Richmond’s Marvin Curry has a bright future ahead of him in rugby league after scoring a stand out try in a match against the Vodafone Warriors development team in Auckland.
Marvin, who was born in Samoa, moved to Nelson with his family six years ago and has proven to be an all round talented athlete. He represented Samoa in an invitational XIII rugby league team when playing against the Vodafone Warriors development team earlier this month.
“It was a privilege to be chosen to play for Samoa, it has been one of my dreams to represent my country of birth in any sport,” says Marvin.
The Nelson College for Boys, year 13 student, was playing right centre when he scored during the match, which saw, the Warriors team win 34-8. Former Kiwi’s Tony Iro, Duane Mann and Stacey Jones, now Junior Warriors coach, watched the youngster play and liked what they saw. As a result, Australian NRL player agents Jim Banaghan and Steve Gillis have shown an interest in working with him.
Marvin who is part of the South Island Rugby League Academy, says he likes the centre position but also enjoys playing fullback, in the halves or on the wing.
“I really enjoy playing rugby league as there is more space to run and not as many stoppages as rugby. In rugby I used to play on the wing and not touch the ball very much, in rugby league I get plenty of ball and it is a lot faster,” says Marvin.
At 16years, under New Zealand Rugby League rules, Marvin is too young to play for an open first grade rugby league team, so he will likely play rugby union for his school before returning to league for the Tasman Titans under-17 team.
His ultimate goal is to play at a professional level in an NRL team one day.
“If I keep working on my own game, then hopefully something will happen in the future, if I work really hard,” says Marvin.
