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Two rising stars of Australian schoolboy rugby have joined the Emirates Western Force.
Australian Schoolboys inside back James O’Connor and Australia A Schools outside back Dane Haylett-Petty have accepted senior Academy contracts with the Perth-based Investec Super 14 team.
O’Connor was a member of the Queensland I side which won the Australian Schools Division I Championships in Canberra over the weekend.
He has been selected in the Australian Schools team to play the England U18s in Brisbane on 19 August.
Last year, O’Connor was picked in an Australian Rugby Union U16s ‘merit team’ after representing Queensland at the national championships in Sydney.
A product of the Nudgee School in Brisbane, he is a versatile footballer who can play flyhalf or in the centres.
Haylett-Petty is the first locally-based West Australian to be offered a place in the Emirates Western Force squad.
The fullback/winger, who can also play outside centre, attended the Hale School in Perth and was a member of the WA Schoolboys team in 2006 and the WA U16s in 2005.
Haylett-Petty was captain of the Combined States team which competed at the Australian Schools Division I Championships in Canberra last week, having been a member of the WA Schoolboys side which won Division II Championships in Geelong a week earlier.
He has been selected in the Australia A Schools team to play the England U18s in the Gold Coast on 15 August.
Emirates Western Force Head Coach John Mitchell described both players as bright prospects with potential to go a long way in the professional game.
“Both James and Dane are very talented players who possess speed and agility, and a football sense almost beyond their years,” he said.
“They have the potential, if they remain focused and motivated, to go on and become special players.”
“For their benefit and the good of the Emirates Western Force, we will work hard to develop their game.”
RUGBYWA MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday 10 July 2007
Disclaimer: Although the contents of this post are from a RugbyWA News Feed, no RugbyWA staff member or representative actually made this post - the username and avatar are used purely to identify the source of the information.
Well done to both and a special congats to Dane being the first local to get Force contract! Remember John The Mayor Welborn actually came from France to play at EWF.
80 Minutes, 15 Positions, No Protection, Wanna Ruck?
Ruck Me, Maul Me, Make Me Scrum!
Education is Important, but Rugby is Importanter!
Well done fellas
Especially so as TIF says to Dane, the race is now on for him to be the first locally sourced player on the park or to a full contract!
Scotch will always have Wobber but well done Hale for a decent second
Dane appears to be a pretty handy all round sportsman as I noticed he also was selected in 2006 for a WACA Winter Under 18 Training Squad position so he has no doubt had to decide where to focus over the last few months.
I'm sure Gerry will be crowing about another "Nudgee boy" in the ranks too![]()
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Top stuff, congrats to both lads, and good luck in the next few years...
Proudly bought to you by a brewery somewhere....
How did you guess Burgs???? He joins Junior and Brownie and Daruda as products of that fine Rugby nursery that were the Royal Blue Butcher Stripes..
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I was just reading then that ex-Brumby Blindside/No.8. Tamatai Horua has signed with the Force for 2 years. It's funny you hear nothing for a few weeks and then in a couple of hours there are 3 new signings and a new Spirit captain.
Possibly waiting to get the End of Season Dinner out of the way?
Interesting that Stannard seems to be playing a bit at #9 for the Gold, I wonder if he has been earmarked for the third Scrumhalf?
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Haha, maybe Mitch will use Matt Giteau at no 9. When John Connolly flies....
Well done to both and especially Dane. I would also like to point out that Dane was infact born in South Africa![]()
Every forwards dream is to become a back...
Fortunately he overcame that impediment
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
...Burgs ur funny...what school did you go to again? oh Scotch I see... haha jjs
Every forwards dream is to become a back...
Just a bit of news on the youngun O'Connor.....
Nudgee played Terrace last Saturday ( A fierce rivalry that stretches some 111 years) and Nudgee won 54-27 and O'Connor "basically scored all the points or set them up" in a great win...
the young guns have worked a treat
BOKKE“Let me put it this way, A Springbok team contains Afrikaners, Englishmen, coloureds and blacks. It has parochial foes in Bulls, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs and Lions. It is a recipe for war! Yet in all the years of John Smit’s captaincy, there has never been one unhappy customer, not one voice of rebellion against his leadership. He is the glue that holds the Springboks together. The man is a legend!”- Jake White