The Canberra Raiders are tackling the threat of the AFL head on with an army of development officers set to invade the region's schools.
More than 13,000 primary and high school students were exposed to programs run by Canberra Rugby League development officers last year - a number certain to grow with the GWS Giants making their top-flight AFL debut.
The Giants will play three regular season games at Manuka Oval this year while also staging junior clinics and nuturing the next generation of footballers through their Canberra-based academy.
Australian Rugby League Development national schools manager Debbie Brewin emphasised the importance of doing the groundwork at the grassroots level.
''Canberra is a key area because it's the nation's capital, there's an NRL club there and there's competition from GWS, so it's important for us to have a strong presence down there and also in the surrounding country areas,'' Brewin said. ''We're looking at providing Canberra and the surrounding regions with more development officers so those impressive figures will continue to rise.''
As well as Canberra, CRL development officers preach the benefits of league in areas such as Goulburn, Yass, Queanbeyan and Cooma.
They will also accompany the Raiders for this week's community carnival, taking in south-western NSW towns such as Gundagai, Tumut, Cootamundra and Junee.
GWS has also stepped up its presence and will host a NAB Cup game against the Gold Coast Suns in Albury before facing a yet to be determined opponent in Canberra in a NAB Challenge game next month.
Since being launched in 1998, the AFL's Auskick program has proved to be a roaring success and reaches more than 100,000 primary school children each year.
A total of 13,359 school students in the ACT and surrounding regions were exposed to the basics of rugby league last year.
Gala days accounted for 6192 students, another 4974 attended at least one coaching clinic, 2070 were involved in community programs while 150 were engaged in regular competitions.
The Raiders are using two of their most promising under-20s players - Mitch Cornish and Ben Picker (younger brother of NRL squad members Joe and Mick Picker) - as cadet development officers in secondary schools to continue to extend the game's reach.
Raiders Australian Rugby League development officer Daniel York said school visits were critical with four football codes - rugby league, Australian football, rugby union and soccer - all vying for the best possible talent.
''It's massive, every sport gets into the schools,'' he said.
''We've been getting a fair bit of support from our head office in Sydney, which is pretty massive.
''Especially in this sort of area where you're sort of on you're own as opposed to Sydney where you've got all the [NRL] clubs around you.''
.gif)
