By JARROD POTTER
UPWEY isn’t renowned for its rugby league talent but that might change with the emergence of state player James Brooks.
Brooks, 16, from Upwey, has made the Victorian team and is set to challenge the rest of the Combined Affiliated States Schoolboys Championships in Adelaide over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.
Brooks earned his place in the squad after a stellar season playing for the Waverley Panthers and his school, Hallam Senior College.
He was thrilled to make the schoolboy team and hoped Victoria could hold aloft the Sam Davey Plate again this year.
“Probably to win it – that would definitely be good – we’ve got the side to do it,” Brooks said.
“It’s really good to play alongside my school mates as well.”
Heading back and forth between Hallam, Waverley and home makes for a lot of travel but Brooks knows this is the best option to help hone his rugby skills further.
State duties aren’t a new phenomenon for Brooks after he represented School Sports Victoria in the under-12 rugby league team in 2009.
“It was awesome when we went to Canberra,” Brooks said.
“We didn’t go too well, didn’t win a game, but it was a good experience to verse all the other states – New South Wales, Queensland – all of them.”
Brooks won’t be the sole Hallam representative in the team with eight other Hallam schoolboys set to don the Victorian colours and attempt to win their sixth successive Sam Davey Plate.
Hallam Senior College Head of Rugby League Jamie Fardell said Brooks and his school mates are exceptional players and they can win the championship and earn spots in the combined state’s team for the national championships.
“We’re definitely stoked and when they (the school) hear how many of the boys are playing at a higher level, I think they’re quite surprised,” Fardell said.
“Our dominance at this tournament can continue and we’re hoping out of the Victorian team that we can get 13 boys to go away to Darwin.”
