Playing up a storm

By David Nagel
TWO former members of the Hallam Senior College Sports Academy have continued the unbelievable run of success the school has recently enjoyed.
Rugby league graduates Kenneath Bromwich and Mahe Fonua have been selected in the 17-man National Youth Cup Team of the Year, for outstanding performances throughout the season in the National Rugby League under 20 competition, the Toyota Cup.
The accolades and recognition haven’t stopped there, however, as Bromwich and Fonua secured a ticket to the big time in the form of a Melbourne Storm playing contract for next season … and a chance to play alongside the like of Dally M medallist, Billy Slater.
In a world of big hits and hard knocks, Bromwich will have the comfort of family support to help him survive in the big time; his brother Jesse is a current Storm player, having joined the club last year.
The Bromwich brothers grew up in Auckland, but it wasn’t until Kenneath joined the Hallam proving ground that his resume began to take on a most formidable appearance.
Melbourne Storm development coach Kim Williams, who has had a close association with Bromwich and Fonua, said: “Kenneath came under notice as a 16-year-old when he played in both the senior schoolboy team and the state under-18s, he was very tough, a real workhorse and had a great offload, he was a standout.”
In 2009, Bromwich captained the Melbourne Storm under-18s in its inaugural season in the SG Ball Cup, a competition that has been played between the traditional NSW clubs since 1965, and led the team into the grand final that year, losing to the Canterbury Bulldogs.
He then gained a contract to play for the Storm in the Toyota Cup under 20s and has since been developing his skills in the second row and lock positions.
The naming of Fonua in the NYC Team of the Year has been especially pleasing, given that he is a born and bred Victorian who has come through the Storm development program.
“Mahe scored nine tries in his first four games at SG Ball level, four in his first game, he was another standout,” Williams said.
“He’s a centre, abnormally strong and a tough rugged ball carrier who came under notice very quickly.”
Heading the Rugby League program at Hallam is ex-Storm development coach Jamie Fardell, who was very excited about the boys’ success,
“It’s great news, our big focus is to treat the boys as students first and athletes second, our rugby league program is part of our curriculum and the boys spend five periods a week studying all aspects of the game.”
Fardell has no fears that the big time will effect the boys’ egos.
“Mahe’s been great, he comes back to help out whenever he can and is always the first on hand when we have visits to AAMI Park, they don’t forget where they’ve come from,” Fardell said.
The rugby league success for Hallam follows on from earlier this year when both the senior girls and boys teams won state titles in Australian Rules.
Bromwich and Fonua will ply their trade at AAMI Park on Sunday when they take on the Sydney Roosters at 1.30pm in their Toyota Cup semi-final curtain raiser to the Melbourne Storm match against Newcastle Knights, which kicks off at 4pm.