The All Saints College St Mary's rugby league representative team trained on the Maitland Sportsground last night as they prepared to follow in the footsteps of former alumni including Andrew and Matt Johns , Billy Peden, Mark Hughes, Brock Lamb and Jock Madden.
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The St Mary's boys from years 10-12 at All Saints College were joined by former students and current Maitland Pickers and Newcastle Rebels star Jayden Butterfield and Matt Soper-Lawler ahead of today's first game of their NRL Schoolboys Cup (Peter Mulholland Cup) campaign against Holy Cross College Ryde.
Butterfield went onto to represent NSW Combined Catholic Colleges and earn All Australian Schoolboy honours in 2015, one of several St Mary's students to have achieved the honour over the past decade including Brock Lamb, Jesse Cronin, Brodie Jones, Jock Madden (who was captain) and Timanu Alexander.
As a year 10 student he was also part of a successful St Mary's campaign with Lamb and Soper-Lawler.
The Pickers are sponsoring St Mary's and Soper-Lawler and Butterfield presented players were with their jerseys by which feature the Pickers logo on the front.
The connection also includes the St Mary's coach Chris Brennan, the Pickers junior development coach who is coming up against his old school.
St Mary's sports co-ordinator Elliott Plank said the boys were wrapped to be joined by Butterfield and Soper-Lawler at training.
"It was great for these young guys to look up and know that a few years down the track that's where looking to be taking their own career," Plank said.
"We have a lot of Pickers juniors that come through our school as well as the other Coalfields clubs in Kurri Kurri and Cessnock.
"There's a great connection with current students in the Pickers junior programs and the former students in first grade.
"There's also former students in the NRL now including Jock Madden playing Wests Tigers, Brodie Jones and Brayden Musgrove at the Knights, Hudson Young at Canberra and Max King at Canterbury."
Plank said while the team was largely young, but keen and enthusiastic, however, the team leaders Myles Martin and Caleb Garvie had been selected in the NSW CCC team.
Martin, who came to St Mary's after being signed by to play SG Ball for the Newcastle Knights, will lead the team out today, while Garvie was a late withdrawal with a stomach flu.
St Mary's is part of a pool with Holy Cross Ryde, Farrah High School and Patrician Brothers Fairfield. The team topping the pool advances to the next stage of the competition.
