Three Katherine Rugby League players have been selected to represent the NT.
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Zac Motlap, Tristyn Blaney and Braithlee Payne are on their way to becoming elite athletes playing for the NT Titans following recent tryouts.
“Opportunities like these in the NT are few and far between, so if these boys want to go and get recognition this is a big tick,” vice president of Katherine Junior Rugby League Brett Payne said.
The boys have signed on to a mighty commitment and sacrificed much to make it to the team.
“They normally only pick one or two players from outside Darwin,” Mr Payne said.
“The boys have been training in Darwin twice a week to fulfill their obligation to the Titans team, and that is on top of their usual training and games with their local club in Katherine,” he said.
Mr Blaney and Mr Payne will be playing for the U15s while Mr Motlap is with the U14s.
U15s Titans coach Dylan Murray said he is impressed with the game play from the U15 boys so far.
“In the first few weeks of training with us we have seen great game play from both.
“They have done a lot of hard work, travelling up to Darwin every week shows commitment.
“Playing in the second row, Tristyn shows speed, power and strength while Braithlee, running on the wing, shows a lot of speed to get us out of defense well,” he said.
Mr Blaney’s mum, Anna Blaney, said she has lost count on the amount of times she has made the trip to Darwin for training.
“I am just a really proud mum,” she said.
“It gets expensive but that is what you sign up for.
“They spend every spare minute training and in the gym, it is a big sacrifice, but it is important to get them to training,” she said.
The boys will be back in Katherine, following training with the Titans, in time to play in the Country Clash next month.
“These selections could lead on to big things for these territory kids,” vice president of Katherine Junior Rugby League Brett Payne said.