SCOTT Dureau knows how tough it can be living on the Mid North Coast and having the dream of playing in the National Rugby League.
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The Newcastle Knights Elite Pathways Coach was familiar with the two-and-a-half hour drive south on the Pacific Highway.
He has a better idea than most the challenges which face junior Port Macquarie Sharks trio Mitchell Evans, Tyler Weatherley and Josh Dwyer.
The 15-year-olds were invited to trial with the club in September at Charlestown before they became members of the club’s under-16 summer training squad.
“I did the drive myself coming from up there,” Dureau said.
Over the last couple of weeks the trio have jumped in the car after school, driven to Newcastle and trained with the under-16 squad once a week.
They then get back in the car and head back up the highway, arriving home after 10pm before they are up again for school the next day.
Dureau said the club wanted to look outside the Newcastle area in search of broadening their playing pool and returning the red-and-blues to the top.
“We classify the players from the Mid North Coast and Port Macquarie as part of our own so we want to get as many of them coming through the ranks as possible,” he said.
“The next couple of years for the club will be a bit challenging, but we’ve got a lot of kids coming through the 16s, 18s and 20s that will be really good for us.
“But there are no excuses; it’s up to them to put their best foot forward.”
Making the transition slightly easier is that Port Macquarie is one of four locations which hosts a satellite training session along with Aberdeen, Newcastle and Berkeley Vale.
It provides a central meeting point once a week, making it easier for players to train which eliminates a level of travel.
“I know my old man wished there was satellite programs taking place when I was playing,” Dureau said.
“If the kids have got the drive and want to do it they will focus on what they need to do because it doesn’t get any easier.”
Dureau, who spent four seasons at the Knights between 2007 and 2010 said he was impressed with what Dwyer could bring to the under-16 squad.
“Being a former half, I find myself gravitating to those players and I’ve spent a lot of time with him,” he said.
“He has made some good progress and you can see he’s had a touch football background because he knows how to find space and his passing is really good.”
Evans is a centre or winger who also grew up in Port Macquarie and supports Manly, while Weatherley, a second-rower, moved from Mudgee.
Dureau, who also oversees the under 18 and under 20 players, said the training for the junior squad was “fairly intense”.
The Knights fell at the final hurdle when defeated by Parramatta in the Harold Matthews (under-16) grand final in 2016.
“The 16s squad is probably the most talented squad I’ve seen,” he said.
The team will play trials against Manly, Canberra and Cronulla in early January.
