On Friday December 11 2020, Oztag’s elite juniors attended the prestigious High Performance Academy (HPA) Camp at the NSW Academy of Sport in Narrabeen.
Selected from the NSW Junior City v Country tournament, these players were recognised as future prospects of our sport and granted the opportunity to learn from Oztag’s elite coaches.
The HPA Camp involved high level coaching of specific skill and conditioning drills, an introduction to tournament preparation and recovery to optimise performance, game analysis through an in-depth video session, and a fun games night.
The weekend culminated with 3 games against each other, allowing players to implement the principles and coaching provided throughout the training sessions into game situation.
AO National Coaching Director and HPA Supervisor, Michael Buettner was very pleased with the running of the Camp and the opportunities provided to the game’s up and coming elites.
“It was a huge success,” Buettner said.
“The 52 players were provided with some of the best coaching our game has to offer including the Australian Men’s Opens coach Jeff Coroneos, Australian Oztag Hall of Famer David Rose and our very own Mark Gasnier,” he said.
On Saturday, the players were welcomed by former Knights and Bulldogs NRL player, Jack Cogger who encouraged them to make the most of the opportunity and like a sponge, absorb all of the coaches advice.
Aged between 13 and 15, the squad have been commended for the wealth of skill and attentiveness they displayed throughout the duration of the Camp.
“The players should be very proud of the way they behaved and responded to the high expectations placed on them by the coaches,” Buettner said.
“It was great to see the talent on show and how quickly they picked up advanced coaching techniques and then were able to apply them to a game situation,” he said.
On Sunday afternoon, Brisbane Broncos NRLW Premiership winner Jayme Fressard presented the players with their trophies. She spoke of her career with the Broncos and competing at the Commonwealth Games in 2015 in Rugby 7’s and how Oztag helped her in developing the skills to compete at a professional level.
The 2020 HPA Camp ensured Oztag’s future prospects headed home with a greater understanding of game specifics that will benefit them in their future endeavors.
“From what I saw the future of Australian Oztag is looking bright and I would expect to see a large percentage of the players at the HPA represent their country in the very near future,” Buettner said.
Australian Oztag thank all the parents, players, staff and coaches for their efforts over the weekend. To the NSW Academy of Sport in Narrabeen – the facilities were ideal, and a special mention to the players from the ACT who travelled 4 hours to attend the Camp.
HIGH PERFORMANCE NUMBERS
40/ Brayden Martz
41/ Grace Nicholson
44/ Caleb Hall
45/ Lara Cosgrove
46/ Harper Such
17/ Ella Carlisle
47/ Daniel Brady
48/ Raphaella Perigo
49/ Shane Wilcox
50/ Ella Koster
51/ Zaid Lehn
25/ Lily Riolo
52/ Karina Hewlett
53/ Caleb Murphy
27/ Tess Robinson
29/ Sienna Yeo
55/ Kate Goodhand
56/ Kasey Reh
57/ Josaia Delana
58/ Caley Tallon-Henniker
59/ Jaxen Edgar
60/ Indie Bostock
61/ Mitchell Woods
62/ Herewaka Pohatu
63/ Matthew Humphries
64/ Lahni Hall
65/ Riley Oitmann
66/ Talia Manassa
67/ Hudson Hatchett
68/ Amelia Whitaker
70/ Levi McGuiness
71/ Chanel Williams
72/ Eden Byrd
73/ Ava Sergis
74/ Dominic Farrugia
75/ Emily Kite
76/ Izayah Gonzales
ACT HIGH PERFORMANCE ACADEMY NUMBERS
2/ Alicia Trevethan
4/ Ebony Fitzpatrick
5/ Lachlan Warren
6/ Braydan Darmody
7/ Rok Van Dalen
8/ Riley Hamilton
10/ Nathan Lakatos
11/ Chloe Smith
12/ Mackenzie Cox
