| Presenter: | Erin Molan |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 10 |
| Runtime: | 60 mins |
| Company: | McGuire Media |
| Channel: | 9Go! |
The NRL Rookie is an Australian National Rugby League reality television series that aired on 9Go!.[1] The Rookies were coached by rugby league greats Brad "Freddy" Fittler, Mark Geyer and Adrian Lam. The winner of the show will be drafted to one of the 16 Australian National Rugby League (NRL) club's rookie list.[2] [3] The series was won by Lou Goodwin, who chose to be drafted to Canberra Raiders over the Gold Coast Titans.[4] [5]
The Captain Challenges involves the rookies competing against each other in physical challenge of speed, endurance & strength each week. The rookie that comes first in the challenge will become weekly captain, they also cannot be cut from the competition during that week.
| Ep | City/State | Location |
|---|
All the rookies play as a football team to play a game of football each week. As they play the game, the 3 coaches will watch each rookie to assess the weakest from the strongest rookies and any improvements from previous weeks.
In The Shed, the rookies have a peer-to-peer session with psychologist Kate Baecher, as well as a group feedback session, this is where the rookies call out who they believe was weakest for the week & then vote for the bottom 3 rookies for The Cut.
In The War Room, the 3 coaches watch the session in The Shed on a television, this is where the give their final weekly assessment of each rookie.
Every week, the rookies all stand on the field of Allianz Stadium as Freddy calls out the 3 weakest rookies of the week. The Captain Challenge winner has the option to swap a rookie for another or keep the 3 same rookies, one of the rookies will be chosen as the weakest of the 3 and be cut from the competition.
Daniel Caprice had previously represented England in rugby sevens while Lou Goodwin, Jesse Shearer and Jordan Martin had fathers who played first grade (Matt Goodwin, Dale Shearer and Paul Martin respectively).[6]
Following the filming of the show, Luke Frixou, who had previously represented Cyprus in rugby union, was signed on a trial contract by the Salford Red Devils.[7]
| Rookie | Elimination Chart | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [21] | [22] | [23] | [24] | [25] | [26] | [27] | [28] | |||
| Lou | CCW | CCW | CCW | IN | IN | IN | IN | Winner | ||
| Jordan | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | Runner-up | ||||
| Chris | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CFS in the finale | |||
| Reece | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CCW | ||||
| Garry-John | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | ||||
| Roydon | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | CCW | CUT | |||
| Peter | IN | IN | IN | IN | ||||||
| Elias | IN | CCW | CCW | |||||||
| Matt J | IN | IN | IN | |||||||
| Luke | IN | IN | IN | CUT | ||||||
| David | IN | |||||||||
| Karo | IN | IN | ||||||||
| Matthew | ||||||||||
| Daniel | IN | |||||||||
| Jesse | ||||||||||
| Cut From Squad | None | Jesse | Daniel | Matthew | David Karo | Elias Peter | Roydon Garry-John | Reece | ||
| Safe | David Matthew | Elias Matthew | David Elias | Matt J | Peter Reece | Jordan | Jordan Chris | Lou Chris Jordan | ||
Rookie was Captain Challenge Winner and had immunity for the week
Rookie made Captain's Call
Rookie returned to competition
Rookie was placed in bottom three or four
Rookie was put in bottom three or four by Captain
Rookie was put in bottom three or four by Captain and Cut From Squad
Rookie was Saved by Captain's Call
Rookie was Cut From Squad
Rookie was Cut before the Final Cut
Third Place
Runner-up
The NRL Rookie winner
| Guest | Episode | Challenge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adam "Mad Dog" MacDougall | Physical Strength & Endurance - Weights & Boxing session | ||
| Captain Challenge | |||
| Darren Lockyer | Ep 3 | Captain Challenge | |
| Wally Lewis | Ep 3 | Captain Challenge | |
| Billy Slater | Ep 4 | Game Day | |
| Robbie Kearns | Ep 4 | Game Day | |
| Ruben Wiki | Ep 5 | Game Day | |
| Anthony Minichiello | Ep 6 | Game Day | |
| Danny Green | Ep 7 | Boxing Session | |
| Paul Gallen | Ep 7 | Game Day | |
| Jonathan Thurston | Ep 8 | Game Day |
| Episode | Timeslot | Airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Big Cut" | Tuesday 7:30 pm | 31 May 2016 |
| 2 | "Dizzy Heights" | 7 June 2016 | |
| 3 | "Sunny Queensland" | 14 June 2016 | |
| 4 | "Farm Challenge" | 21 June 2016 | |
| 5 | "New Zealand Challenge" | 28 June 2016 | |
| 6 | "Cockatoo Island Challenge" | 5 July 2016 | |
| 7 | "Fire & Rescue Challenge" | 12 July 2016 | |
| 8 | "Parsley Bay Challenge" | 19 July 2016 | |
| 9 | "The Final Cut" | 26 July 2016 | |
| 10 | "Grand Final" | 2 August 2016 | |
Each episode airs five times during the week on free to air television across the Nine Network and multichannel GO!
| Day of Airdate | Timeslot | Channel | Cities | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiere Episode | ||||
| Tuesday | 7:30 pm | 9Go! | Sydney Melbourne Brisbane | |
| Encores | ||||
| Wednesday | 10:30 pm (After The NRL Footy Show) | Nine Network | Sydney Brisbane | |
| Saturday | 1:00 pm | Brisbane | ||
| Sunday | 2:30 pm (before Sunday Football Coverage) | Sydney | ||
| Monday | 11:30 pm | 9Go! | Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth | |
The series broadcasts internationally on Duke (NZ), Sky Sports (UK), NBCTV (PNG) & FijiTV (Fiji).