Paul’s smashed Lynfield 42-6. Rounding off the action Papakura probably wished they’d stayed in class, getting drubbed 30-0 by Sir Edmund Hillary College.

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