NRL Mapped: Gold Coast club Runaway Bay Seagulls responsible for more current NRL players of any junior club in Queensland
Gold Coast rugby league club the Runaway Bay Seagulls have provided the most current NRL players of any junior club in Queensland. See their impressive list of NRL graduates and get a glimpse at their next generation.
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A Gold Coast rugby league club has upstaged some of its big name rivals to be crowned the kings of the NRL production line in Queensland.
Runaway Bay Seagulls are celebrating a momentous occasion after providing the most current NRL players of any junior club in Queensland.
A comprehensive investigation by this masthead has discovered nine current NRL players have emerged from the northern Gold Coast nursery.
The Seagulls products are headlined by Titans star AJ Brimson, Tigers phenom Jahream Bula, Broncos duo Jesse Arthars and Blake Mozer and former Maroons prop Jarrod Wallace.
They are also celebrating a new addition to the top grade with Cronulla hooker Jayden Berrell to celebrate his NRL debut against the Cowboys on Saturday.
Seagulls treasurer and coach Darryl Fisher said the club was happy to see so many former players in the NRL.
“As a club we are super proud of them all, it’s a fantastic achievement,” he said.
“We are a reasonably big club, one of the biggest on the Gold Coast, but we are very proud of the boys that have made it.
“It is really cool for the kids to see. They get a real buzz out of it.
“Lots of them would love that to be a dream for them too.”
Runaway Bay pipped fellow Seagulls, Wynnum-Manly (seven players), for the top spot in Queensland while the Nerang Roosters, Logan Brothers and Easts Tigers have six products currently playing in the NRL.
Of the 159 current NRL players from Queensland, the Brisbane district (53) has generated the most following by North Queensland (30), Gold Coast (28), Central (25), regional south east Queensland (16) and the Sunshine Coast (seven).
Titans halfback Tanah Boyd regularly pops down to Runaway Bay while young gun Jye Gray made his NRL debut for South Sydney this year.
“We’ve got some connections to those guys coming through too,” Fisher said.
“Jye Gray’s younger brother is playing in our under-15s so there’s a lot of people closely connected to them.
“It’s a great aspirational viewpoint for the kids. They can see that their older brothers or friends have gone on and done it for themselves.”
Junior grades start at under-6s and progress through to the open A-grade ranks.
Fisher said the club’s priority was for players to enjoy the game and if they made it to the NRL, that was a bonus.
“Everything we are doing at the moment is in line with the player development framework,” he said.
“There is no magic wand to create an NRL player – they mostly create themselves. What we are trying to do is make sure we create an environment where kids want to play rugby league.
“If we are doing that, and the kids keep playing, then some of them will go on to become elite.
“We try to coach age-appropriate, teach them fundamentals and make sure they love the game and want to keep playing it, otherwise we lose them to another sport and they become elite in that sport.”
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Originally published as NRL Mapped: Gold Coast club Runaway Bay Seagulls responsible for more current NRL players of any junior club in Queensland
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