WHILE the Commonwealth Games do not start until tomorrow morning, the roar of Scottish crowds is already echoing in Jack Murchie’s ears.
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The Ulladulla High School student has just returned from playing in a rugby league tournament staged as a warm-up event ahead of the Glasgow Games.
The exhibition championship showcased the world’s best young rugby league players pushing the case for the sport to be included in future Commonwealth Games programs.
And Jack was in the thick of the action, playing on the wing and centre for the Australian representative side in the under 19s tournament, crossing for tries against Scotland and Jamaica.
He said the Scottish crowds were loud and parochial, and were particularly keen to support their home athletes.
“It was a tough game against Scotland, they played really well and had the crowd right behind them,” Jack said.
The Australian team was made up of young players from the Sydney Roosters, where Jack is in the SG Ball under 18s team.
While Jack said he played “pretty well” in the tournament, it was not enough to help the Australian team get the gold.
The official Commonwealth event, endorsed by the Commonwealth Games Federation, was won by Papua New Guinea which beat Australia 22-8 in a pulsating gold medal match, with Wales beating Canada into third place.
The under 19s competition included junior sides from many of last year’s World Cup including England, Australia, Scotland, Wales and Papua New Guinea, but also welcomed teams from South Africa, Canada and Jamaica.
The tournament was part of a push to have rugby league included in the Commonwealth Games from 2022 – a time when Jack will be at his playing peak.
However he said a future appearance in the Commonwealth Games was not high on his priority list.
“I really just want to play in the NRL,” said the youngster who started playing rugby league in Batemans Bay at the age of nine, before moving to Bawley Point the following year and joining the Milton Ulladulla Bulldogs.
“I think state of origin is a bigger honour, and a higher standard, than the Commonwealth Games.”
NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg said the Commonwealth competition was another opportunity to showcase Rugby League on an international stage, following the success of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup in the UK and this year’s Dick Smith NRL Auckland Nines.
“The international reach of Rugby League continues to grow and hosting exhibition events such as this, ahead of the Commonwealth Games, are incredibly important for the game,” he said.
“It is also a wonderful way to showcase NRL’s development pathways and some of the best young up and coming talent Australia has to offer.”
Exhibition matches have been planned for the 2018 Commonwealth Games to be held on Australia’s Gold Coast, with a view to 9s becoming a category two sport and eligible for full inclusion in the Commonwealth Games thereafter.
But that is far from Jack’s thoughts as he continues with his year 11 studies at Ulladulla High, and juggles his time between studies and travelling to training in Sydney with the Roosters and playing in Wollongong with Collegians since the end of the SG Ball season.
That juggle will become a bit easier to handle later in the year, with Jack one of the promising youngsters the Roosters are moving to a group home in Maroubra when he starts year 12 in term four.
Tomorrow morning, from 5.30am Australian time, Glasgow will welcome thousands of spectators, athletes and hundreds of millions of television viewers for the XX Commonwealth Games when the Opening Ceremony is held in Celtic Park.