Teens set for Cup challenge

A squad of 18 players selected from across the Pilbara will travel to Sydney this weekend to take park in the national Harmony Cup, an annual event which aims to develop an appreciation for cultural diversity within rugby league and the wider community.

The under-16s team is the only WA side set to compete in the youth competition, which features 15 other teams from New South Wales and Queensland.

Teams are heritage based and include sides with players from New Zealand, Tonga, Africa, Italy, Malta, Samoa and indigenous Australia.

Pilbara NRL development officer Chris Newman said it was the second year the league had competed in the round robin tournament, which provided valuable exposure to Eastern States talent scouts.

"Last year (the team) didn't know what to expect going to the rugby league heartland - we finished 12th out of 16 teams," Mr Newman said.

"They were competitive and certainly didn't give up, but this year there seems to be a different vibe, the boys are more focused."

Mr Newman said about 90 per cent of the 2014 squad competed in last year's tournament.

"You can see they are training harder, even outside their regular training the boys are doing a lot of extra stuff," he said.

"We are doing rehab and video sessions and all that little stuff in preparation that goes unnoticed in games, rather than just the game itself, to give them that experience and education."

Players and supporters spent more than three months raising $50,000 to cover the cost of the trip.