Blackhawks x South Sydney Rabbitohs First Scholarship Player for 2025
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
The South Sydney Rabbitohs have granted their inaugural Townsville Blackhawks scholarship for the 2025 season to Malakai Martin.
The Year 9 student at Kirwan State High School, the Papua New Guinean/Aboriginal player caught the attention of South Sydney’s recruitment staff after winning the man-of-the-match award in a game between Kirwan State High and the Rabbitohs’ under-16 Junior Bunnies earlier this year has received the scholarship as part of the Rabbitohs’ partnership with the Blackhawks, which began in the 2024 season.
Martin, nephew of former NRL players Rhyse Martin and Travis Waddell, will play in the 2025 QRL under-17 Cyril Connell Cup with the Blackhawks. He will also have access to all of the Rabbitohs’ development and training programs as part of the Club’s North Queensland Elite Pathways Player Development (EPPD) program.
“I’m excited to work with Rabbitohs it’s a really good opportunity, I’ve been waiting for something like this for a long time. I’m working really hard towards an actual NRL contract with Rabbitohs and progress further with my footy.” said Malakai.
Junior Pathways Manager – Jaelen Feeney and Malakai Martin
“A big thing that Souths has pushed is that he stays here and develops under the Blackhawks Pathways and he plays his Cyril Connell and then finishes his school and then obviously progresses and goes down there.” Jaelen Feeney said
“Our goal was to give kids in North Queensland the opportunity to live out their childhood dream and become NRL players and Souths have kindly offered that partnership.”
“This will be beneficial for the Cyril Connell team, for the club, you know everyone will see that there’s a genuine opportunity there for these kids to sign with South Sydney as well.”
Rabbitohs Pathways Recruitment Manager Brent Hill expressed his excitement about Martin and the north Queensland EPPD.
“We first saw Malakai playing for Kirwan State High against the Junior Bunnies in an under-16s development game earlier this year, and he really impressed us,” Hill said.
“He earned the man-of-the-match honor that day and has continued to show a strong work ethic and eagerness to learn from his coaches to achieve his goals.”
“Malakai will further his development by playing for the Blackhawks in Townsville and representing Kirwan State High. This will allow him to continue improving his game while staying home under the guidance of both the Blackhawks’ and Rabbitohs’ coaching staffs.”
We are extremely proud of Malakai Martin and can’t wait to watch him alongside his team mates in the 2025 season. Congratulations.
