Perth Bears recruitment manager Dane Campbell has described Niel Beukes as the “blueprint” for South African rugby union converts as the Rhinos winger prepares for Sunday’s World Cup qualifier against Cook Islands at CommBank Stadium.
Buekes moved from South Africa to Melbourne to trial with the Storm in 2020 but his hopes of securing an NRL deal where dashed by COVID.
However, Campbell, who scouted Buekes for the Storm, believes the 22-year-old outside back can still make it and revealed that the new NRL franchise was keeping a close eye on South Africa.
“I saw him play schoolboy rugby in South Africa and we invited him to a camp in Melbourne. He did really well and we were going to get him back but COVID hit so he ended up going to play for the Blue Bulls and a bit of Currie Cup,” Campbell said.
“When COVID was run and won, I moved on to the Cowboys and we invited him up there. He did three-to-six months in the Young Guns program and was doing really well but unfortunately he did his ACL.
“He went home to South Africa and he has worked really hard to get back. He is a big body, he moves well and he is a great person.
The best thing about a guy like Niel is that he is the blueprint for every young South African rugby union player.
“He didn’t know much about rugby league but he has given it a go and now he has fallen in love with the game.”
After a stint with the Pretoria-based Blues Bulls, Buekes will make his international rugby league debut on the wing for South Africa in the play-off for the last spot at the 2026 World Cup in Australia and Papua New Guinea.
“It is going to be a tough ask for the Rhinos against a really strong Cook Islands team but I think this is the starting point for South Africa,” Campbell said.
“I really do believe that in the next one-to-five years there is going to be an astronomical growth in the number of players from South Africa that get an opportunity in rugby league, whether that is in Australia or England.
“From our point of view [at Perth Bears], we are actively engaging with people in South Africa right now about potential opportunities so hopefully the Rhinos do well, and we can work with them to get more players exposed to rugby league.”
The Rhinos will be led by Corrimal playmaker Kam Cryer, who is making his seventh international appearance, and he will be partnered in the halves by North Sydney Bears player-of-the-year Coby Thomas.
Hooker Kobe Martin plays for Souths Logan Magpies, while fullback Luke De Vlieg, who moved from Durban to Australia at 18-years-of-age, plays for Runaway Bay Seagulls.
Rookie Eels forward Callum McMenemy, who has a South African mother, is the son of former Wests Magpies player Shane McMenemy, who played alongside Rhinos coach Darryl Fisher at the Campbelltown-based club.
In addition to Beukes, who plays for Harlequins club in Gauteng, the squad includes a second player from the South African domestic competition in interchange forward Marcell Corneelson.
“South Africa has such an abundance of athletic rugby players, whichever code, so it is great to see some of the guys starting to look at the NRL and other rugby league competitions as an option,” Rhinos tour manager Chris Botes said.
“There are already a few players with South African backgrounds in the NRL. Just look at young Callum McMenemy from Parramatta, just to mention one.
I believe we are about to see a resurgence of South African players coming to make their mark in the NRL.
Beukes and Corneelson were among nine players who travelled from South Africa to Sydney for matches against Niue on Tuesday night and Cook Islands on Sunday.
“The other seven players also really performed well, and they will take this experience back home with them,” Botes said.
Fisher was optimistic about the future of the game in South Africa, regardless of the result against an Aitu side featuring the likes of KL Iro, Brendan Piakura, Marata Niukore and Davvy Moale.
“The potential there is enormous and for the two we have named in the side, it is awesome that we are able to give them an opportunity to play against the Cook Islands,” he said.
“I think the long-term plan is to really build on the connection between the players here and in South Africa, and the way they have integrated this week has really been a positive.”
