Mission Impossible?

23 Jun 2016 by Lauren Pritchard

Will the ‘NRL Rookies’ meet their match in an epic Beach Touch match in New Zealand?

In a clandestine operation late-2015, six of Australia’s best Touch Football athletes quietly exited the country with a covert mission on their mind.

Following instructions from TFA and with boots and passports packed, work leave approved and the GPS coordinates set to a remote Beach near Auckland, our intrepid Aussie reps were primed, programmed and ready to perform upon landing.

Destination? The black sands of Piha Beach on the beautiful but wild, west coast of New Zealand.

The mission? Take on to their knowledge an undisclosed team of potential NRL stars in a game of Beach Touch, all looking for a shot at an NRL contract and the big time.

Status? Fast forward nine months and six of our Australian representatives will finally get to reveal their sublime skills on next week’s episode of the popular Channel Nine/GO production, ‘The NRL Rookie’.

Episode five of the popular 10-part series will be broadcast on Tuesday, 28 June 7.30pm and replayed throughout next week; tune in to see which team prevails (refer below TV schedule/times). Does the superior fitness and strength of the NRL Rookies see them through? Or, is it the guile, speed and deception of the Touch stars that leaves the Rookies and the Piha Beach sands in their wake?

The TFA All Stars team features some of the best Touch Football talent ever assembled in a ‘Mixed’ format. The team demonstrates the distinct family connection, which embodies the social side and highlights the inclusive nature of the sport and strong participation numbers Australia-wide.

And, serving further notice to the NRL Rookies is the fact that each of the Touch Football stars love the feel of sand between their toes: they all reside, cut their teeth and compete regularly near a beach traversing the East Coast of Australia.

Touch Football Australia and BLK Ambassadors Sam Brisby, Samantha Rodgers, husband and wife team of Dylan and Emily Hennessey, Peter Norman and Kylie Hilder all travelled to New Zealand late last year to film the segment. For those playing at home, The NRL Rookie is the new reality show on Channel Nine/Gem offering a guaranteed NRL contract to the lucky amateur player who can prove to the respective judges he has what it takes to perform at the highest level and secure a lucrative contract.

After starting with 28 players in late-May, the team was then halved to 14 in Episode One, with now just a handful of players remaining in episode five.

Brad ‘Freddy’ Fittler is coach of the side, assisted by Mark Geyer and Adrian Lam. ‘Lammy’ of course, along with his QLD State of Origin captaincy and Roosters and Wigan Rugby League pedigree boasts an equally impressive Touch Football CV, representing Australia on 11 occasions – at the 1991 World Cup in Auckland as well as one Test Match against New Zealand in the same year.

On top of his most recent appointment as part of Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos coaching contingent (backs coach), he is also a regular in the Masters’ divisions at the National Touch League, NSW State Cup and State of Origin Series events as well. The show also features Performance Psychologist, Dr Kate Baecher as well as host, Channel Nine personality, Erin Molan.

Fresh from their recent Trans-Tasman success also in Auckland, Australian Men’s Open representative stars, Pete Norman and Dylan Hennessey said they all thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to take part in the show. “Lots of them are characters, there’s a couple of good footy players in there with some quality skills,” Norman said.

“Freddy Fittler and Lammy were good and were also stirring the boys up as well so it will be good to watch,” Norman added with his trademark competitive grin.

For Hennessey, it was an opportunity to admire not only the country but also The NRL Rookie talent on show.

“New Zealand was great, it was something totally different. It was great for us TFA/BLK ambassadors to get over there and get amongst those NRL Rookie guys.

“Those boys have a lot of talent and we wish them all the best for their careers.”

Australian Women’s Open representative, Samantha Rodgers and partner of the other Sam, thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

“It was so exciting to be a part of the series and being able to play the NRL boys in their Rookie quest and adventure,” Rodgers said.

“It was a great experience to go over there and not only witness the program but also be a part of it; so that was pretty amazing,” she added.

“I think it will be pretty funny – there will be some good highlights and some good Touch Footy on show. It was in the sand so it was pretty tough!”

See also Touch Football Australia’s CEO Colm Maguire’s take on the program via YouTube and stay tuned to the TFA website and social media channels in coming days providing a sneak peek of the on/off beach action.

You can watch The NRL Rookie at the following times and can also watch online at www.nrlrookie.com.

· Premiere – Tuesday (28 June) – GO! 7.30PM (SYD/MEL/BRIS)

· Encore 1 – Wednesday – CH9 10.30PM (SYD/BRIS)

· Encore 2 – Saturday – CH9 1PM (BRIS)

· Encore 3 – Sunday – CH9 2.30PM (SYD)

· Encore 4 – Monday – GO! 11.30PM (SYD/MEL/BRIS/ADE/PER).