18 Jan 2012

Sport: NRL to host first Pacific leadership camp

11:39 am on 18 January 2012

Benji Marshall, Petero Civoniceva,and Frank Pritchard will be among the Pacific players from across rugby league taking part in a leadership camp in Sydney at the end of this week.

The NRL's Pacific Studies Cultural Leadership Camp aims to target senior and up-and-coming NRL players of Pacific heritage as leaders in their respective clubs and communities.

Fifty players and staff from all 16 NRL clubs, including Cook Islands international Alex Glenn and Fiji's Wes Naiqama, will participate in the inaugural three-day camp which has been developed with the help of the NRL's Pacific Council and Education and Welfare Officer Nigel Vagana.

Sessions will focus on Pacific Culture and Identity, Society and Leadership, Literature and Visual Arts, Food and Health, and Spirituality and will be delivered by the ANU Pacific Studies program.

Broncos veteran Petero Civoniceva will also deliver a talk on the importance of cultural education and leadership to the group.