Schoolboys’ classy clash
KIRWAN State High School and St Brendan’s College Yeppoon will leave nothing on the line as they play for North Queensland glory.
The two rugby league nurseries clash in this afternoon’s schoolboys decider at 1300SMILES Stadium, which also acts as a curtain-raiser for the NRL derby blockbuster between the Cowboys and Broncos.
Kirwan High goes into the grand final as North Queensland’s No. 1 school after losing just one game in the Aaron Payne Cup’s preliminary rounds, while St Brendan’s upset Townsville’s Ignatius Park College in the semi-finals to book their spot.
Adding to the occasion is the fact some Cowboys and Broncos stars playing in tonight’s NRL blockbuster once attended the two footy nurseries. Cowboys stars Jason Taumalolo, Gideon Gela-mosby (Kirwan), Matt Scott and Jake Granville (St Brendan’s) played for the schools, as did Broncos winger Corey Oates (St Brendan’s).
“This is the last time that schoolboys players will get to play on 1300SMILES Stadium,” said Kirwan coach Todd Wilson. “They will have memories to last a lifetime and it’s also a huge opportunity for them to do something special.
“It’s something all the players have been looking forward to and they’ll be making the most of it.”
Wilson said keeping a lid on St Brendan’s talented backline would be key in overcoming the central Queensland side, which showed tremendous determination to win their semi-final against Iggy Park.
“They’ve got a big, strong pack and we’ll need to control them first and foremost,” Wilson said.
“Their outside backs are strong runners of the ball so our kicking game will have to be strong to minimise their impact.”
St Brendan’s coach Terry Hansen, who is one of the true legends of North Queensland schoolboys footy, said it was crucial his team gained as much possession as possible.
“I just think we need to keep the ball in play and be as fast as we can,” he said.
“We want to try and move them around a bit.
“I guess you could say we don’t want to outmuscle them, we want to outsmart them.”
The winner of today’s final will be seeded as North Queensland’s top school in the nationwide schoolboys cup and play second-seeded south Queensland school Keebra Park, while the loser plays top-ranked south Queensland side Palm Beach Currumbin.
“This will be a great game of schoolboys footy, I’ve got no doubt about that,” Wilson said.
“We just hope people can watch and see how good schoolboys’ footy really is.”
Kick-off is at 5.25pm.