BUTLER College and the U14s rugby league team the North West Reds kicked off a sporting relationship at the school this month.
The country team, which includes players from across the north west WA, travelled about 1700km for a week of matches against Perth teams, including the Butler game on September 11.
Butler College rugby coaches Leon Puletaha and Jody-Lee Epiha, praised the way the community and school came together to welcome the tour group.
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READ NOWBraving the slightly wet conditions, students, families and visitors cheered and supported both teams in their on-field pursuits.
The home team scored an early try and there were strong tackles, fast running and structured play was displayed by both sides in the first half, with each team scoring tries.
Butler had a slight lead heading into the break, when the school’s cheerleaders stepped out to entertain the crowd.
The school team scored early in the second half, but the reds scored more tries and had levelled the scores when there were two minutes left to play.
Strong, hard running, fierce tackling and a number of line breaks were made by both teams in the final few minutes, but at the sound of the hooter, the game concluded with a 16-all score line – a draw for their first game.
Puletaha said that he would like to see an annual fixture for the two teams.
“Events such as this encourage our students to respect and acknowledge players from outside of their local region,” he said.
“Rugby league is an important medium to develop strong, young and confident men.”