Junior league support is paying big dividends
Northern Rivers Junior Rugby League’s Brian Rix, left, is pictured presenting Westlawn Finance Ballina manager Bill Wilson with a Northern Rivers JRL polo shirt.
“Westlawn have been a sponsor of the Northern Rivers JRL since its inception three years ago, along with Kwik Insulation, Tweed Heads, and David R Clarke Real Estate, Ballina,” Rix said.
The partnerships have paid dividends, with local league juniors involved in top-level regional competition. And the talent of the local juniors hasn’t gone unnoticed, with new NRL club the Gold Coast Titans also coming on board to support the Northern Rivers juniors.
“Under 13s to 16s players are selected from Group 1 and Group 18 to make the Northern Rivers teams which play against regional teams throughout Queensland and New South Wales,” Rix said.
“Under 14s to 16s normally play about three games throughout the season, with the Under 13s only playing two games. Most games are played against the Queensland divisional teams, in which we have been very competitive.
“The Gold Coast Titans have come on board with their expertise in coaching, development etc, and have also offered some financial support to this Northern Rivers concept.
“The Titans are very excited with this concept as they are interested in looking at the up-and-coming talent in our area.
“They have already identified some of our Under 16 players to go into the Titans development squads, which is really encouraging.”
Northern Rivers JRL will be holding a round-robin tournament for the Under 13s and 14s age groups on the long weekend in October in Ballina.
“This tournament will be contested by teams from Sydney and southern Queensland, along with our own Northern Rivers teams,” Rix said.
