Langer Cup grand final an all-Gold Coast affair
THE Gold Coast is guaranteed to be home to Queensland’s best schoolboy rugby league team in 2020 courtesy of a semi-final event dominated by the city’s top teams.
Palm Beach Currumbin and Keebra Park state high schools will clash in a mouth-watering title decider after they beat Ipswich and Wavell respectively on Wednesday.
A LEVI Jones hat-trick has launched Keebra Park into the Langer Cup schoolboys rugby league final with a 32-8 win over Wavell SHS.
Keebra vanquished the demons of its seven-try defeat to Wavell in Round 1 by holding the Brisbane school to just eight points in their semi-final rematch.
Keebra’s lethal left edge, starring Jones, second-rower Kobe Wood, centre Jahream Bula and chiming fullback Tuvalli Khan-Pereira dismantled the Cup’s top defensive side for four tries.
Right winger Trey Peni sealed the match in the 45th minute before Klese Haas rubbed salt in Wavell’s wounds with his 61st minute score to blow out the scoreline to 32-4.
Coach Glen Campbell said he was most impressed by how well Keebra Park executed its game plan.
“It’s been coming,” Campbell said. “We’ve seen through our season that we’ve played some very good football for short periods and then we drifted away. We have plenty of points in us and if we defend well … the plan is to do that again because we’re not coming to play second.”
Keebra’s all-out attack was on show from the start as a sweeping backline movement saw KhanPereira put Jones over for his first try in the 16th minute.
Wavell responded with a try to Junior Taungataua but it was rubbed out by the referee for an illegal strip.
Keebra marched upfield and scored with an identical movement, Khan-Pereira again passing to find Jones for space in the left hand corner in the 22nd minute.
Keebra’s Titans-contracted centre Bula broke through the line for a fine solo try to take his side into an 18-4 lead at the break.
Pressure was maintained into the second half when Jones crossed for his third, followed by tries on the right edge to Peni and Haas.
Two players were sent from the field in the final 10 minutes after a high tackle on Wavell sparked a fracas.