Junior Pathways 'Viking' Program /

The Raiders Foundation proudly funded the Junior Pathways Viking Program by sending a squad to New Zealand in July 2023.

What started with 20 kids in a gym and culminated with a trip to Christchurch to play two games in the South Island of New Zealand.

They headed to Rolleston to play our first game against a Canterbury 19s squad. They were big strong boys that never gave an inch, but our boys were fantastic in defence to hold them to one try running out winners 40-6.

Try Scorers were Sam Griffin, Harvey Gay x 2, Ethan Alaiai x 2, Xavier Cacciotti, Mark Tuialii and Sam Gash. Sam Gash kicked 4 goals. Best performers were Xavier Cacciotti (Player of the match), Ethan Alaia and Troy Codey.

The second game was against the South Island Scorpions, a 18s Representative team. The Vikings Squad got out of the blocks quickly scoring in the first set and headed into half time at 30-0. The score-line ended up being 42-0 but that did not indicate the toughness of the match.

The Kiwi boys kept coming hard and fast, but the defence of the young Raiders was exceptional to repel them for the entire 80 minutes. Try Scorers were Ethan Alaia x 3, Lekani Mpaso, Brock Aploevski, Xavier Cacciotti and Mitch Brophy. Sam Gash kicked 7 goals. Troy Codey was named Player of the Match by Scorpions

Ethan Alaia was named Player of the tour by Raiders Staff.

The NZRL staff was full of praise for our boys on and off the field and hopeful that we can replicate the trip for many years to come. They see it as beneficial for the development of the game for their region and great relationship building between them and the Raiders.

The program is an important steppingstone for our junior pathways and the value it adds to our community on and off the field will be felt for many years to come.

To learn more about the Viking Program and how it fits into the junior representative pathway system, watch the video below.