In a reward for their outstanding form throughout the junior rep season, culminating in victories in the SG Ball Final and National 18’s Championship, four Sharks have been chosen to represent NSW and one Queensland in the upcoming interstate clash to be played before Origin 2.
Sharks Ball captain and centre Curtis Scott, props Daniel Vasquez and Brock Ilett along with lock Billy Magoulias will run out for the young Blues, while outside back Keenan Yorston, a new recruit at the Cronulla club in 2015, will play for Queensland.
The four Sharks chosen for the NSW side are all local products, with Magoulias, Ilett and Scott from the Cronulla Caringbah club and Vasquez a Yarrawarrah Tigers junior.
John Morris, who played an integral role in the success of the young Sharks squads this year, will also join the NSW 18’s in a coaching assistant’s position.
The five players in the 18’s clash bring to nine the number of Sharks players involved in the junior interstate matches after four under 16’s represented NSW against the Queenslanders in the curtain-raiser to Origin game one.
As Sharks development manager Vinh Tran expressed, the selection of the young Sharks is a great endorsement of the success enjoyed during the 2015 junior rep season and also of the clubs development program in general.
“It is a fantastic achievement for these young men and brings the Origin representation for our junior reps up to nine players,” Tran said. “We congratulate these players, as well as John, and wish them the best of luck.”
The four NSW players will head into a training camp on Wednesday before making the trip to Melbourne before the game on June 17.
Morris will join the team in camp and help head coach Todd Payten and his assistant Liam Fulton to prepare the NSW 18’s before their big game next week.
The four Sharks who played in the NSW 16’s were Jaemon Salmon, Dylan Smith, Lachlan Smith and Luke Metcalf.
NSW Under-18s Representative Team
Cade Cust Manly
Jesse Ramien Manly
Billy Bainbridge Manly
Brock Lamb Newcastle
Jack Cogger Newcastle
Brodie Jones Newcastle
Reimis Smith Canterbury
Gabriel Hamlin Souths
Cam Murray Souths
Ray Stone Wests
Blake Lawrie Illawarra
Reuben Garrick Illawarra
Billy Magoulis Cronulla
Daniel Vasquez Cronulla
Curtis Scott Cronulla
Brock Ilett Cronulla
Ryan Papenhuyzen Balmain
Daniel Peck Balmain
Sam Elliot Northern Rivers
Coach – Todd Payten
Photo - Daniel Vasquez accepting his man-of-the-match trophy from Dave Trodden of the NSWRL following the SG Ball Grand Final victory over Souths.
Photo courtesy Steve Montgomery/ourfootyteam.com
