Queensland juniors kick-off
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Queensland's best young rugby players will kick-off the Queensland Rugby Junior State Championships on Friday, July 3 on the Gold Coast.
The championships consist of three age divisions, Under-13s, Under-14s and Under-16s, and runs over three days, with the finals taking place on Sunday 5 July.
The championships will showcase the talent of junior players from Brisbane and regional areas including Cairns, Mackay, Townsville, Central Highlands, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Darling Downs, Mount Isa, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and the Northern Territory.
Rob Donaghue, Queensland Rugby’s general manager of operations, said the championships are a crucial part of the player and coach development pathway.
"The State Championships provides players and coaches with the opportunity to represent their region, playing a high level of Rugby against some of the best junior players from around the state," Donaghue said.
"The program also allows players the opportunity to earn selection in either the junior City or Country teams, replicating the National Rugby Championship pathway of Brisbane City and Queensland Country.
"These City and Country teams will be selected at the end of the Championships and the City v Country games will be held at Marist College Ashgrove on Wednesday, 8 July."
The State Championships are an important talent identification opportunity for future selection of players in Queensland representative teams and squads including Queensland Schoolboys and the newly established Junior Gold Cup.
Recent 2015 Reds debutant Lolo Fakaosilea, originally from Emerald, was first spotted as a 16-year-old representing the Bushrangers at the 2011 State Championships.
While having progressed to various levels of representative Rugby since his first appearance at the 2011 State Championships, Fakaosilea considers his first taste of representative Rugby with the Bushrangers as a major step in his development.
"The State Championships are really important for players in regional areas. It provides a format for players to display their talents and hopefully one day that may lead to them pulling on a Reds jersey," Faksosilea said.
"As a 16-year-old, I had aspirations to play for the Reds. Playing for the Bushrangers in 2011 was a huge stepping stone for me at the time."
In last year’s competition, BJRU Blue came away with first place for the Under-13 age group, BJRU Green were victors in the Under-14 age group, while Sunshine Coast defeated Gold Coast in the Under-16 final.
The Northern Territory will be represented in the Under-14 age category for the first time this year, after only bringing an Under-16 team to the competition in 2014.
All fixtures will take place at the Southport School on the Gold Coast
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