SCHOOLS SUCCESS
PBC SNARE CROWN
PALM Beach Currumbin have defied a Kirwan fightback to reclaim their status as Queensland’s premier rugby league school with a 32-26 win.
The NRL Schoolboy Cup state final at Langlands Park in Brisbane yesterday seesawed for most of the match before a pair of Reds tries looked set to be decisive, only for Kirwan to hit back twice inside the last five minutes to be in the hunt.
However, the Townsville school missed the conversion attempt to level the scores at 28-28 and then PBC winger Ryan Garner pounced on a Toby Sexton kick to put the title beyond doubt.
The win qualifies PBC for the national final against NSW winners Patrician Brothers next Wednesday at 1.30pm at Redcliffe’s Dolphin Stadium.
It will be the first time the showpiece fixture has been held north of the border.
PBC centre Will Evans compared the occasion to the under-16 State of Origin match last year in which he captained Queensland and said the pressure was noticeable when Kirwan were charging home.
“They put up a really good fight. We had a lot of nerves in the huddle when they had a couple of quick tries in the back end of the second half,” Evans said.
“We just had to have a chat about what we needed to do and muscle up and make sure we completed the whole 60 minutes.”
Evans scored two tries in a performance described by coach Aaron Zimmerle as “monumental”.
“It was him returning to the form that he had been in prior to doing his ACL a year ago. They just couldn’t handle him,” Zimmerle said.
Of his road back from that knee injury, Evans said: “I got back in nine months but it took a whole 12 or 13 months to feel fully natural again and be able to feel comfortable to properly step again.”
Reds halfback and captain Tom Dearden was named man of the match for the second consecutive game, leading a spine that was missing suspended fullback Glenn McGrady. Indiha Sao TuiHuta started at the back in McGrady’s place.
The team’s attention now turns to conquering Patrician Brothers, who defeated Westfields Sports High 34-20 in Sydney yesterday.
“Our biggest challenge is we have got to complete at a level that doesn’t allow a bigger side to monster us, and that’s what they are,” Zimmerle said.
“They are a very big, physical side. We have got to break them down through just drowning them with possession.”