PORT Macquarie Sharks junior Mitch Evans is one of many players set to benefit from Canterbury-Bankstown’s five-year partnership with the North Coast.
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Evans was looking forward to the opportunity of following the pathway to the National Rugby League in coming years.
“It stops the travel and means you don’t have to go to Newcastle all the time to train because it’s just too hard, you can’t do it,” Evans said.
“It’s another option and a pathway for me to go through.”
The MacKillop College student has recently started his Higher School Certificate year in the knowledge he won’t have to leave town to follow his dream.
Not just yet anyway.
“Once I finish school I can focus on footy after that,” the teenager said.
“Having footy is a bit of a side thing at the moment, but (the partnership) will make (pursuing a career) a lot easier because you’ll get the same level of training.”
Bulldogs prop Aiden Tolman was lucky to finish his education at Hat Head before he moved to Sydney.
He knows the five-year deal is more likely to help young players reach their potential than if they were forced to move before they finished their education.
“I was very lucky to be able to finish my schooling up here,” he said.
“There were opportunities to go to Sydney and finish schooling down there, but I wanted to stay here, be closer to family and friends and that supportive network.
“I’m glad now that us as the Bulldogs – and other clubs – are trying to keep young kids in the country as long as possible.”
Under the agreement, the North Coast representative sides will compete in those competitions as the North Coast Bulldogs.
Tolman was pleased to see kids wouldn’t be taken out of their familiar surroundings earlier than they needed to be.
“If you take the best talent out of country areas it’s only going to die in terms of footy competition and the talent,” he said.”
“For me, it’s a great opportunity for them.
“It’s not saying they can’t go and play in Sydney; every NRL club has development camps and they still keep in contact with the club.
“It’s not losing the opportunity, it’s keeping them in that supportive environment which keeps more kids in the game.”
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