When putting together a player or coach article it helps to have an angle to set the story apart. After speaking to recently appointed NSW Universities Head Coach Pete Palmer a number of interesting themes emerged.

Let’s start with his new role coaching the NSW Students. A proud First Nations man who hails from Mackay, Palmer is excited to be working with his team in preparation to take on Queensland at the Gold Coast next month.

“I was fortunate to be a part of the New South Wales Universities set up last year as an assistant coach,” Palmer revealed.

“Just being around that program I thought I’d like to be Head Coach one day. It has come a little bit sooner than I expected. It’s an exciting time because talking to the Board members they’ve got some grand plans to really improve that space and try to generate things on a bigger platform. To be part of that now is something really exciting.”

Despite growing up over the border. Palmer says he has no internal conflict about donning the sky-blue polo shirt for the interstate match.

“I’ve been down here (Sydney) for 15 years now and I moved to pursue a career in rugby league coaching so whether it’s NSW or Qld once I put that blue shirt on I’ll be doing my best to get a win.”

After coaching at the Mackay Cutters and North Queensland Cowboys the full time firefighter has built a substantial CV in pathways development with both the North Sydney Bears, where he spent six years, and the Manly Sea Eagles.

“I’ve got to give the North Sydney Bears a lot of credit for my coaching career. I was fortunate enough to be head coach of Harold Matthews, SG Ball, Jersey Flegg and then four years under Jason Taylor in the NSW Cup where we made a grand final last year. I’ve got to give a massive thank you to the North Sydney Bears for those opportunities, because without them there’s no way of being where I am today with coaching. Jason Taylor is one of the smartest men I’ve ever worked under. “

There is a stand out item on Palmer’s resume. It is not rugby league focussed however it was another challenge and chance to test himself. Last year he was a contestant on Million Dollar Island, a reality TV series offering participants the chance to win one million dollars.

“I’m not really big on reality TV so to speak but this was more of like a Survivor type of format, and I really wanted to test myself mentally, physically and emotionally on something like that. I tell you what that island was the hardest fortnight of my life. I mean that times one thousand. You miss your family and you’ve got no technology. You’re literally relying on other people for your survival. I encourage anyone who wants to really test themselves mentally, physically and emotionally, to really put themselves in that because I certainly learned a lot about myself. You can actually transfer it straight into coaching. It’s something that I really enjoyed. ”

Palmer believes we can do more at the grassroots level to get Indigenous youngsters involved with rugby league.

“I’m actually from the Kalkadoon people which is around Mount Isa. My mum was part of the stolen generation so it’s been really difficult to tap into our family history. When you’re a part of the stolen generation the majority of your family history gets deleted. It’s not something I’m not bitter about at all. For me it’s about education and trying to find out who we are, where we’re from and what we did. I’m really enjoying the learning journey of that.”

“I was quite fortunate to be part of the NRL Indigenous All Stars at the start of the year, being around the group for the weekend in camp and the culture. I think the NRL is trying really hard. I would like to see a little bit more done at the grassroots level because there are kids out there in the communities that aren’t being given an opportunity or can’t get an opportunity that we potentially lose from our game. Some of our greatest players are Indigenous. “

Palmer has big ambitions for his NSW Universities side, promising he will bring a modern and professional approach to the team’s preparation.

“I want to bring modern day methodologies and coaching. I don’t think we’ve used drones before when we train at New South Wales University. So we’ll do a lot of drone filming of our sessions. We’ll have video groups. I want to bring a professional culture and build on that every year. I want us to be successful here. I want to go out there and beat Queensland. So if that can be driven by me then I guess we’re going in the right direction.”

NSW Universities Squad

Dylan Ananoski(University of Wollongong), Thomas Baker (University of Southern QLD), Ryan Barbuto (Padstow Tafe), Adam Booth (University of Canberra), Mitch Chester (Western Sydney University), Zakauri Clarke (Australian College of Physical Education), Richard Dreyer, Thomas Fisher (University of Wollongong), Trae Fitzpatrick (Western Sydney University), Jay Kirk (Wollongong Tafe), Riley Lack (Griffith University), Harrison Leadbitter (University of Canberra), Nic Lenaz (Macquarie University), Ben Lillie (University of Canberra), Rowan McIntosh (Western Sydney University), Arthur Melham ( Australian Catholic University), Michael Mouawad (University of Wollongong), Aden Perry (Open College), Braye Porter (Australian College of Physical Education), Josh Rizk ( Western Sydney University), Isaac Rosairo, Cruise Tweedie (Nepean Tafe), Sam Younan-Brown (Sydney University)

The annual match against Queensland will be played at Gold Coast’s Cbus Stadium on 19 October.