After contributing to the Club on the field for over a decade and a half, Mitchell Aubusson and Jake Friend are now guiding the next crop of future Roosters.
Just a few years after winning Premierships in the Red, White and Blue, the retired pair have headed up the Sydney Roosters' Academy Program as CEO and Head Coach respectively.
And alongside Head of Recruitment & Junior Player Development Daniel Anderson, Aubusson and Friend recently ventured to the NSW north coast with 21 of the most talented under-16s players on a five-day camp as they look to get a glimpse of the future.
“We had a combined Academy and Pathways under 16s group comprised of some of our best up-and-coming players as well as a number we hadn’t seen throughout the recent lockdown period,” Aubusson explained.
“The squad ranged from Sydney locals, players from the Central Coast, New Zealand and Queensland, covering all bases. A lot of these guys didn’t know each other when we brought them together.
“We based our camp out at Broken Head between Byron Bay and Ballina. We trained at Byron Bay Red Devils’ park and with the Ballina Seagulls and their facilities and had a lot of support from those clubs in using their facilities.
“They learned a lot out of it and we learned a lot about the guys. They enjoyed getting on the field and they played hard while we had about three or four days teaching Roosters philosophy.
“It was a good opportunity to get the guys together and do some really hard training, play some footy and for us to evaluate where they were at."
Going back to where it all began for Aubusson, who hails from Ballina, the trip not only gave the youngsters an opportunity to don the Red, White and Blue for the first time in a long while, but also experience the sights of northern New South Wales.
Taking inspiration from Trent Robinson, Aubusson says that the experience will be invaluable for the teenagers, especially as they look to graduate through the Club’s ranks over the next few years.
We're hoping they can filter through our junior representative teams in the years to come and with those combinations, bring success all the way through.
Mitchell Aubusson Sydney Roosters Academy CEO
“It was more about learning The Roosters Way and building off what I’ve learned from what Robbo has brought in,” Aubusson said.
“When used to go on these camps, we’d train hard, play hard and do what we needed to on the field but then go and enjoy each other’s company off it.
“We wanted to offer a different experience for the boys. They had a full surfing lesson and they loved it. There were some guys who weren’t very comfortable in the water but by the end, they were standing up on their surfboards.
“It was also a chance to take these kids to a new place as well. A lot of them hadn’t been there before, they got to walk the streets of Byron and experience the cultural hub that it is.
“They didn’t know each other very well but by the end of the trip, they were connecting social media, exchanging numbers and contact info. They became really close and that’s very hard to do in such a short amount of time.
“We're hoping they can filter through our junior representative teams in the years to come and with those combinations, bring success all the way through. ”
As the CEO of the Club’s Academy Program, Aubusson predicts a bright future for the Roosters across all grades.
And while the side thrown together didn’t get the result against their more established opponents, the Premiership-winning hero who himself arrived at the Club as a teenager says that there were plenty of positives to come from the trip.
“First of all, the boys on the trip will feel comfortable with me, Ando and Jake being around the Club, and we'll get to monitor their progress over the next few years,” he said.
“There are some guys there who really earned the right to come into our Academy and Pathways programs which were really pleasing to see, and there are some highly talented guys in that age group.
“We played a Titans team that had been together for a long time, so our guys were up against the wall, but the result wasn’t an issue for us. We wanted to see how they played and handled adversity in a foreign place with the Roosters jersey on.
“We’ll see them come through our grades and hopefully in a few years play in the NRL.”
Former teammate and close mate Jake Friend has been earmarked as a Coach of the future.
After all, leading the Roosters to two Premierships and directing the side in the no.9 jersey for over a decade has put him in good stead, and according to the former utility, Friend is destined for success with the clipboard in hand.
“He’s a guy that demands respect,” he said of Friend.
“As a player when he spoke you listened. He did that for a number of years and so when the young boys see him deliver a message they really take it on.
“He’s a guy that’s done it all for our Club. He learned some lessons about the ins and outs of coaching for sure, and he’ll only get better over time.
“It was a really great step for him in his coaching career. He’s made for it.”
