Brendan’s ace kicks school to Cup glory
NRL clubs might have missed the memo on St Brendan’s College captain Owen Pattie, but the 17-year-old has kicked his way to the top of their wish list.
With the Aaron Payne Cup on the line in the dying stages, the right boot of Pattie landed the defining blow against schoolboy rugby league juggernaut Kirwan High.
Pattie’s 35m field goal in the final five seconds broke the deadlock and handed St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon its first cup win in four years with a 19-18 victory.
It also broke the spirits of the Kirwan High side, who had fought for a slice of history after winning the past three cups.
The reigning state champions were in the fight until the final minutes, fighting their way back with a late try to barnstorming back-rower Mia Pua’avase. But it was not enough, with Pattie booting a massive field goal to seal victory.
The makeshift halfback, who took over the No.7 jersey this season, has not been signed to an NRL club yet but his coach Scott Minto is adamant that will change soon.
“He was unreal,” Minto said.
“He was good all the way through the game, he was a threat with the ball and he defended his a--e off.
“He has not put a foot wrong the whole year and he capped it all off with that field goal. He absolutely flushed it.”
Pattie refused to take all the praise for the glory, and
said his teammates would enjoy the win for a few days before getting “back to work” ahead of the Queensland Schoolboys state final on September 15.
“I didn’t really do much,” Pattie said. “It was a fair effort for all of the boys for the 60 minutes. I was just lucky enough to be the one to land that final field goal.
“It is the best connection as a group that I have felt at St
Brendan’s. It is not one of the best teams that has gone through the school in recent years, but us boys have played a lot of footy together and we are really close and we just believed.
“Scotty has really helped with that. We were the outcasts, we got told we weren’t capable of doing what we did. But Scott always had hopes for us and believed in us. We played for each other.”
Kirwan High coach Nathan Norford said his side could hold their heads high for staying in the fight until the dying minutes.
The Bears were left to rue crucial errors in the first half, including dropping the ball on the first tackle of both kick-offs after they had scored tries.
“The boys were disappointed they let one go, but St Brendan’s played grinding footy. They showed up and we just had crucial errors at crucial times,” Norford said.
“When you are trying to build pressure or build on the back of something good, they were momentum killers.
“It meant something to our boys, and they wanted to be part of it. They grinded their way back into it, but it took an outstanding play from (Pattie) to end it. It is a bit heartbreaking.”