This was a special lunch time game of touch footy for Silkstone students. It’s not every day you get an Ipswich Jet passing you the ball, especially one who was just like you.
This was the uniform he wore, these were the fields he ran around on. That was the bell calling him to class that he desperately wanted to ignore, he was having so much fun with his friends.
Now Wes Conlon is someone that kids look up to, a role model for the next generation of Silkstone students. A fullback for the Ipswich Jets and as of this month, part of the train-on squad for the NRL’s emerging Indigenous men’s team, the First Nation Goannas.
Silkstone State School, which also boasts Olympic silver-medallist Leah Neale, current Australian Basketball Boomer Matt Hodgson, and Western Pride State Title-winning goal-scorer Dylan Wenzel-Halls as former alumni, knows how to motivate with its specialised sports program for Year 4, 5 and 6 students that rewards completed curriculum work and responsible behaviour with ‘sports class’ and extra training before, during and after school.
Out on the field the students gravitate to Wes, he’s natural and approachable. He’s in his element – playing with no structure, like he did as a barefoot junior, and like he does at the Jets.
“People like myself, we could win a game easily and I’m not happy with myself because there are things I could do better, and times we lose – by a lot – and I’m the happiest because I’ve had fun,” he told the students at a Q&A earlier.
February 2018
A week-long festival of rugby league will launch the 2018 NRL season.
Wes Conlon has been named in the train-on squad for the NRL’s emerging Indigenous men’s team, the First Nation Goannas.
Sheer joy of the game
Silkstone’s long-standing PE teacher Calvin Hegvold started teaching around the time Wes was born. But he still remembers – vividly – the time he saw the future Jets fullback at a junior rugby league district trial.
It was for under 10s, and the trials had been going for hours and hours, overseen by old officials. Towards the end Wes turns up, chucks on a jersey and bang! Scoring tries and setting people up. And the officials put his name down, probably as the first pick.
Wes always a bit of a natural, but what stood out for Hegvold – then as now – was his sheer joy on the field.
“When he plays football he always enjoys it, he has a smile on his face.”
Our students were so inspired by Wes and for him to give back to his primary school and community like that is so wonderful.
It is imperative to us that we foster a positive behaviour system where students have to complete their curriculum work and act responsibly to be able to partake.
We strongly encourage a respectful and caring environment where students are able to achieve their academic and sporting goals.
Seeing someone like Wes who went to Silkstone was fantastic for the students to see where hard work and persistence can lead them.
