Kaiden Lahrs and Logan Spinks: the NRL is calling

Soon, Kaiden Lahrs and Logan Spinks will finish year 12 and then hasten their quests to become NRL players - Lahrs at the North Queensland Cowboys and Spinks at the Canterbury Bulldogs.

In the great mates' rear-view mirror will be the treasured experience of playing together for the Australian Schoolboys against the Junior Kumuls in Port Moresby.

It was the first time the 17-year-olds had been teammates since their Farrer days, when they were separated after Lahrs's family relocated from Tamworth to Townsville at the end of 2020.

Read more:

"That was pretty awesome ... to run out in the Australian jersey with him," Lahrs said of Spinks.

The teen's father is former Raiders star Tom Lahrs, who is known to league fans as Learoyd-Lahrs, or just big Tom.

Still muscle-bulging big, Tom was at Port Moresby on Sunday, September 24, when his boy was Australia's vice-captain and No. 8 against the Junior Kumuls at the Santos National Football Stadium. Tom made the side in 2002 and 2003, when he was at Farrer.

Spinks, a mobile second-rower and a surgical edge threat, wore the No. 17 and saw plenty of action as Australia prevailed 20-16 in an intense battle.

"It definitely made me more hungry for that Australian jersey some day," Lahrs said of playing for the Kangaroos, which his father achieved four times.

Lahrs, who is mulling the possibility of studying sports science at university, is such a boom prospect that the Cowboys signed him to a three-year development deal early this year (only five such deals were handed out).

The former Bronco will train with the Cowboys' NRL squad during the coming off-season - a first for him - and continue doing so throughout the 2024 season. He hopes to play Hostplus Cup (formally the Queensland Cup) next year, before making his NRL debut in 2025.

Lahrs said his advanced rugby league development had, in part, been driven by his mateship with Spinks.

"We didn't really know how good we both were when we left," the year 12 Kirwan High student said of him and Spinks and is family's relocation.

"I always felt like I was chasing him. I think we're pretty evenly matched now.

"When we were younger, not competing against each other but just pushing each other, I felt we were always trying to outdo one another; and, like, just work with each other to be better.

"And I reckon it's a big reason why we made the Australian side together, just because we were so competitive to each other."

Spinks missed his high school graduation and formal due to his Australian Schoolboys commitments. He will soon do his HSC exams and then move to Sydney to relink with the Bulldogs' SG Ball Cup squad.

"It was awesome," he said of teaming up with Lahrs in PNG. "I hadn't played with him since probably year 9."

Lahrs, he continued, took his rugby league "really serious".

"He's improved a lot - I'm proud of him," Spinks said, adding: "I think we motivate each other, I guess; I'm seeing what he does."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: