Keebra Park - Is it worth it ?

I

Irvine

New member
When you mention Keebra Park Benji always pops up but besides Benji who has really been worth the time and money over the last 10 years or so.

Having a look at BMM on the weekend got me thinking about Keebra Park and how much we are always promised from Keebra but in reality we never really get very much…?
 
You have a good point there, apart from benji I cannot recall any other standouts. U know considering all the kids come from NZ how the hell have they not given us some monster forwards like the warriors have, either the people doing the picking are useless or there looking in the wrong places.
 
@Irvine said:
When you mention Keebra Park Benji always pops up but besides Benji who has really been worth the time and money over the last 10 years or so.

Having a look at BMM on the weekend got me thinking about Keebra Park and how much we are always promised from Keebra but in reality we never really get very much…?
Click to expand...

Teo, Lui, Norman, Greg Eastwood, Jordan Kahu

Just to name a few. Not bad for a small school. I accept that not all come to us but we generally get first pick and it appears the cream came to us this year.

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Heres a list of players who have gone to Keebra Park since the Scholarships begun in 1986

Brett Horsnell
Tony Hearn
Benji Marshall
Greg Eastwood
Sam Moa
Rangi Chase
Ben Teo
Rob Lui
Corey Norman
Bodene Thompson
BMM
Moses Fotuaika
Kurtis Rowe
Manaia Rudolph
Tau Tau Moga
Marion Seve

Fair list I'd say , maybe we should stick with them
 
I'm sure there is more than that we have brought in a few players every year since the under 20's came in, but they are probably the most famous players that have came out of keebra that made a name in the NRL

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_
 
Perhaps the Tigers have squandered some of the talent that made it to the senior ranks from Keebra, Sam Moa couldn't get a run yet is a Premiership winner, Ben T'eo couldn't wait to leave for the Broncos, Rangi Chase came to the Tigers at the wrong time poor bugger.
Jordan Kahu reneged on a contract and has had wretched luck in his short stint at the Broncos while Bodene Thompson is somewhat a Prodigal son, the rest are now settling into the club and like most fans we have high hopes for them, it's up to Ben Murdoch-Massila now to stand up to be counted as he has plenty of competition for his position, it's just a pity we don't have Moses placing pressure on the NRL players.
 
For all the fanfare it gets you would have expected a few more over the years. In saying that this years lot we've is expected to be the best yet so I'll wait another 12-24 months before I start thinking it's a bad idea.
 
The step from Schoolboy to Grade is a big task and I don't think it is that high for many of the RL Schools. Palm Beach Currumbin is pretty much on level pegging with Keebra Park and St Brendans in Queensland.

I may be wrong, but the standout in NSW appears to be Endeavour Sports High? Outside of Holy Cross and St Gregs, which other schools are classed as Top Tier down there?
 
The players new to our 20's squad from Keebra this year look to have loads of talent, Hala Masila, Watson Heleta, Iroa and Alofi look the goods, but the top of the tree there is Te Maire Martin (Potter already rates highly), Liolevave (Aussie schoolboy), and then Seve. The players that don't get picked up by us normally manage to find another club (generally Titans). In my opinion we'd be mad to stop our connection with Keebra especially coming of the back of a GIO schoolboys cup win.

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@fergiefurr said:
For all the fanfare it gets you would have expected a few more over the years. In saying that this years lot we've is expected to be the best yet so I'll wait another 12-24 months before I start thinking it's a bad idea.
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A lot of things have affected Keebra over the years There was at least 3 other schools that started rugby league programs at the same time in the South East corner Cooparoo was one ,Padua College and Harristown in Toowoomba and Palm Beach Currumbin joined in later

Also many rugby league players were recruited to play GPS rugby on scholarships which had been going on since the early 80's and still continues The benefits of going to a GPS school in the 80's were the Tertiary Entrance scores for Uni were much higher because of rorts they would get up to (And it was free (or far cheaper ) to sports people of any type that would help in GPS sports (Athletics ,Cricket ,Swimming and Rugby )

Keebra is also based on the Gold Coast which as many would know is the most southern part of Qld and with options in Brisbane and North and Central Qld with football scholarship schools they don't always get much of the local talent

Add to that the team that the players would be associated to play for is 1000kms away and you have two sides the locals would of dreamt to play for in the Broncos or Titans

Keebra are an extremely professional set up In 1986 we played them in a Commonwealth Bank semi final and wondered why we were getting footage in our QF victory

They had sent someone to film our side and find our strengths and weaknesses At that stage local BRL club Colts sides weren't even doing that

Hope this helps with some of the Keebra background
 
NYC Warriors program is fantastic. Most young Kiwis want to play for them and then on to the JKs. They get the cream of the crop.

Most others opt to try their luck on their own. Lamar and his older brother Dujean at the Dogs are cases in point. Neither of them recognised in NZ. Both of them went to Kelston Boys, the reigning NZ schoolboys champs, but their parents decided to take them both to Australia to pursue careers there.

Lots of NYC Warriors players from Kelston and St Paul's, schools that might be the equivalent to Kebra Park / Patrician Bros.

PL
 
@Phantomlock said:
NYC Warriors program is fantastic. Most young Kiwis want to play for them and then on to the JKs. They get the cream of the crop.

Most others opt to try their luck on their own. Lamar and his older brother Dujean at the Dogs are cases in point. Neither of them recognised in NZ. Both of them went to Kelston Boys, the reigning NZ schoolboys champs, but their parents decided to take them both to Australia to pursue careers there.

Lots of NYC Warriors players from Kelston and St Paul's, schools that might be the equivalent to Kebra Park / Patrician Bros.

PL
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Thanks for the insight there, it's amazing how many people disregard things from the other side of the ditch and then we hear about players like Roger Tuivasa Scheck that make if from outside of the mainstream, it seems then that things are going very very well in NZ.
 
@GoldXR50Leroy said:
@Phantomlock said:
NYC Warriors program is fantastic. Most young Kiwis want to play for them and then on to the JKs. They get the cream of the crop.

Most others opt to try their luck on their own. Lamar and his older brother Dujean at the Dogs are cases in point. Neither of them recognised in NZ. Both of them went to Kelston Boys, the reigning NZ schoolboys champs, but their parents decided to take them both to Australia to pursue careers there.

Lots of NYC Warriors players from Kelston and St Paul's, schools that might be the equivalent to Kebra Park / Patrician Bros.

PL

Thanks for the insight there, it's amazing how many people disregard things from the other side of the ditch and then we hear about players like Roger Tuivasa Scheck that make if from outside of the mainstream, it seems then that things are going very very well in NZ.
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Unfortunately union still rules here! The Nines, whilst seen by many in Oz to be a waste of time and for the more risk averse threats of injury, because it was so successful here, well by our standards anyway, the old union versus league battle took a major turn for the latter! I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of non-league fans who enjoyed it better than the Wellington Sevens just week before.

It's said here that there are heaps of Benji's, Tuivasa-Shecks, Shaun Johnson's & SBW's around just waiting to be discovered and having just the one NRL team isn't enough to cater for so many others. Tuivasa-Sheck was also someone not recognised here but the move across the ditch has been the difference for him. I have spoken to scouts who say they all come across during school boy union and league regional and national comps with a shopping list of what players are needed for their purposes. They've got a talent identification process using NZ scouts to watch out for up-and-comers as young as 14 years of age, getting them ready for Harold Matts, SG ball or NYC.

Aussie development structures, comps and resourcing are on a whole new level compared to what we've got here and to be honest union gets the lion's share of it anyway. That's why the community sessions during the Nines were so popular, many of them are household names here.

PL
 
Rangi Chase could have been a bigger name player if he wasn't with us at the wrong time. He has been wasted in SuperLeague.
We should have made a play to bring him back this year. I'd take him at 6 ahead of the options we have.
 
@Sabre said:
Rangi Chase could have been a bigger name player if he wasn't with us at the wrong time. He has been wasted in SuperLeague.
We should have made a play to bring him back this year. I'd take him at 6 ahead of the options we have.
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He was very patchy at the Dragons. I didnt see anything that said he would have made it from his time there.

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@southerntiger said:
@Sabre said:
Rangi Chase could have been a bigger name player if he wasn't with us at the wrong time. He has been wasted in SuperLeague.
We should have made a play to bring him back this year. I'd take him at 6 ahead of the options we have.

He was very patchy at the Dragons. I didnt see anything that said he would have made it from his time there.

_Posted using RoarFEED 2013_
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He excelled in England however. Even won the Man of Steel award in 2011.
The man definitely has talent.
 
@Irvine said:
When you mention Keebra Park Benji always pops up but besides Benji who has really been worth the time and money over the last 10 years or so.

Having a look at BMM on the weekend got me thinking about Keebra Park and how much we are always promised from Keebra but in reality we never really get very much…?
Click to expand...

Do you have an alternative to Keebra Park?
 
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