Brisbane schools have gatecrashed the boys’ Confraternity Shield finals with impressive wins
over competition heavyweights in today’s quarter-finals in Townsville.
Padua College, Kedron and Iona College, Lindum had not played a rugby league match this year, swapping over from their rugby union season for yesterday’s opening Confraternity Carnival pool matches.
Today Padua College outlasted The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 24-16 in a tough quarter-final while Iona College held out talented Marymount College 8-4 in the wet.
The Brisbane teams will meet in Thursday’s semi-final while the other “Confro” final qualifier
will feature two north Queensland arch rivals.
Host school Ignatius Park College put its foot down today, defeating Emmaus College,
Rockhampton 20-12 in their quarter-final. And St Patrick’s College, Mackay stunned
defending champions St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon with a 14-0 win.
The Confraternity Carnival is sponsored by CQ University and run by Queensland
Independent Secondary Schools rugby league. The Carnival features 52 boys’ teams and 12 girls’ teams and is played this year across six fields at Brothers Townsville Football Club and neighbouring Ryan Catholic College.
The Carnival’s graduates include some of Queensland’s football’s best-known players. The alumni from this year’s semi-finalists playing in tomorrow night’s men’s State of Origin clash include Lindsay Collins (Padua College), Daly Cherry-Evans (St Patrick’s College, Mackay) and Valentine Holmes (Ignatius Park College).
Padua College has history on its side as it aims to qualify for its first Shield final since 2005. Padua won the first Confraternity Shield final to be held in Townsville in 1997 when future Australian forward Dane Carlaw scored two tries in a victory over St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon.
This Padua squad has brought depth that can match the traditional heavyweights from further north in the state. The Padua spine features Bulldogs NRL signing Damon Humphrys at five-eighth, livewire fullback Jayden Solien and hard-working hooker Fynn Dalton.
They were excellent today as Padua stole a 12-0 lead before The Cathedral College began a comeback that brought it within two points. The match was in the balance before it finished as it began when Solien surged through a gap for a late try.
Padua coach Gary O’Brien said his team had played only a 20-minute trial match before its first competitive clash yesterday. O’Brien has prepared his team around Padua’s commitments in the Associated Independent College’s rugby union season in which the Kedron school were undefeated champions.
Iona College has endured a similar preparation under new coach Mat Cameron but it held its composure to surprise a Marymount College team that carried wounded high-profile players into the quarter-final. Iona is aiming for its first Shield final appearance.
Marymount and St Brendan’s College felt the pain of a quarter-finals draw that is known as “heartbreak Tuesday” as teams play their fourth match within two days, totalling 160 minutes of play for each team.
St Brendan’s diced with death too many times after their slick win over St Augustine’s to open their campaign. The defending champions needed a late penalty goal to draw with Marist College Ashgrove yesterday and they survived against Padua today when a try in the last minute was disallowed.
They ran out of chances against a St Patrick’s College, Mackay team that had flown under the radar after it lost to The Cathedral College yesterday. It’s the second consecutive year that a defending Shield champion has been knocked out of contention by Tuesday.
St Patrick’s College – the only semi-finalist to return from last year – will meet Ignatius Park College on Thursday in a match that promises to draw a strong crowd to Jack Manski Oval.
A total of 16 teams each contest the boys’ Divisions 1 and 2 while 20 teams are playing in
Division 3.
The Neil Bloxsidge Plate – the main prize for Division 2 teams – will feature semi-finalists from Columba Catholic College, Charters Towers, Marist College, Emerald, Aquinas College, Ashmore and Holy Spirit College, Mackay. Columba College, with only 19 Year 12 students across its school, is aiming to defend its title from last year.
The Division 3 quarter-finals will be played on Thursday morning and the semi-finals will be held later that afternoon.
Boys’ Day 2 results
DIVISION 1
Pool A
St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon 18 d Padua College, Kedron 16
Marist College, Ashgrove 12 d St Augustine’s College, Cairns 6
Pool B
Emmaus College, Rockhampton 20 d St Edmund’s College, Ipswich 6
Iona College, Lindum 16 d St Mary’s College, Toowoomba 14
Pool C
Ignatius Park College, Townsville 34 d Shalom College, Bundaberg 0
Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 26 St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe 0
Pool D
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 12 d Rockhampton Grammar School 0
The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 22 d St Peter Claver College, Riverview 6
Shield quarter-finals
Padua College, Kedron 24 d The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 16
Iona College, Lindum 8 d Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 4
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 14 d St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon 0
Ignatius Park College, Townsville 20 d Emmaus College, Rockhampton 12
Bob Lindner Trophy quarter-finals
St Mary’s College, Toowoomba 16 d St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe 14
Marist College, Ashgrove 12 d St Peter Claver College, Riverview 0
St Augustine’s College, Cairns 24 d Rockhampton Grammar School 10
Shalom College, Bundaberg 20 d St Edmund’s College, Ipswich 0
DIVISION 2
Pool A
Columba Catholic College, Charters Towers 8 d St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 6
Marist College, Emerald 8 d Villanova College, Coorparoo 4
Pool B
St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane 18 d St Michael’s College, Merrimac 4
Holy Spirit College, Mackay 22 d Blackheath and Thornburgh College, Charters Towers 18
Pool C
St Columban’s College, Caboolture 14 d Clairvaux MacKillop College, Mt Gravatt 0
St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie 20 d Aquinas College, Ashmore 12
Pool D
Assumption College, Warwick 28 d St Thomas More College, Sunnybank 6
All Souls St Gabriel’s College, Charters Towers 32 d Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, Dalby 0
Neil Bloxsidge Plate quarter-finals
Columba Catholic College, Charters Towers 26 d Assumption College, Warwick 6
Marist College, Emerald 12 d All Souls St Gabriel’s College, Charters Towers 10
Aquinas College, Ashmore 10 d St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane 0
Holy Spirit College, Mackay 16 d St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie 12
Confraternity Bowl
Villanova College, Coorparoo 24 d St Thomas More College, Sunnybank 10
Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, Dalby 14 d St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 4
Clairvaux MacKillop College, Mt Gravatt 22 d Blackheath and Thornburgh College, Charters Towers 0
St Columban’s College, Caboolture 38 d St Michael’s College, Merrimac 4
DIVISION 3
Pool A
St James’ College, Spring Hill 30 d Trinity College, Beenleigh 6
Chanel College, Gladstone 16 d Ryan Catholic College, Townsville 4
Pool B
Chisholm Catholic College, Cornubia 10 d St John’s College, Nambour 4
Xavier Catholic College, Hervey Bay 24 d Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham 4
Pool C
St Mary’s Catholic College, Woree 12 d St Patrick’s College, Gympie 10
Southern Cross Catholic College, Townsville 28 d Emmaus College, Jimboomba 0
Pool D
Good Shepherd College, Mount Isa 16 d St Anthony’s College, Townsville 12
Mt Maria College, Mitchelton 18 d St Augustine’s College, Augustine Heights 0
Pool E
McAuley College, Beaudesert 16 d St John’s School, Roma 0
Unity College, Caloundra West 8 d Faith Lutheran College, Plainland 0
Division 3 quarter-finals to begin on Thursday.
