Charlie Brosnan, Ben Daniels selected in Australian under 18 rugby squad

Thallon's Charlie Brosnan and Ben Daniels from Cloncurry, who have both just completed year 12 at the Anglican Grammar School or 'Churchie', were selected after a big year playing for their school and state.

Churchie's 1st XV coach Ryan Schultz said that as well as being part of the school's GPS premiership winning team, their performances this year saw them selected to be part of the Queensland Reds U18 academy.

"The Reds games were before and after the GPS season, so Ben played all four games and Charlie played the last two," he said.

That led onto their selection in the Australian squad.

Both are now in the Queensland Reds senior academy, meaning they'll be training four or five times a week among their work and university commitments.

Both will play for the Brothers Rugby Club in the Brisbane competition next year.

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Ben, who is 200cm tall, was described by his school coach as a genuine rugby lock, good in the lineout and someone who plays hard.

He said Charlie was a typical country player, someone who tackled hard with a lot of good skill sets behind him.

Mr Schultz said their next big opportunity would be selection in the Australian U20s side, which is picked next year.

"Ben is 18 this year so he would be eligible but Charlie is still 17," he said."

In his words, the Australian under 18 squad is the highest accolade for their age group.

"It's been a big year for them," he said. "Now they're in the senior academy, they have every opportunity to go on to a full-time football career - that's pretty exciting for them"

Charlie's father Walter Brosnan played in the Australian under 19 squad back in 1993 but he was quick to say his son was a lot better player than he ever was.

"He's done really well," he said.

Cloncurry stock and station agent Sam Daniels described his son Ben as a quiet achiever.

"When he started at Churchie in grade 7 he'd never played rugby before, just a bit of league at Cloncurry," he said. "By year 11 he was in the 1^st XV, and the next year he's in the Australian squad."

Commenting on Ben's height, he said "you can be tall, but you've got to have a big ticker".

"We're very proud of what he's achieved," he said.

The 2022 Australian Schools and Under 18s squad in full includes:

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