Code's generation next is ready to emerge Academy to develop stars of tomorrow
Sun Herald
Sunday August 9, 2009
THESE are the faces of Australian rugby's future.Damien Fitzpatrick, Sitiveni Mafi and Ben Coridas might not be household names but the Shute Shield stars are set to make their Super 14 debuts with the Waratahs next year.The trio will be named in the NSW franchise's first-grade squad for next season after progressing through the Junior Waratahs academy program."They're three out of our seven top-tier pro academy players, and it's a great credit to them, their clubs and the coaching staff at the Waratahs that they will all be part of the Waratahs Super 14 named squad next year," high-performance manager Scott Bowen said."Another player that will definitely be involved with the squad and the academy is Southern Districts winger Kane Douglas, who will put pressure on the named squad €“ he might get one, maybe two Super 14 games next year depending on his off-season."Other Shute Shield players on the Waratahs' hit-list include Penrith's Jeremy Sua, Manly's Adam D'Arcy and Dylan Sigg, Uni's Clinton Sills and Gordon's Chris Alcock.Bowen credits the ever-improving Sydney club rugby competition for unearthing such talent."The standard at club rugby this year is a great improvement on what it has been in the last couple of years," Bowen said."And with the amount of Super 14-quality players in most teams, it's giving the younger unestablished guys a chance to shine and show us what they're capable of.""Watching these young guys going head-to-head with guys like Tyrone Smith and Ryan Cross, it just gives us a really good perspective of where those guys are at with their football and where they're heading."It shows how quickly they might be able to be fast-tracked in the academy program, because they're playing against Super 14-quality players week-in, week-out."And every club has their young stand-outs. Someone like Damien Fitzpatrick, who's the Australian [under-] 20s captain, he's still only 20 years of age playing starting first-grade in the Eastwood pack with guys like Matt Dunning. The Shute Shield is preparing these kids for Super 14 rugby like never before and it's the Waratahs who are benefiting."The program is responsible for producing the likes of Kurtley Beale and Daniel Halangahu.With between 10 and 20 potential stars on their books any given season, Bowen said the Waratahs aren't just producing players for next season, they plan to keep the production line rolling."It's very much driven by the succession plan, what's happening in 2011, 2012, 2013 and where the areas are we feel we're going to need to fill some of those gaps in years to come," he said."To get someone in without giving them a distinct pathway is probably not fair on the player and it's also wasting our resources and time."We've got a couple of halfbacks, for example, that are fully contracted for the next few years, so there's no point probably bringing in a 25-year-old half-back who's just going to sit there behind them."We are looking at younger ones in that position, so that when Luke Burgess completes his contract €“ and if he chooses to move on €“ then we've got the next up-and-coming half-back coming through."They are fully contracted to the Waratahs €“ and the dollars aren't big €“ and it's really about providing them with the opportunity to become a Waratah. At the moment they do two to three strength sessions with our Super 14 guys and one field session a week."Youngsters Brian Sefanaia and Tim Bennetts are other players Bowen and co are keeping a close eye, with the plan to introduce them into the program over the next two seasons.
© 2009 Sun Herald
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