Farrer alumnus Max Altus has wrapped up the “trip of a lifetime” by coming off the bench in the Australian Schoolboys’ 18-6 second Test loss to the England Academy at Headingley Stadium in Leeds.
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Altus played about 25 minutes at hooker in the Saturday morning (Australian time) match.
England secured the series 2-0 in the tour-ending clash. They won the first Test 14-8 at Leigh last weekend.
Altus missed that match, but appeared in four of Australia’s five tour games.
The Coonamble teen was happy with his defensive effort in the second Test, but thought he could have done more offensively.
“The game was fairly quick and very physical,” he said in a written response on Facebook. “The tour of England itself has been awesome and a trip of a lifetime! It was everything I expected and more and yeah it has made me want to pursue my NRL dream … they [England] were stronger than what I thought – a very physical side, big and played hard footy.”
When asked what he planned to do now, he said “hopefully sign with a club”.
Former Canberra Raiders coach David Furner, now in charge of the Leeds Rhinos, handed Altus his jersey before the match. The England side included seven Leeds Rhinos Academy players.
In their 40-year existence, it is only the fourth time the Schoolboys have lost a series to England – the previous losses coming in 2002, 2004 and 2010.
Prior to the first Test, Altus described as “overwhelming” and “unreal” his experience in England.
Having beaten England Colleges 92-0 at Newcastle’s Kingston Park and the Yorkshire Academy 30-22 in Castleford, in their first two tour matches, Australia then beat the Lancashire Academy 30-18 at the Manchester Regional Arena.
After the Lancashire match, Altus said: “The first match was a bit of a walkover but we did play extremely well, completing over 85 per cent [of the sets]. We did earn the right to win 92-0.
“I played half a game and got a try ... it was a great feeling scoring a try in an Australian jersey. I didn’t have an outstanding game but thought it was solid.”
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He added: “The second game was completely different. I was in the starting side at hooker. It was a lot quicker game and tough. I thought I played another solid game, and only played half a game again.”
He was back on the bench for the Lancashire encounter.
“I’m hoping to be starting hooker for the Tests,” he said. “But if not, I won’t be disappointed – I’ll be grateful to be here, and I’m really soaking up the experience.”
That experience, he said, had been “great”. “London was definitely an eye-opener to me and one of the highlights of the trip so far. Playing in the green and gold is overwhelming and an unreal feeling.”
