TAREE’S Jake Saunders hopes he will impress some scouts from the Brisbane Broncos when he plays two rugby league games for NSW Country under 16s against Papua New Guinea and the Gold Coast Titans later this year.
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A utility player, Jake is the only player from either Groups Two or Three to gain a start in the Country under 16 or 18 squads to tour Queensland in October. Groups Two and Three provided players for the North Coast sides in the recently completed Country Championships.
Jake’s been named on the wing, but he's equally at home as a fullback or in the centres. Strongly built and weighing 83kgs, Jake’s also had a couple of runs in the forwards as a back rower.
Jake is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana. He was nominated by Taree Red Rovers Junior Rugby League Club.
He managed to impress Country selectors even though North Coast 16s missed out on a semi-final berth when beaten by Newcastle in the final round played at Tuncurry.
Jake’s a Broncos fan and playing in the NRL, preferably with Brisbane, is his dream. He hopes the games against PNG and the Gold Coast might draw some attention from Brisbane scouts so he’ll get the opportunity to show what he is capable.
“Hopefully I’ll go alright,’’ he said.
Jake said he was ‘pretty happy’ with the way he played in the championship matches.
North Coast preformed credibly in the five round competition, defeating Central Coast 18-16 and Northern Rivers 20-12, where Jake was a try scorer. However, losses to Greater Northern and then Newcastle saw them bow out of contention.
Jake said he wasn’t expecting to gain a place in the Country squad.
“It was a surprise,’’ he admitted.
“I’m glad the selectors saw something in me and have given me the chance to represent Country.’’
Jake’s been playing rugby league since he was nine, starting with Red Rovers in the Group Three junior league.
He had his first taste of representative football in the Group Three under 15s.
Rovers have been the front runners in Jake’s age division although they were beaten in the grand final last season by Taree Panthers. However, Jake said it’s been a bit of a difficult start this year for the team in the under 16s.
He’s also playing with the Old Bar Pirates in the Group Three under 18.5s this year, with the side unbeaten from two starts. Jake admits he’s enjoying the challenge of playing in the older competition.
While he’ll represent Country on the wing, Jake thinks his best spot is fullback.
Rugby league is Jake’s main sporting passion. However, he also plays a bit of basketball.
