Matches Announced for NZ Age-Grade Teams

PRESS RELEASE

Matches Announced for NZ Age-Grade Teams

Auckland, New Zealand, August 20, 2013 – The New Zealand Residents 16s and 18s rugby league teams will both play two games against Australian sides in New Zealand this season.

The NZ Residents 16s side meets the Queensland Academy of Sport 16s, while the NZ Residents 18s face the Australian Schoolboys.

All the sides feature in a celebration of youth rugby league at Whangarei’s Toll Stadium on September 30. Then the 16s teams play again at Bruce Pulman Park in Papakura on October 3, while the 18s and Schoolboys meet for a second time at Cornwall Park in Auckland on October 5.

“The Australians are always well-prepared,” says the NZRL’s GM of Football & Community Dain Guttenbeil. “But our boys have been their equal in recent years and we’d expect these matches to again be tight.”

Last October, on Australia’s Gold Coast, the NZ Residents 16s beat the Queensland Academy of Sport 16s by 28-26.

The NZ Residents 18s last met the Australian Schoolboys in 2011. The sides won a match each in a series played at Bruce Pulman Park. The Australian team included future NRL players like David Klemmer (Canterbury Bulldogs) and Curtis Sironen (Wests Tigers).

Wider squads for the NZ teams will be announced shortly. Players from these squads will be watched closely throughout the NZRL National Competition and the NZRL National Secondary Schools’ Tournament before the final NZ Residents teams are named on September 9.

New Zealand Residents 16s vs Queensland Academy of Sport 16s

4.30pm Monday, September 30 at Toll Stadium, Whangarei

2.30pm Thursday, October 3 at Bruce Pulman Park, Papakura

New Zealand Residents 18s vs Australian Schoolboys

6pm Monday, September 30 at Toll Stadium, Whangarei

12.45pm Saturday, October 5 at Cornwall Park, Auckland

ENDS

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