League: Northland flavour to add spice in Penrith

Hamish Pomare made a big impact in 2013.Photo/Supplied.

A colossal wave of rugby league migration has washed up at the foot of the Blue Mountains with no fewer than six Northlanders set to turn out for the Penrith Panthers in 2014.

Kaitaia Kiwi and former Warrior Elijah Taylor will join Dargaville's Sam McKendry in the NRL team next year but alongside the two established NRL stars, four Northlanders will be making a start at reaching their own dreams of the big time.

Three of the youngsters - James Dean Fisher-Harris, Hamish Pomare and Corey Selwyn - will join the Penrith Panthers SG Ball U18 team, while Corey Naera will turn out for the Holden Cup U20 team.

Naera and Fisher-Harris left for Australia last Friday and Pomare will leave at the end of the week.

All three will join the Penrith Panthers, on two-year cadetship deals.

Selwyn, who played one game for the Northern Swords 17s in 2013, has already moved to Australia to join his parents and also received a contract offer from the Panthers.

Rugby League Northland manager Alex Smits said the youngsters have struck it lucky to have the experience of Taylor and McKendry to draw on.

"I have spoken with Elijah at length about the boys coming over to Penrith and he is excited to be able to work in a mentoring capacity for the boys," he said.

"It was important for the boys that we found them somewhere where they would be looked after. Having both Elijah and Sam at Penrith couldn't have worked out better for them."

Fisher-Harris and Pomare both played in the Northern Swords' successful 17s team this year. Both were also named in the NZRL 18s wider training squad earlier this year.

The contract is especially rewarding for Naera, as he was at risk of missing out on the opportunity. He completed his schooling at Opononi Area School and moved to Auckland to join the Warriors Academy as an unsigned player. Although unwanted by the Warriors, RLN drafted him into the Northern Swords premier squad from Auckland where he was a standout performer as an 18-year-old in a much-improved Premier team which resulted in him getting picked up by the Panthers.