A chance to watch and meet the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys’ NRL squad will be one of the highlights of the QRL’s annual Summer Camp next week.
Held at James Cook University in Townsville from Monday to Friday, the camp has become a perennial highlight of the Northern Division rugby league diary with strong relationships between the division, the Cowboys and NRL Development formed over the camp’s 28-year history.
Almost 200 children from all over North Queensland, Northern Territory, the Central Highlands and the Torres Strait have enrolled, as well as 21 level-2 coaching accreditation attendees and 10 level-2 First Aid accreditation attendees.
All level-2 coaches and some camp staff will attend an educational day at 1300SMILES Stadium on Sunday when Cowboys head coach Paul Green and assistant coaches Jason Demetriou and David Furner will share their wisdom and technical advice.
Northern Pride’s new coach Joe O’Callaghan will join Mackay Cutters mentor Kim Williams and inaugural Townsville Blackhawks coach Kristian Woolf in presenting to the groups during the camp.
“Nowhere else in the game will aspiring coaches be exposed to such a high level of training, education and rugby league experience,” Northern Division division manager Scott Nosworthy said.
“A great example of the wonderful working relationships between our local league organisations will be on display when the Cowboys host the whole camp at a training session during the week.
“Players, coaches and staff will be invited to observe a full training session, followed by an opportunity to meet and engage with the players.”
In another highlight, the Townsville Blackhawks squad will work with the QRL camp development squad with an opposed session planned for Thursday at 5.30pm, presenting a unique opportunity for development players aged 16 and 17 to run their plays against an Intrust Super Cup team.
