Community Connection – Finals Day, NSW Junior State Champs
14/06/2012
By HSBC Waratahs Media Unit
Despite the rain, 2600 NSW & ACT Juniors participated in the country’s biggest junior rugby tournament – the NSW Junior State Championships. The teams were joined on Finals Day by HSBC Waratahs Chris Alcock, Paddy Ryan, Damien Fitzpatrick, Greg Peterson, Lotu Taukeiaho and Nathan Trist who helped them prepare for their matches and were involved in the final presentations for each age group.
HSBC Waratahs front rower Paddy Ryan reflected on the event after presenting the U17’s trophies to winning team Parramatta and Runners-up Randwick. “I was really impressed with the high standard and quality of footy especially within the impressive forward packs. It’s awesome to see so many quality players coming through into the Colts and Shute Shield.”
The HSBC Waratahs hold strong ties with Junior Rugby in NSW as a number of the current squad including Paddy Ryan, Tom Kingston, Bernard Foley and Benn Robinson came through the Junior ranks and participated in the State Championships themselves. The event across the long weekend continued to showcase a number of stars of the future, especially with surnames like Gregan, Poidevin, Kearns and Kafer.