The NRL Rookie is an Australian National Rugby League reality television series that aired on 9Go!. The Rookies were coached by rugby league greats Brad "Freddy" Fittler, Mark Geyer and Adrian Lam. The winner of the show will be drafted to one of the 16 Australian National Rugby League (NRL) club's rookie list. The series was won by Lou Goodwin, who chose to be drafted to Canberra Raiders over the Gold Coast Titans.
Format
Captain Challenge
The Captain Challenges involves the rookies competing against each other in physical challenge of speed, endurance & strength each week. The rookie that comes first in the challenge will become weekly captain, they also cannot be cut from the competition during that week.
Game Day
All the rookies play as a football team to play a game of football each week. As they play the game, the 3 coaches will watch each rookie to assess the weakest from the strongest rookies and any improvements from previous weeks.
The Shed / The War Room
In The Shed, the rookies have a peer-to-peer session with psychologist Kate Baecher, as well as a group feedback session, this is where the rookies call out who they believe was weakest for the week & then vote for the bottom 3 rookies for The Cut.
In The War Room, the 3 coaches watch the session in The Shed on a television, this is where the give their final weekly assessment of each rookie.
The Cut Every week, the rookies all stand on the field of Allianz Stadium as Freddy calls out the 3 weakest rookies of the week. The Captain Challenge winner has the option to swap a rookie for another or keep the 3 same rookies, one of the rookies will be chosen as the weakest of the 3 and be cut from the competition.
The Rookies Daniel Caprice had previously represented England in rugby sevens while Lou Goodwin, Jesse Shearer and Jordan Martin had fathers who played first grade (Matt Goodwin, Dale Shearer and Paul Martin respectively).
Following the filming of the show, Luke Frixou, who had previously represented Cyprus in rugby union, was signed on a trial contract by the Salford Red Devils. Name Age Born Living Hometeam Status Lou Goodwin 24 Australia NSW Mount Pritchard Mounties RLFC The NRL Rookie Jordan Martin 21 Australia ACT Woden Valley Rams RLFC Runner-up Chris Hyde 27 Australia NSW Macquarie Scorpions RLC Cut from squadin the finale Reece Joyce 24 New Zealand Waikato Bombay Rugby Gary-John Hill 27 New Zealand WA West Scarborough Rugby Roydon Gillett 24 New Zealand WA North Beach Sea Eagles RLFC Peter Lee 23 Australia QLD Sunnybank Rugby Elias Power 25 Australia QLD Easts Tigers Rugby Union Matt Johnstone 27 Australia NSW Cronulla Sharks, NSW Police League Luke Frixou 21 UK UK Derby RFC David Andjelic 21 Serbia NSW St Patricks JRLFC Karo Kauna Junior 25 Papua New Guinea PNG Port Moresby Vipers RLFC Matthew Gorman 23 Australia QLD Bilambil Jets RLFC Daniel Caprice 25 UK NSW Picton Magpies RLFC Jesse Shearer 24 Australia QLD Maroochydore Swans JRLFC
Notes Matthew Johnstone was originally in the top 28 but didn't make it through to the top 14. After Matthew Gorman was injured prior to week 2's game, Johnstone was given a second chance in order to even out the teams for the match. Roydon was cut before the Captain's Challenge due to breaking curfew after a night out. Luke was cut at the end of the first half of Game Day due to his lack of proficient rugby league playing skills
Results Chart Rookie Elimination Chart Lou CCW CCW CCW IN IN IN IN Winner Jordan IN IN IN IN IN Runner-up Chris IN IN IN IN IN IN CFS in the finale Reece IN IN IN IN IN CCW Garry-John IN IN IN IN IN IN Roydon IN IN IN IN IN CCW CUT Peter IN IN IN IN Elias IN CCW CCW Matt J IN IN IN Luke IN IN IN CUT David IN Karo IN IN Matthew Daniel IN Jesse Cut From Squad None Jesse Daniel Matthew DavidKaro EliasPeter RoydonGarry-John Reece Safe DavidMatthew EliasMatthew DavidElias Matt J PeterReece Jordan JordanChris LouChrisJordan Notes Chris won the Captain Challenge for this week but since he was in the top four all of the rookies were up to be cut from the squad.
Rookie was Captain Challenge Winner and had immunity for the week Rookie made Captain's Call Rookie returned to competition Rookie was placed in bottom three or four Rookie was put in bottom three or four by Captain Rookie was put in bottom three or four by Captain and Cut From Squad Rookie was Saved by Captain's Call Rookie was Cut From Squad Rookie was Cut before the Final Cut Third Place Runner-up The NRL Rookie winner
Guests
Guest Episode Challenge Adam "Mad Dog" MacDougall Physical Strength & Endurance -Weights & Boxing session Captain Challenge Darren Lockyer Ep 3 Captain Challenge Wally Lewis Ep 3 Captain Challenge Billy Slater Ep 4 Game Day Robbie Kearns Ep 4 Game Day Ruben Wiki Ep 5 Game Day Anthony Minichiello Ep 6 Game Day Danny Green Ep 7 Boxing Session Paul Gallen Ep 7 Game Day Johnathan Thurston Ep 8 Game Day
Broadcast Premiere Episodes Episode Timeslot Airdate 1 "The Big Cut" Tuesday7:30 pm 31 May 2016 2 "Dizzy Heights" 7 June 2016 3 "Sunny Queensland" 14 June 2016 4 "Farm Challenge" 21 June 2016 5 "New Zealand Challenge" 28 June 2016 6 "Cockatoo Island Challenge" 5 July 2016 7 "Fire & Rescue Challenge" 12 July 2016 8 "Parsley Bay Challenge" 19 July 2016 9 "The Final Cut" 26 July 2016 10 "Grand Final" 2 August 2016
Encores Each episode airs five times during the week on free to air television across the Nine Network and multichannel GO! Day of Airdate Timeslot Channel Cities Premiere Episode Tuesday 7:30 pm 9Go! SydneyMelbourneBrisbane Encores Wednesday 10:30 pm (After The NRL Footy Show) Nine Network SydneyBrisbane Saturday 1:00 pm Brisbane Sunday 2:30 pm (before Sunday Football Coverage) Sydney Monday 11:30 pm 9Go! SydneyMelbourneBrisbaneAdelaidePerth
International
The series broadcasts internationally on Duke (NZ), Sky Sports (UK), NBCTV (PNG) & FijiTV (Fiji).
References