Apprentice Jayden Robertson has recently returned from a rugby tour of Africa
Have you ever had to take ‘international representative leave' from work?
CS Energy’s second-year fitter and turner apprentice Jayden Robertson has!
Based at Callide Power Station, Jayden has recently returned from Africa where he toured South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia as part of the Queensland Outback Barbarians rugby team.
The Outback Barbarians is an invitational touring side, and Jayden received the call in late 2024 from the selection team asking if he would take part in the African tour.
“I was recommended by the Queensland Country reps after I made the Queensland Country Colts team earlier in the year,” Jayden said.
Born in South Africa and raised in Australia, Jayden relished the opportunity he was given.
“Having the chance to take my rugby to an international level was incredible, and it’s something I’ve wanted for a long time,” he said.
“And I’ve always said I would love to go back to South Africa and play rugby in front of family, so getting that opportunity was amazing,” he said.
“There were a lot of great things that came from this tour, and a lot of new experiences as well, but those two stand out.”
Jayden started playing rugby when he was four years old and has been involved in the sport ever since.
“The thing that draws me to rugby, other than the playing, is the comradery and community that get behind the sport itself,” Jayden said.
“People around the sport are always so welcoming and passionate about what they do, you never feel out of place.
“This really stood out on the tour as well; they live and breathe rugby in Africa, and each venue we played at and places we visited, the people were so welcoming.”
Adaptability on the field, and on the tools
A key skill Jayden will be bringing back to the workplace from the tour is adaptability.
“Playing in a different country, in a different altitude, and having people from completely different parts of the world around us made us quickly realise we had to be able to work with what we had and adjust our game to still come out with good results,” he said.
“As an apprentice at Callide, we switch roles often and are regularly exposed to different types of work and parts of the plant.
“So, something as simple as adaptability – being able to make the right decision based on what’s presented to me, even if it’s not in an ideal manner – is a valuable skill and mindset to have in order to be able to work around any issues that may arise, to ensure the quality of the work.”
A special part of the tour was a training clinic held at a local school in Zambia during one of the team's days off. "The interactions we had with the African communities was a big eye opener," Jayden said. "I found this to be to be pretty special because in these smaller communities, the locals don't really have a lot, and as we were handing out some of the gear we took with us, seeing how grateful they are for what they have was pretty cool."
Support key to achievement
Jayden juggled work, TAFE, and other local commitments for months while training for the tour, with his training plan fitting in amongst everything else.
“Luckily, our coach made it achievable, and we had different alterations to the training, and he also made himself available to talk to if need be.
“The support from CS Energy was also incredible. When I approached them about this opportunity, and that I’d be away from work for a couple of weeks, they made sure I was informed of all my leave options, and gave me a few days of ‘international representative’ special leave to help with the time off work.
“It was so good to feel that company support at an individual level.”
