Students of Victoria University Secondary College are doing great things for the future of Victorian rugby. 87095_02 Picture: JOE MASTROIANNI
By ADEM SARICAOGLU
VICTORIA University Secondary College continues to strike blows for both rugby codes in the middle of Aussie rules heartland.
The school’s rugby program has produced some stunning results in recent weeks with both its senior rugby league and rugby union teams winning state titles.
Dale Marshall, the sports promotion leader at the college, says the school’s newly-established rugby program has been a resounding success in the two years it has been running.
“The reason we actually set it up was because we were looking for a different kind of learning program for our students in the sports area,” Marshall said.
“We had a lot of kids from an islander background or rugby background that wanted to play rugby and there were no programs that offered this for them.
“So we contacted Melbourne Storm and the NRL, and we asked what we could do to get this going so they sent us out some coaches to help our kids.”
On the back of its recent success the senior boy’s team has been invited to represent Victoria in the National Rugby Championship Competition later this month in Queensland, an honour Marshall says is usually only afforded to private schools.
Marshall said the achievement was a testament to the program’s growth and success.
“Last year we finished runners up to Hallam Secondary College, but this year we were probably ahead of what we had planned,” he said.
“We planned on taking out the state championships last year but due to the program’s success and obviously the amount of students we’ve been working with – we’ve been able to take it to state championships a year ahead of what we had originally planned, so it’s great for us.”
The school has established a strong partnership with the Storm, which Marshall says provides great benefits both organisations.
“A lot of these kids have either represented the state or their zone in rugby outside of school, and they’ve come to this school to be a part of a rugby program.
“We’ve set up a program, obviously started to dominate some competitions and then I guess from there the demand grew.
“It was an idea that we had about three or four years ago and it’s now blossomed into this rugby program that at the moment is the number one state team in Victoria.”
