Albury rugby league rising star Liam Wiscombe, 17, is pushing to keep his family’s rich tradition in the sport flowing.
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The young forward’s impressive 2016 saw him win the Weissel Cup and Albury Thunder under 18s best and fairest and receive a call-up to trial for the Canberra Raiders and Parramatta Eels’ SG Ball squads.
These recent achievements have led to Wiscombe being named the fourth nomination for the Norske Skog Young Achiever of the Year Award for 2017.
Wiscombe’s first game of rugby league was at the age of five, following in his father Paul’s footsteps, who was a household name in Group 9 and a premiership player with Wagga Brothers in 1995.
He was somewhat of a late bloomer and only started to make regional representative teams at 15, before taking his game to a higher level during the past two seasons.
Wiscombe represented Group 9 this year, was a part of the 2016 Riverina Academy of Sport and was also a member of the Riverina CHS open representative team.
He captained the Albury High School rugby league team that won the Hotondo Homes Thunder Cup grand final and was awarded best and fairest.
“Winning the league best and fairest has been my biggest highlight,” Wiscombe said.
“Also training with the Raiders summer squad was a fantastic experience.
“They made two cuts and I missed out in the second one.”
Wiscombe will take on the Raiders squad he trialled for this weekend in Wagga, but this time he'll be representing the region's representative team Bidgee Bulls, alongside Thunder teammate Bronson Meehan.
He has been named at lock for the Saturday clash at Wagga’s Parramore Park.
"I have a couple of games with the Bidgee Bulls to try and make the final squad for next year,” he said.
The 10-week competition the Bulls contest starts in January, meaning football has now become an all-year commitment for Wiscombe, while his younger brother Jeremy is trialling for the under 16s equivalent.
"I haven't had a break from footy, just a short break from actually playing,” he said.
"I trialled with the Raiders in October so this will be my first proper game for a while.”
On top of his rugby league commitments, Wiscombe also spent two seasons with Albury Steamers in rugby union and has played two years with the Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock thirds on Saturdays, before backing up for the Thunder on Sundays.
Wiscombe will represent the Thunder again in 2017 whilst completing year 12 and will make a push for a first grade debut.
He has aspirations to try his luck in a Sydney competition in 2018.
