The Fortescue Academy squad will get further playing opportunities with three games in April against Fortescue WA Premier Grade clubs in a major boost for the program and organisation’s future planning.
The 2025 Fortescue WA Premier Grade season kicks off this weekend across the metropolitan area, with the Fortescue Academy to play games against sides on the bye in the opening three rounds.
The new initiative comes after the Academy’s east coast tour last month where the squad were afforded more playing opportunities, with three Under 20s games against the NSW Waratahs and ACT Brumbies in Sydney and Canberra respectively.
Academy general manager Damian Steele explained the new initiative and its benefits.
“The big one is games in a Force jersey for our players,” Steele said.
“They do a lot of training together, so to see how they implement all the practice they’re doing and see game outcomes is really important, particularly under our coaches who they’ve worked with throughout the year.
“It gives the coaches an opportunity for forecasting and seeing where our Academy players sit in our organisation for U19s, Super A and potential future contracts for them. They’re the two major wins for us.”
Steele thanked the Premier Grade clubs for allowing the Academy players to play together for the initial three rounds of the season, rather than being dispersed around their allocated clubs.
“We’re really appreciative of the clubs and how supportive they’ve been of the concept,” Steele said.
“They’ll have the players for the bulk of the season and will hopefully get players who are match fit and firing after these games. It’s been great for the clubs to recognize the importance of these fixtures for our players individually, the Academy program, the Force organisation, and the broader rugby landscape here in Western Australia.
“It’s the first time we’ve done it. We’ll see how it goes but we’re really optimistic about it based on the energy amongst the playing group.”
The Academy team list for each of the three fixtures will be confirmed on a Friday prior to each game.
Fortescue Academy fixtures:
Fortescue Academy v Southern Lions - Saturday 5 April, 12pm - Success Regional Sporting Facility
Fortescue Academy v Cottesloe - Saturday 12 April, 11am - Harvey Field
Fortescue Academy v Nedlands - Saturday 26 April, 12:30pm - Charles Court Reserve
