HOW do you top being named in an Australian rugby league merit team? How about being signed by NRL heavyweights the Melbourne Storm?
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The blossoming rugby league career of Bathurst Panthers talent Noah Griffiths has been given a huge boost after he signed a four-year deal with the Melbourne club.
Griffiths came to the attention of the NRL defending premiers last June when he represented the New South Wales Combined High Schools team at the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League Under 15s National Championships.
The talented halfback was named player of the tournament – one his team won – and got the nod for the number seven jumper in the Australian merit team named at its conclusion.
While Storm does not have a team in the Harold Matthews Cup, Griffiths will still train with the club throughout the season.
“I’ve signed with Melbourne for four years starting this year, I’m real excited for it,” he said.
“They are more looking at development and training. I won’t be playing, it will more be go down there a couple of times a year to train with the squad.
“I went down there a couple of weeks ago for a couple of days to train with the NRL squad and it was just unbelievable, the intensity of it all.
“We sat there for breakfast and the players came up and introduced themselves and started talking to us, they were real good. I loved it.
“I didn’t follow Storm, but I definitely do now. They’ve always been up there, but I love them now, the quality and intensity of everything they do.”
Signing with Storm is not the only important development for the talented playmaker this season – Griffiths has also been included in the NSW Rugby League under 16s pathways program.
He has already attended a three-day camp at the Sydney Academy of Sport at Narrabeen and has the chance to play State of Origin for the NSW under 16s later this season.
“The 16s squad, it’s about development, they are more worried about getting you ready to move on to 18s,” Griffiths said.
“The 16s and 18s, we all trained together and got used to each other. Danny Buderus, Mark O’Meley, they were some of the main coaches that were there, Brad Filter came to talk to us in camp after dinner, so that was pretty cool.
“It was a good experience just to listen to what they say, learn about what they didn’t do when they were young, how we can fix ourselves and make ourselves better.
“It’s definitely another step up. I was expecting to go down there and it be intense and that's exactly what it was, it was good to see how professional they are and how serious they all are about it.
"They taught us how to cook our own breakfast and all the life skills as well. It was great, we learned about nutrition, how to look after ourselves – everything that we need to do.”
On a club level, Griffiths still plans to pull on a Bathurst Panthers jersey this season and try to help them to an under 16s Group 10 premiership.
“I will play club this year and play the higher rep stuff again if I make it, the Western Rams at the Country Championships,” he said.
