EPIC SEND-OFF FOR KIRWAN BEARS
THE Kirwan State High School Bears will know they have 2000 of their schoolmates behind them in tomorrow’s NRL Schools Cup national final.
The Kirwan High school community – the largest of its kind in Queensland – formed a full-school guard of honour for the Bears as they left Townsville for Sydney ahead of the national showdown with Westfields Sports High School.
Yesterday also marked four years to the day since Kirwan won its inaugural national title, and the current crop of Bears are confident they can achieve their own slice of history.
“It’s incredible what the school has done for these players, and it goes to show this isn’t just about a team of players but a whole school community,” Bears coach Todd Wilson said.
“They’re very excited and it’s great that we get to travel to Sydney on the Monday and have a couple of nights there before the big game.
“We want them to relax, enjoy the experience, and come game day they will be focused and ready to go.”
Kirwan reached the national final after beating Brisbane’s Marsden State High School in last week’s Queensland final.
They were nearly unstoppable in their 38-22 win, even though Kirwan gave away plenty of size to their much larger Marsden opponents.
But Kirwan face an even bigger challenge against Westfields, who finished at the top of a very large and quality New South Wales competition to earn their place in the decider.
Westfields beat Patrician Brothers, Blacktown, in last week’s NSW final 24-16.
Kirwan and Westfields have both won a national title, with Westfields winning their first and only crown in 2016 – one year after Kirwan.
“We’ll have to be very good defensively,” Wilson said.
“Westfields are a very big side and they also play a decent brand of footy.
“We’ll have a similar approach to how we played against Marsden; we completed at 88 per cent and on the back of that we played some good footy.
“If we can replicate that effort we’ll put ourselves in a very good position.”
Kirwan hooker Adrian Trevilyan said the Bears were prepared for their shot at the biggest prize in schoolboys rugby league.
“We’re coming off a good game, so we’re on a high and everyone’s got a lot of confidence,” he said.
“We’ll get in and rip in.
“We’re doing it for the Kirwan community and our coaches have always spoken about how we have to do it for our community.
“They’ve given so much to us, so we want to give something back.”
Kirwan fullback Steven Numambo – who has travelled to Sydney for the first time – said he was lost for words when it came to explaining the importance of coming back to Kirwan with the national title.
‘I can’t explain it … it means everything,” he said.