The National Rugby League (NRL) and RLPA are pleased to announce Luke Keary and Shenae Ciesiolka as the winners of the 2023 NRL and NRLW Academic Player of the Year awards.
The awards have been announced as part of the NRL's Wellbeing & Education Awards, which acknowledge and celebrate the significant amount of dedication, commitment and effort NRL and NRLW players put in to their lives from the field.
The Academic Player of the Year Award is the pinnacle of those selected in the annual Academic Team of the Year, which incorporates current players from both the senior men's and women's competitions to help inspire and empower all rugby league players to further their education.
Research shows that engaging in career planning, further education and work experience helps players have longer and more successful playing careers, as well as a smoother transition to their post football career.
"What Luke and Shenae has achieved academically throughout their careers is amazing. They are proof that being engaged in career development away from the footy field will not detract from your ability to play rugby league at the highest levels," said Paul Heptonstall, NRL Senior Manager Wellbeing & Education.
"The RLPA congratulates Luke and Shenae as deserved recipients of the Academic Players of the Year Award, with both having demonstrated a longstanding commitment to education and their professional development," Jamie Buhrer RLPA Player Operations & Wellbeing Lead said.
"That each has managed to do so at such a high level, whilst excelling on the field, is further evidence that pursuing post-career development only elevates a players on-field performance and each are outstanding examples of this."
To know that I have gone out and done the work, put in the hours, had the conversations to give myself a head start means I have a little more confidence in myself and confidence I have achieved something outside the game and applied myself to something other than footy.
Luke Keary
Ciesiolka's qualifications for the award are a Bachelor of Education - PDHPE (University of Southern Queensland) while Keary's include a Master of Business Administration (University of New South Wales) and Bachelor of Business (Australian Catholic University) as well as Certificate IV's in Fitness and Small Business.
Post-secondary education engagement numbers continue to rise in 2023 with over 1,000 completed qualifications among the NRL and NRLW playing cohort, including 345 further qualifications in process as well as 102 university degrees.
More than 500 Certificate I to IV courses are either ongoing or completed – headlined by a high number of fitness and business courses – while over 100 accreditations, short courses and diplomas have also been achieved.
Finding the balance between sport and study is difficult but with good time management and dedication anyone can do it. I take comfort knowing that I have a post playing career sorted and look forward to becoming a schoolteacher when I complete my degree.
Shenae Ciesiolka
