I can 100% guarantee that as a parent of a Nudgee child who was in Sydney on Saturday we do offer scholarships even kids in yr7/8 are being provided with "financial assistance" to attend the college, however this is the norm in Qld. However there wouldn't be 1 kid in that team on Saturday on aa completely free ride.Well you judgement is questionable. Nudgee were never going to do a number on Barker. 4 tries a piece was a fair reflection of the game. Conversions and penalties the difference. Nudgee though deserved to win having dominated the scrum. Injuries have hit Barker with 2 key forwards out. Barker is building its depth and yes it does not have the history of a school like Nudgee. But GPS schools in Qld have all been acquiring talent across all age groups for many years. Barker is quietly doing the same. Lots of year 10 boys pulling on the Red jumper for the first time which will build depth.
We might get our academic fees waived and pay for boarding or our NRL club we are signed with "helps" financially. A classic example of how the system works up here is The Southport School, these fellas couldnt win a chook raffle from 12 - 16 years but the minute we hit 1stXV level they are a top 3 team year in year out.
Very impressed with the Barker 15 & 9, hopefully we can see some interstate match ups between different schools in the coming years, looking forward to welcoming you to Ross Oval next year.