Former Badger Barkwill selected to Perth XV squad in Australia

ST. CATHARINES, Ont. - Former Brock men’s rugby player Ray Barkwill (Niagara Falls, Ont.) has enjoyed his first three months in Australia. This week, Barkwill was selected to the A Perth XV squad that will be taking on teams from Victoria and South Australia in the Southern State Championships to be held in Adelaide from September 30 to October 4.

The 23-man squad will be led by first grade coach of Wanneroo, Elwee Prinsloo, and is well represented with players selected from eight of the ten premier clubs. With a quality group to choose from the Perth XV will prove to be formidable force in the championships later this year. Western Australia has a proud rugby heritage and this new batch of players will now have the honour of representing their state.

“It is a huge honour to represent your province when in Canada and now I get to represent Western Australia,” said Barkwill. “The transition from Canadian rugby to Australian has been smooth, but I am still learning lots from the new coaches. I have been lucky to have good coaches along the way that have molded me into a better player each year of rugby. Playing at Brock and for Les Gilson really fine tuned my skills to give me opportunities like this one.”

Barkwill signed with a club in the Western Australian Kwik Premier League back in June after graduation and came into the season on week 8 of 18. After the first two weeks he moved into a starting roll and has never looked back, having started every game since. In ten games, Barkwill was third in team scoring registering six trys.

“It is a good mix of players from Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and the United Kingdom,” explained Barkwill. “The fields are fast and the pace of the game is faster. The coaches love my physical part of my game on defence and my set piece component too.”

“The best experience is that you get to play beside some very accomplished players that have represented their country and some professional players too,” said Barkwill. “The atmosphere is also great with the ex-players, wallabies and internationals that come out to watch the games.”