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These four faces shared school corridors. Now they represent the Wallabies’ future.
Within the halls of Brisbane’s Anglican Church Grammar School – commonly known as Churchie – Australian rugby prospects Treyvon Pritchard, Dre Pakeho, Frankie Goldsbrough and Nick Bloomfield charted their paths towards the world stage.
The quartet joined fellow alumnus Richie Asiata at the Queensland Reds, and ahead of Australia playing France at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night, will be keeping an eye on the standard they must reach to feature in the gold jumper.
Should they reach that goal, they will follow in the illustrious footsteps of Liam Wright, Quade Cooper and David Pocock – among the 23 Churchie graduates who have represented the Wallabies, with 10 more featuring for other countries.
“They’re all talented athletes when they get here, but I like to think what they’re getting from us is good grounding, good mentorship from their teachers, [and] lots of skills like time management, composure,” Churchie director of rugby Andy McGregor-Lowndes told this masthead.
“Most importantly, talent will get them a long way, but it’s about being good young men.”
Other schools have produced more current professional rugby players than Churchie’s 10 – in Queensland, St Joseph’s Nudgee College (13), Brisbane State High (11) and Brisbane Boys College (10) – but Churchie is the school that has nurtured the most current Queensland Reds.
The southside private school boasts a formidable coaching staff guiding more than 600 boys who take part in the rugby program, spearheaded by First XV mentor Lincoln Clapham.
“It’s a beast, that’s for sure,” McGregor-Lowndes said.
Clapham is joined by seven former players who boast international playing caps and hold the duty of ensuring continuity in teaching across ages and grades: Henry Speight, Phil Burleigh, Ole Avei, Teti Tela, Jethro Felemi, Jeffery Toomaga-Allen and Pama Fou.
“Some places have some experienced coaches, but they’re all working in different silos, so they’re not following the same program. We have a common language, common principles in how we attack and defend, and that brings success in the long run to your program,” McGregor-Lowndes said.
“What we’re trying to do at the top level is scaffolded down in our program.”
Pritchard in particular has landed high on the radar, demonstrating a long kicking game, lightning speed and a brilliant step. It dazzled All Blacks great Damian McKenzie during the Super Rugby Pacific campaign, and rival codes have come hunting.
The 19-year-old grew up playing rugby league before switching to the 15-man code, and has fielded talks with the incoming Papua New Guinea Chiefs for the 2028 NRL season.
He has carried on his game-breaking form into the Australian under-20s set-up – making 12 tackle busts, while scoring a try and setting up another with a brilliant run and flick pass in a 53-17 triumph of Fiji.
“When he came here, he had a few injuries in his first year, but during that time he worked a lot on his body and skills. When he came back last year, in my opinion, he was clearly the best player in the competition,” McGregor-Lowndes said.
“He was just playing at a level where he was bringing the boys with him. In rugby, one person can’t influence the game unless he has the support of the boys around him, so he was a good leader in that space.
“We all had strong belief in his ability, but it’s a big step-up playing against men and playing against experienced All Blacks. Doing that is just amazing really, that was beyond our expectations for his first year outside of school.”
Of the 221 Australian-educated players this masthead found to have held a professional contract at some stage in 2026, 34 clubs around the world are represented.
Within the 23-man Wallabies squad who will take on France, 16 Australian schools are represented – Newington College, St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace, St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill, The King’s School Parramatta and The Southport School each with two.
But in a nation in which competing football codes make talent retention a more daunting task, there are areas the game can improve.
While rugby league has built itself by targeting regional and rural centres as much as metropolitan areas, and the AFL has installed academies for similar demographics, union is far less represented outside of major cities.
In Queensland, only 14 of the 90 players educated in the state hail from outside Brisbane or the Gold Coast. In contrast, 12 of the 19 Queensland Maroons players who lined up for the State of Origin decider on Wednesday night graduated outside those bigger cities.
In May, at the 500-day countdown to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, Wallabies great James Horwill implored Australian rugby union to use the showcase to enhance its pathways in regional and rural markets, and keep talent from straying to rival codes.
“Over time, we’ve had such a big impact from country-based talent who have eventually moved to the metro areas, but it’s about making that pathway clear,” Horwill said.
“Ultimately, you want guys to get the opportunity to perform, and when they have that opportunity, create competition.
“That competition then creates performance. That’s what we want to see created in that rural pathway, and I think you can always do things better, but over time, rugby’s been pretty good at highlighting … country-based talent that has come through the system.
“Australia is a very unique marketplace when it comes to contact codes. You’ve got three sports that are competing all the time for the same talent, so we’ve got to make sure we do as much as we can to attract that talent, and make sure they remain playing the code.”
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