Darwin rugby league players star for Townsville-based high school in prestigious Queensland schoolboys competition grand final

TWO Darwin rugby league players are in negotiations with NRL clubs following their performances in the GIO Schoolboy Cup grand final on Wednesday.

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TWO Darwin rugby league players are in negotiations with NRL clubs following their performances in the GIO Schoolboy Cup grand final on Wednesday.

Calum Gahan and Richard Munchow, both juniors from the Litchfield Bears, are currently weighing up their options as several clubs scout their services for the under 20s competition, including the North Queensland Cowboys and Penrith Panthers.

The teenagers left Darwin for Townsville last year on scholarship with the Cowboys and have attended Kirwan State High School, which boasts one of the country’s best secondary school rugby league programs.

Gahan and Munchow tread a rarefied path to the NRL, with the likes of Brisbane Broncos great Sam Thaiday, and the Cowboys’ Jason Taumalolo, Ray Thompson and Aaron Payne alumni of the school.

Now in their last year of school, decisions on where to next are on the cards. And both boys are not short of choices.

“They’ve sort of put that (negotiations) aside recently until after the footy but in the next couple of weeks they’ll finalise what they’re doing for next year. There are offers on the table for them both,” David Ackers, Head of Rugby League at Kirwan State said.

The Litchfield juniors helped the school win it’s first GIO Schoolboy Cup on Wednesday — the first trophy for a North Queensland school since the competition began in 1975.

In the centres, Munchow set up two tries in the side’s 28-10 victory over Patrician Brothers Blacktown, while Gahan’s performance at hooker was “inspirational” according to Ackers.

“Calum Gahan was actually quite inspirational,” he said.

“He had a stomach bug and it was touch and go whether he was going to play, but he played the full game under those conditions and it was a really, really huge performance from him considering the preparation he had and how sick he was.”

While the two decide whether to stay in Townsville or head south to Sydney, Gahan believes moving away from Darwin was a hard move but a necessary one to chase the NRL dream.

“I just reckon it’s got to be done. You’ve got to look more towards the future and forget about that moment,” he said.

“If you want to do footy then you should have to sacrifice something.”