Rising backline duo Nick Conway and Finn Mackay have been signed to advance their development with the Queensland Reds.<\/p>\n
The pair have committed to two-year elite development squad deals which will advance their skills in a high-performance environment at Ballymore.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s announcement by the Queensland Rugby Union builds on an exciting raft of signings from the state\u2019s rugby pathways. The Conway and Mackay signings follow the multi-year deals for teenage standouts Taione Taka, Treyvon Pritchard, Kingsley Uys, Will Ross, Bennett Armistead and Levi Slater.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Top-level coaching, the world-class BMS National Rugby Training Centre at Ballymore and training with the full Reds squad are among the attractions for development squad players.<\/p>\n
Both Conway, 18, and Mackay, 18, have been developing their games as part of the Buildcorp Reds Academy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Conway featured at Nudgee College last year and was a recent standout for the Junior Wallabies at the World Rugby Under-20 Championships in Italy.<\/p>\n
His two-try effort against England showed all the finishing pace he is renowned for, including an 80m intercept try.<\/p>\n
Finn Mackay (left) and Nick Conway (right)<\/p>\n
“I’ve enjoyed my whole time here since I came in the doors at Ballymore when I was 16. I’ve been treated so well,” Conway said.<\/p>\n
“It’s an unreal experience training against such an elite Reds squad with so many Wallabies. That’s one of the plusses here.<\/p>\n
“I’ve learnt a heap and feel there’s a lot more to come.”<\/p>\n
The son of former Brisbane Bronco Bob Conway revealed he had an offer to play rugby league in the Broncos system but chose the Reds pathway instead.<\/p>\n
“I played league before going to Nudgee College. Dad just said ‘go with your gut’ and I’m enjoying it so much in rugby, why would I change,” Conway said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere have been some positive factors.<\/p>\n
“(Reds coach) Les Kiss has walked me through the game style of the Reds. I’ve loved watching it the last two years and to have it explained further with the opportunities on attack for the back three is great.<\/p>\n
“The U20s experience pulled me in as well with the opportunities to travel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really feel I can develop my footy at the Reds.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mackay\u2019s maturity has been emphasised this season with regular time at fullback and flyhalf for Souths in the StoreLocal Hospital Cup. He is a proud product of St Laurence\u2019s College.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty special to be involved in Queensland rugby. It\u2019s where I want to be. To stay at home, feel comfortable with the surroundings, work hard and have fun are ingredients for playing your best footy,\u201d Mackay said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a No.10, you have to be over everything. Coming from school into rep teams, you have to lift your standards and get across all the detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be able to train against (Reds flyhalves) Tom Lynagh and Harry McLaughlin-Phillips in the pre-season will really help that development.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Former Wallaby Paul Carozza, the Queensland Reds Head of Talent Management, said Mackay and Conway had both shown outstanding potential in age-group Queensland teams.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, it’s great to see the boys continue on the pathway at the Reds, having both come in at 16, because it is a sign a very good environment has been created,” Carozza said.<\/p>\n
“Finn has a very calm head, great game knowledge and a left boot that is a point of difference. It’s good to ID a No.10 of potential at this age.<\/p>\n
“Nick is a genuine finisher who can play multiple positions. He has a real workrate to get involved and it’s credit to him that he was picked this year, at 18, in the Australian U20s side.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
NICK CONWAY<\/p>\n
Winger-fullback<\/p>\n
Age: 18<\/p>\n
Height: 1.86m<\/p>\n
Weight: 88kg<\/p>\n
Club: Wests<\/p>\n
School: Nudgee College<\/p>\n
FINN MACKAY<\/p>\n
Flyhalf<\/p>\n
Age: 18<\/p>\n
Height: 1.89m<\/p>\n
Weight: 84kg<\/p>\n
Club: Souths<\/p>\n
School: St Laurence\u2019s College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rising backline duo Nick Conway and Finn Mackay have been signed to advance their development with the Queensland…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51744,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,13506,760,85],"class_list":["post-51743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-reds","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51743"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51743\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}