BRILLIANT BEARS TRIUMPH
KIRWAN State High School will play for its second NRL Schoolboys Cup title after thumping Brisbane’s Marsden State High School 38-22 in yesterday’s Queensland final.
The Bears will now play Westfields Sport High School in the national final in Sydney next Wednesday after a performance that was too good for southeast Queensland’s top-ranked rugby league school.
The Bears – who were missing four star players through injury – won their fourth state final following their victories in 1996, 1998 and 2015.
Kirwan led 12-6 at halftime following a highly physical upfront battle, but it was a four-try blitz after halftime that sealed the Bears’ brilliant win.
Jeremiah Nanai, Jesse Yallop, Clay George and Bradley Schneider all found the tryline on the back of some champagne football to make it 32-6, with Marsden barely getting a touch of the ball for 15 minutes
Marsden, whose many fans were left stunned by Kirwan’s onslaught, muscled their way over for a try with 10 minutes remaining to give their supporters some hope, but Kirwan all but iced the contest with a try from Tyreece Woods six minutes from time.
Marsden still had a point to prove in the dying stages, however, and scored two late tries from TC Robati to make their losing margin more respectable.
“We had to hang in defensively in the early stages,” Kirwan coach Todd Wilson said. “We went through a tough time and we had to hang in for each other, and Marsden did get a try, but we knew if we controlled possession we could create opportunities.
“We didn’t expect to score as much as we did, but once we got possession we made the most of it.”
Kirwan started on the back foot early after Marsden scored first through hooker Ezra Teuila to make it 6-0, but Kirwan hit back with two unanswered tries to make it 12-6 at halftime.
The Bears got their first through Tyrone Gunn-james who barged over the tryline, and George got their second about five minutes before the break with a similarly powerful effort. Making Kirwan’s win more impressive is the fact Marsden were rated as one of the stronger teams in this year’s schoolboys competition.
They proved their mettle with a one-point win over defending national champions Palm Beach Currumbin in the Queensland semi-finals. “It’s important for the boys to enjoy this, it’s a magnificent achievement to win a state final,” Wilson said. “But by Friday we will be back to business.”
Kirwan won the Aaron Payne Cup final against Ignatius Park to be ranked as North Queensland’s top open rugby league school, and beat Wavell State High School in state semi-finals 28-12 to book their place in the state decider.
KIRWAN STATE HIGH SCHOOL 38 (George 2, GunnJames, J Nanai, Schneider, Woods, Yallop tries; Schneider 5 goals) def MARSDEN STATE HIGH SCHOOL 22 (Robati 2, Evans, Teuila tries; Tu’ua 3 goals)