BRADEN Carney and his National Indigenous side will play their first game tomorrow in the National Under-16 Championships, which are set to kick-off at St Ignatius College, Riverview today.
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Carney, from Trangie and a student at St John’s College in Dubbo, has been on a six-day tour with his side in New Zealand.
They will play in Division 2 of the round robin series against teams from Northern Territory, South Australia and Tasmania. The team with the most wins will be the champion side.
After Tuesday’s game, Carney will run on for the Indigenous side against Northern Territory on Thursday and South Australia on Friday.
The National Indigenous side will be looking to take out their eighth Division 2 title since 2001.
Run by the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team and supported by Le Coq Sportif, the Indigenous team has been enjoying the sights and cultures of New Zealand and gained some invaluable advice from a number of Qantas Wallabies during a special training session on Tuesday in Wellington.
The side also faced off against an invitational Wellington 16s team.
In the Division 1 championship the rugby is expected to be first class.
As well as battling it out for three trophies - the Rod McQueen Shield (Div 1 Champions), Nick Farr-Jones Shield (Div 1 Plate Champions) and John Eales Shield (Div 2 Champions) - the championship provides the best under-16 players in Australia with the chance to participate in education programs and experience a residential-style camp with their peers from across Australia.
In today’s first round NSW Schools take on the ACT Brumbies.
The championships have been a pathway for many of the current Wallabies including Wallabies captain James Horwill, Quade Cooper, Berrick Barnes, Pat McCabe, David Pocock, Will Genia, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Kurtley Beale.
The tournament will see 2010 Division 1 Champions Sydney Juniors defending their title against NSW Schools, Queensland White, Victoria, ACT Brumbies, Western Australia, Queensland Red and NSW Country.
