One ‘More’ win on road to Suncorp Stadium
RUGBY LEAGUE: St Thomas More’s School is one step away from running out onto the hallowed turf of Suncorp Stadium.
On Monday, the school will head to Ipswich for their NRL Development Cup semi-final against Marymount State School.
A win would see them move into the final, and earn a spot before the Intrust Super Cup grand final at the home of the Brisbane Broncos and the Queensland Maroons.
“It would mean a lot,” coach Russell Fechner said.
“For a few of them football is their passion. They have NRL heroes, and even the children who weren’t footballers at first, they have their NRL heroes.
“To play at the same place as their heroes would be one of the greatest things for them.
“It would also be a great thing for their family and the school.
“We’re playing against schools with over 1000 students. We only normally have about 20 children to choose from, while some of the schools have 40 or 50.”
St Thomas More’s has gone through a rigorous path to get to the point they are at now.
It started back in May, with the junior boys coming out on top of 10 other schools at a gala day to claim the title of Toowoomba champions.
They then moved on to the Darling Downs phase, defeating schools from the Southern Downs, Inner Downs and Macintyre to keep their dreams alive.
Against South West opponents, St John’s Catholic School in Roma, the school recorded a resounding 34-0 victory, before taking down Metropolitan Easts’ Kruger State School to get to Monday’s semi-final.
With just a handful of players before their journey started a few months ago, the team has had to come together in a short time.
Fechner said this path and a strong team environment had put them in good stead to make a genuine run at further success.
“We really only had two weeks training before our first event,” he said. “They’ve come together as a group of boys who will do anything for each other on the field and sometimes off it.
“They work, show up on the field, make that extra tackle, encourage each other.
“Originally there was only four boys in the side who had played in a rugby league team or competition.
“So they had to combine with the other boys to learn the skills and teamwork.
“That’s probably the biggest attribute of this time, how they’ve gelled together as brothers in arms.”
‘‘ THEY’VE COME TOGETHER AS A GROUP OF BOYS WHO WILL DO ANYTHING FOR EACH OTHER ON THE FIELD AND SOMETIMES OFF IT. RUSSELL FECHNER