Leaders of their pack
IT almost appeared inevitable that regional Queensueensland’s premier schoolboy olboy competition would be lost to the scrapheap this year, ear, but the determination of rugby league’s next genereration could not be denied. d.
Now with the Aaron on Payne Cup kicking off this week, the Townsville Bulletin has uncovered each team’s talisman player.
They are the game breakers, the heads-up players, ayers, who will be key to their school hoisting the cup at the end of the tournament.
JEREMIAH NANAI
THE bulldozing secondrower was explosive for the Kirwan High Bears in their charge to the National Schoolboys Cup last year, and now he has a chance to lead from the front.
The quiet and respectful forward has built a reputation in rugby league circles for his pace and power off the mark.
With a changing of the guard at Kirwan High, it will be up to Nanai to take on a leadership role to guide the exciting crop of 16-year-olds making their step up to the open ranks, and they couldn’t have a better role model.
While he breaks the game on the field, Nanai admits his best work is done off it. Much like his idol Sonny Bill Williams, the young Cairns product builds his success off his core values.
“Respecting everyone and discipline are big ones for me,” he said. “Footy has taught me to keep putting in the hard work.”
TOBY THORBURN
WHAT he might lack in height and size, Thorburn more than makes up for in determination.
The St Pat’s captain is a bulldog in behind the ruck, with an extraordinary defensive workrate in the middle third of the field.
But it is his ability to spark his side’s attack that is crucial to its success.
Thorburn has a sharp turn of foot that is reminiscent of NSW Blues hooker Damien Cook, and has an innate ability to spy a gap in the defence.
He will be under a cloud for the opening round of the tournament after leaving the field with concussion in the second half of the side’s qualifier win.
TREY VALENTINE
THERE is a lot of pent up frustration at Ignatius Park College as it prepares to right the wrongs of its 2019 Aaron Payne Cup campaign.
And that fire does not burn any brighter than in the pit of Trey Valentine’s stomach.
The 17-year-old lock doubled down on his training work during the COVID-19 pandemic, putting any spare minute into a tackling bag. While he is not the biggest or fastest of the Iggy Park forward pack, he hits the hardest. Valentine has a tackling technique to rival the best hitters in the NRL, and when he comes out of the line there is a trust across his squad that the play is about to stop.
PAYTON JENKINS
If it gets to the final tackle expect the ball to be in Payton Jenkins’s hands.
The St Brendan’s halfback possesses one of the best kicking games across Schoolboys rugby league, and his ability to create pressure and keep a side in its own end is key to his team’s success.
Jenkins was part of the St Brendan’s outfit that made the Aaron Payne Cup final against Kirwan High last year, and has assumed more responsibility in the off-season after coach Scott Minto named him captain.
The crafty halfback has been signed to the Melbourne Storm on a pathways contract for several years.
RILEY BOAZA
A nuggety middle forward, what Boaza lacks in height he more than makes up for in punch.
The front rower loves the heat of the battle. He has been known to let his emotions fly on the football field and it only makes him harder to stop for opposition teams.
Boaza has the ability to punch holes in the defensive line, but his best asset is the quick play-the-ball to help pile on the momentum.
He made his debut for the Capras in the under-20s competition as a 17-year-old last season which only exemplifies the size of the heart in the stocky prop.
The front rower will be a co-captain for the Cathedral College and coach Mick Busby expects his young charge to take on most of the talk on the field.
“He gets fired up and he will stand his ground and that is what makes him a good leader,” Busby said.
HENRI STOCKS
A QUEENSLAND representative halfback, Stocks will be the key to Mackay’s rise up the Aaron Payne Cup rankings.
The Brothers junior is one of the hardest men to tackle across regional Queensland with elusive footwork at the line, but it is his work behind the line that is crucial for his school.
While he isn’t the loudest voice on the park, Stocks is the one that his teammates listen to as he keeps his troops on the same page and moving in the same direction.
All of their set plays run through the powerful halfback and he wouldn’t have it any other way.