THE NRL Rookie dream for Reece Maughan is over after one episode of the new television show.

Debuting last night on Channel GO, the Eastern Suburbs captain was one of 28 rookies chosen to compete on the show that offers the winner a contract with an NRL club.

By the end of the first episode though, that halved to 14 remaining rookies with Maughan missing the cut.

SHOW RECAP:

The series started at the home of the NRL - Allianz Stadium - where the rookies were introduced to host Erin Molan and coach Brad Fittler.

From there the 28 hopefuls were taken to Moore Park where they were given their first challenge in the competition.

Up a hill, 60m in length, the rookies were teamed up in groups and forced to run up and down the park for 60 minutes to test their endurance.

As some struggled in the gruelling task, others shined as they aided their team-mates to push through the pain barrier.

Maughan handled the task better than most of the other competitors and didn't harm his chances as they headed into the second challenge the following day.

Heading to Pepper Stadium - home of the Penrith Panthers - the rookies were split into teams of nine where they played 27 minutes of league against each other.

Told to leave nothing on the table, the players did just that as there were plenty of hard hits and wonderful moments of individual brilliance.

There were also plenty of injuries as some of the competitors had their dreams shattered in a split second.

Once that was completed the coaches - Fittler, Mark Geyer and Adrian Lam - had a tough decision to halve the playing stock as they headed to their War Room to discuss the week's challenges.

They did that but unfortunately for Bundaberg, Maughan wasn't one of them.

Thankfully though he did receive plenty of airtime and also put his club Easts on the national spotlight.

He also said at the end of the show that life goes on and he will find another pathway to the NRL. 

The show will continue for the next nine weeks to determine the winner. 

The NewsMail will speak to Reece later today to talk about his experience as well.

More to come.