15-year-old Sam Anderson signs with the Dolphins
He turned heads at the state carnival, and now he’s committed to the NRL’s newest club. Discover the 15-year-old’s incredible story, and why the Dolphins were the club for him.
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Cane, coal, cows… and rugby league stars.
Producing some of the NRL’s finest talents is ingrained in the fabric of the Mackay region, and Sam Anderson hopes to continue that tradition, having put pen to paper on a development contract with the Dolphins.
To date, Brenton Baira stands as the only other Mackay product to have signed with the Dolphins, and Anderson will be the first to come through their academy.
Looking to establish their recruiting footprint, the Dolphins had cast their net from the north of Brisbane up to Rockhampton, but Mackay had never been in the academy’s sights.
That was until Kurt Richards laid eyes on Sam Anderson at the under-15 Queensland state carnival.
“He’s the first (academy) player to be signed from that area,” said Richards, the head of the Dolphins Academy.
“Typically Mackay’s not our region… but we also want the best players and Sam was a real standout,”
“The biggest thing for him was the way he competes and his leg speed. With the game getting faster now his leg speed in the middle really suited today’s game.”
Sam also fostered interest from the Cowboys and Bulldogs.
His father Shane said the personable pull of the Dolphins was too good to pass up.
“You’re not just a number,” he said.
The decision has so far paid dividends for the St Pat’s and Wanderers product, who unfortunately ruptured his ACL in the Cowboys Challenge final.
The support from the Dolphins has been immense.
“When he hurt his knee, the first phone call we got was ‘he’s one of us now, we’ll look after him’,” Shane said.
“To hear that is pretty special for a 15-year-old who might not play for six, nine, 12 months.”
Dolphins Academy strength and conditioning Anthony Wood, who worked with the Cowboys in their 2015 NRL premiership year, even flew to Mackay to assist Sam with his training.
“That’s second to none, it’s really investing a lot of time and effort,” Shane said.
“To fly here just for an individual one-on-one with Sam, that’s gold.
“That’s not just signing the kids up, that’s actually investing time to make sure they’re on the right track.”
Prior to his injury, Sam was set to represent the Queensland under-15s at the upcoming national championships in Port Macquarie.
State under-15 coach Josh Bretherton was impressed by what he’d seen of Sam.
“He has an incredibly high work rate, he’s willing to do all the little things you often have to teach 15-year-olds the importance of,” Bretherton said.
“Being tight in the field at the right time, going out and putting pressure on people, doing kick and chase, making second efforts, he does all of those things really well.
“He seems to have a good ceiling, if he’s got all those things already and continues to work hard and put on size, he’s certainly got extraordinary potential.”
And if Sam is to one day reach the heights of so many Mackay greats that have come before him, what can we expect to see?
“He’s that hardworking lock/prop that does all the little things correctly,” Bretherton said.
“He’s probably (similar to) Lindsay Collins at the moment, he does all the dirty work on behalf of everyone else.”
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