DUBBO Macquarie under-18s star Swade Dunn may not have helped NSW Combined High Schools (CHS) to a victory in the Australian Secondary Schools Championships but he did catch the attention of scouts that were keeping an eagle eye on proceedings.
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CHS was beaten 30-10 by NSW Combined Catholic Colleges (CCC) in the final at Port Macquarie yesterday.
It was the second time the Catholic side had beaten CHS during the course of the tournament after getting a 22-18 result earlier in the week.
A classy five-eighth, Dunn played a pivotal role in getting the CHS side into the final but admitted the side was beaten by a better team in the final.
“We played four games during the week, two against Queensland and two against CCC,” Dunn said.
“I thought we played well against Queensland but CCC were bigger, fitter and used the ball well, but it has been a good week.”
With Group 11 having a general bye this weekend, Dunn will get the opportunity to recuperate before he takes Macquarie into the under-18s semi-finals.
The weekend off is a welcome relief for Dunn, who trained solidly for a week under coach John Stanley before the competition began.
“The whole thing is a bit more intense than just playing club football. We trained for a week prior to playing and after every match it was into the ice baths for recovery,” Dunn said.
Yesterday’s match between CHS and CCC was the first time the two squads have met in the final since 2008, when current South Sydney halfback Adam Reynolds and former Manly winger William Hopoate led CHS to an 18-12 win over the CCC side, which featured NSW and Australian representative Jamal Idris.
Afterwards the Australian Schoolboys squad was announced and, not surprisingly, CCC dominated with nine of the 17 players selected coming from the Catholic squad.