Sharks NRL squad members Teig Wilton and Will Kennedy may no longer play in Endeavour Sports High’s Open team's black jersey, however they continue to throw their support behind their former school.
Wilton and Kennedy, who attended Endeavour on their journey to the NRL, took the opportunity to wish the current senior squad every success ahead of a big game next week, doing so during Public Education Week where schools such as Endeavour Sports High are celebrated and recognised.
Just two of many NRL players past and present to have come through the Talented Athlete Program at the Caringbah school, Kennedy remembered his days at Endeavour fondly.
“Coming from Bathurst, I was welcomed from the time I arrived and Endeavour was the perfect place for me to continue my schooling, while also furthering my rugby league education and development,” Kennedy said.
“I’m appreciative of what Endeavour was able to do for me and will never forget my days at the school.”
Wilton, originally from the NSW South Coast finished his schooling at Endeavour, as did two of the younger members of the Sharks fulltime NRL training group in local boys Nikora Williams and Tom Dellow, both Australian Schoolboy representatives who were more recent Endeavour students.
Sharks juniors Liam Challenor and Jamie Curran, currently with the club’s Jersey Flegg team after making the step up from the SG Ball squad, will be a part of the Endeavour team to play the Qualifying Final of the Peter Mulholland Cup against Patrician Brothers Blacktown.
That game is scheduled for next Wednesday (August 12) at Campbelltown Stadium.
Challenor and Curren represented NSW Combined High Schools (CHS) at the National Championships recently, with both selected in the Australian Schoolboys squad. Challenor, a half back, was named Player of the Championships.
Endeavour’s Opens Rugby League team is undefeated through the early rounds of the Mullholland Cup in 2026 ahead of next week’s qualifying Finals match.
Rugby league has been woven into NSW public education for well over a century, and the two have grown up together in a way few other sports can match.
The NSW CHS rugby league pathway remains one of the sport's oldest and most respected representative systems and today's Australian Schoolboys and Schoolgirls squads still draw heavily from public school ranks each year.
Nine NSW public school students, Challenor and Curran included, made this year’s Australian Schoolboys’ squad.
Public Education Week is an annual celebration of NSW public education and the achievements of their schools, teachers and students. Held the week of August 3–7 (Term 3, Week 3) the theme this year has been ‘Inspiring Excellence’.
Lead photo - Nikora Williams, Teig Wilton, Will Kennedy and Tom Dellow
