Australia shocked New Zealand schools last week

Heamasi Makasini’s decision to re-sign with the Wests Tigers rather than permanently switch to Australian rugby went down like a lead balloon on Monday.

Indeed, what should have been a cause for celebration following Australia’s Under-18s’ famous victory over their New Zealand schools rivals in the ditch just 24 hours earlier suddenly turned into another opportunity to close out the game.

In fact, the 17-year-old Tigers junior had confirmed to the NRL club months earlier his intention to join full-time after finishing his studies.

“We will always have kids who will choose another code instead of rugby, right?” Rugby Australia’s general manager of high performance and men’s competitions, Ben Whitaker, said The roar.

“It is written that the world ends because a player (goes). We’ve had players do this since Dally Messenger in 1907, right?

“What we are doing much better today than we did some time ago is engaging with these children and their families from an early age.

“The known potential consequence of actually looking to formally engage these players is that they could make the decision to go the other way.

“And so how do you deal with any kind of criticism like, ‘Oh, you lost another player?’ No, we are committed to actually retaining or recruiting a player – sometimes that doesn’t go your way.”

Australia line up ahead of their decisive victory over New Zealand Schools at FMG Stadium Waikato on October 6, 2024 in Hamilton. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

The 38-31 victory over New Zealand Schools was Australia’s first in five years.

In 2019, the Peter Hewat-coached team defeated their trans-Tasman opponents when future Wallabies Josh Flook, Billy Pollard and Zane Nonggorr burst onto the scene.

Others like Joseph Suaalii and Tolu Koula did so too. Both followed the path to the NRL.

Suaalii, 21, will return to playing XV in the coming days as the most expensive player in Australian rugby.

It’s a contract that has divided the Australian sporting scene, with most accepting that Suaalii will succeed as a Wallaby, but even more rolling their eyes at why Rugby Australia forked out so much on one player when 15 juniors could sign $100,000 deals. for the same amount every year for at least the following three seasons.

So how is Rugby Australia doing in capturing Australia’s current school stars?

Overall, fine.

But with 14 of the 26 in the current squad being under the age of 17, the path they will all take remains to be seen.

Three players are currently most at risk of joining NRL clubs.

Defender Rex Bassingthwaighte is expected to join the Sydney Roosters on a long-term basis, number 8 Heinz Lemoto is considered more likely to remain at the Penrith Panthers, and fellow back-rower TJ Lalaileva is also the favorite to remain at the Newcastle Knights after the school.

Australian under-18 No. 8 star Heinz Lemoto is a Penrith Panthers junior. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

But they are the exception, not the norm.

The majority of players, however, are already integrated into the four remaining Super Rugby academies across the country.

It’s a factor that Whitaker believes will pay dividends in the coming years.

“I think what we’ve done over the last five years is we now have some legitimate quality competition structures,” he said.

“This ranges from under-14s through to 19 and 20-year-olds, which exposes talent, obviously, to higher levels of football, but also to professional environments around Super Rugby.

“You can see now what that particular 16 is doing. So that’s a valuable addition.

“I think we are definitely formally involving players and their families sooner.

“Part of it is obviously you need resources to do this, both financial and human. It doesn’t mesh well with most sports, where you basically have to make them make a choice at 14, 15, 16 years old. But that’s the world we live in. So that has definitely changed and changed.

“Someone like Kingley (Uys), who is a front rower, was signed before he was 16 because he is seen as a talent and we want to foster that.

“And the third thing I consider is that we continue to invest heavily in the best way to develop this young talent. This includes working with 14-15 year old schools and clubs because they are obviously a very important part of the system.

“If you look at the work of Paul Carozza in Queensland, Andrew Cleverley (NSW), Dan Hooper in Canberra and now Damian Steele in the Force, that’s a really important part of his role. We have to ensure that all these players we bring into the system are developed to the highest quality. That’s the expectation.”

Kingsley Uys is one of the most exciting young players in Australian rugby. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

Accused in the past of not doing enough to ensure the likes of Angus Crichton, Cameron Murray, Kayln Ponga, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Suia Wong and indeed Suaalii come to, or at least strongly consider, rugby union, Whitaker has insisted he has not it was as simple as saying that the cream of talent chooses one code over another.

“Most of the guys that they keep advertising in articles and stuff were actually kids in the league,” Whitaker said.

“They grew up playing, their parents were involved, they had access to maybe play rugby at club or school. Most of them love playing rugby, and why wouldn’t you? A different game, different attributes to use your skills. But it’s very difficult to walk away from something you’ve known your whole life.

“There are some that obviously do both and can get a little more ripped.

“I have no doubt that we understand that we need to engage earlier because if you look at all these players, and I’ve been here a long time, these players are signed by league clubs at a very, very young age. They have some rules in place now, but they have a lot of resources, their network is very wide and that’s how they have operated and, to their credit, probably successfully over many years.

“But we are looking for fewer numbers, but with the same high quality. You can see from some of these names, from some of these performances throughout the week, that we have talent.”

One of those emerging stars is second-rower Will Ross, who is currently with the Reds and is likely to be locked up long-term.

“This is where you can tell stories if you want and we can too. That 17-year-old’s performance in both games last week was as good as I’ve seen from a 17-year-old lock,” Whitaker said.

“They don’t grow on trees, man.

“Like we’re looking for things that other codes don’t look for, right? And they are rare. Look, he’s 17, so there’s still a long, long way to go, but great signs.”

Sam Blank celebrates Australia Under-18’s victory over New Zealand Schools at FMG Stadium Waikato on October 6, 2024 in Hamilton. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images for Rugby Australia)

He is not alone either, with Uys surprising many after his destructive performance in attack.

Others, such as injured duo Toby Brial and Leo Jaques, did not take to the field last weekend but have observers licking their lips about their long-term prospects.

Here is the current status of the Australian Schoolboys team:

Kingsley Uys – Red Academy

John Grenfell – Red Academy

Edwin Langi – Waratahs Academy

Guilherme Ross – Red Academy

Isaac Fonua – Tahs Academy

Eli Lagni- To be confirmed

Tom Robinson – Red Academy

Heinz Lemoto- To be confirmed; favorite to go to Penrith in rugby league

Angus Grover- Tahs Academy

Jonty Fowler – To be confirmed; expected to stay in Australian rugby but not necessarily with the Waratahs

Heamasi Makasini – West Tigers

Joshua Takai – Reds Academy, but could find a new home elsewhere with another Australian Super Rugby franchise

Frankie Goldsbrough – Reds

Nicholas Conway – Red Academy

Rex Bassingthwaighte – To be confirmed; should sign a long-term contract with Galo

Reservations

Ewalo Kruger – To be confirmed; there is competition for the young prostitute

Nicolau Colina – Waratahs Academy

Hayden Lavercombe – To be confirmed

Avery Thomson- Red Academy

Lucas Cleverley – Waratahs Academy

TJ Lalaileva – To be confirmed; expected to go to Newcastle

Sam in white – Waratahs Academy

Zach Fittler – Waratahs