After attending school at St Gregory's Campbelltown, the Maitland-raised White played for Eastwood before making his Super Rugby debut for the Brumbies in 2011.

Johnson-Holmes, an Australian schoolboy at Merewether High School, joined Sydney University and graduated to the Waratahs through the Gen Blue program.

The Hunter Wildfires want to ensure the next White or Johnson-Holmes can stay at home and get the same opportunity and level of development.

The Wildfires academy, which is headed by former Rugby Australia Sevens recruitment manager Hugh Carpenter and is being run in conjunction with the NSW Waratahs, is aimed at bridging the gap.

"Being a bush kid, my only opportunity was to chase footy in Sydney," said Carpenter, who grew up in the Central West town of Trangie and played for Sydney University. "The Wildfires are giving regional kids a choice now. I have coached Harry [Johnson Holmes]. He was fortunate that he got into one of the high performance programs and he was away.

"We are talking to kids who don't have a name for themselves and want to give it a crack. We want to help them develop into the best player they can be. Country kids are resilient and tough. They just need an opportunity and be given the tools to succeed."

Response to the academy program, which starts on November 1 and is aimed at players aged 17-19, has been strong with close to 100 applicants.

"The first week will be testing and we will start to get into skills from there," Carpernter said. "We won't do anything team-wise until the end of January. It will all be about refining their core skills. We will work out who is who in the zoo and, by the end of January, we will identify a squad of 40."

That squad will form the basis of the Wildfires colts team to compete in the Shute Shield.

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"The more talented and possibly older kids will be in the colts academy. There are a lot of under-18 boys who have applied and they will be placed in an emerging group. We don't want to discourage anyone. It will be good for the development of the game in the region. The boys who don't end up playing colts will filter back to their clubs and hopefully make them stronger. The local clubs have been fantastic and helped identity kids who would benefit from the program. We have also had interest from kids in places like Coffs Harbour, Quirindi, Gunnedah."

The academy will be based at Newcastle University, where the Wildfires senior grades also train.

"We are one big family," Carpenter said. "The programming - the skills, any of the testing and gym work - will mirror what the grade players are undertaking."

The academy and colts programs, as well potentially developing players for higher honours, will also lessen the Wildfires' need to recruit senior players.

"We are working closely with our juniors to create that pathway," Wildfires first grade coach Scott Coleman said. "We will start to see the fruits in three years and hopefully after five years we will be nearly self sufficient."

Coleman said Carpenter's position - head of colts and pathways - would expand.

"His focus for now is developing the colts program," Coleman said. "Eventually we want to steer him into coach mentoring and working with the local clubs as well as our pathways and high performance.

"He will be for us what Garth Brennan is for the Newcastle Knights. His resume and history speak volumes. He has spent the past seven years in the Rugby Australia high performance space. Straight away, he gives our colts program credibility and will lift the bar."

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