Rugby League

Under 13’s Jackson English and Michael Gentle

This year, over 60 Eddies boys trialled for the Under 13’s rugby league teams. It is always rewarding coaching these teams as it is the first time a lot of the students have represented the College and there is a great sense of pride. After a trial at school the boys were selected into two teams and both teams got to play at the Central Coast gala day on the 20 May. It was great to be there whilst the boys got their jerseys for the first time.

Red Team: The boys played Kincumber High School first and had a decisive win. We were able to rotate the players and give players a chance to play in different positions. A standout for me in this game was Tom Smith who played outstanding on the day and was unstoppable! Our second game saw us come up against MacKillop Catholic College. From a mistake from the very first kick off the boys didn’t get their hands on the ball and after giving away several penalties MacKillop started to run away with the game scoring multiple times. The second half saw the boys hold onto the ball and gain momentum, however the damage had been done in the first half and the boys lost the game. Toa Paea was a standout in the game and really stood up to the challenge. Although the boys lost, they learnt a valuable lesson on resilience and character. Even though they were behind on the score board at half time they never gave up and were the better team in the second half.

Our last game we needed to win by a lot to give ourselves a chance of making the semi-finals. Our boys did not disappoint and after 24 min of game time they had scored 50 points against Terrigal High School. Nixon Lavin and Luca Dimech both had inspiring games and made clear line breaks. After playing three games the boys were lucky enough to make the finals. They were cheered on by the other St Edward’s team and although they all gave it their best the opposition were just too good.

Highlights for me would have to include the captaincy of Harrison Ryan. He showed great signs of leadership both on and off the field and he should be commended for his efforts. Secondly, it was great to see both teams supporting each other and sharing the pride in wearing the Black and Red. Each game the Eddies team that was not playing made a tunnel for the other Eddies team and cheered them on regardless of the score. Finally, it was great to see the passion amongst all the boys, from the trial to the training sessions, to the game.

Black Team: Annual reports are strange things and this sporting report on the Under 13 St Edward’s, rugby league “Black” team is no different. The report reflects on the season passed, one that included great excitement, hard fought wins, a disappointing loss and an interruption to not only the Rugby League season but also life as we know it.

Our season started in early Term 1 where trials were held for the Under 13 players. Lunch time training sessions in the lead up to the Central Coast All-Schools Tournament at Berkeley Vale in mid-May showed that the boys were committed and looking forward to representing the College for the first time.

On the morning of the Central Coast All-Schools Tournament, the boys were presented with their College socks for the first time. Mr Dell, a long time rugby league stalwart of the College, spoke to the boys about the honour and history that comes with playing for ‘Eddies’. He spoke about players past who have gone on to reach the highest of accolades whilst playing rugby league and that when you are on the field playing for ‘Eddies’, you ‘bleed Black and Red’.

Nerves about the opposition were quickly settled in game one and the boys went about their business with strong defence and attacking ball play to secure an easy win. Confidence was high in game two and the boys scored tries with ease. They were getting themselves ready for a win in game three to advance to the semi-finals. Unfortunately, the last game did not go to plan and the boys lost in a very close encounter. Ball control in the final minutes meant the difference between a win and loss.

A loss in the pool games meant that the boys had to rely on other games going their way if they wanted to advance into the semi-finals. The team waited patiently only to find out that they did not progress. At the completion of the day, spirits were high knowing that there were more games to play in the season. As we know, everything ended quicker than anticipated and all we can hope for is that when it’s time to play rugby league again we do so with fresh and grateful eyes. Congratulations to all the boys who came together to represent the College. It’s an absolute pleasure to be involved with such a fine group of young men.

Under 13’s Rugby League

Team Members Red Team: Luca Dimech, Harrison Fitler, Kobie Flanders, Taj Gooley, Zach Herring, Rhonan Hope, Nixon Lavin, Jaxon Macintosh, Brady Mackay, Jayden Moggs, Kallum Moggs, Toa Paea, Lachlan Park, Brendan Ratay, Max Roth, Harrison Ryan, Billy Sands, Tyrone Sayers

Black Team: Asher Armstrong, Ben Brown, Coby Diamond, Charlie Fennel, Hayden Fernley, Will Ferrari, Meihana Gardner, Reggie Gooley, Archie Hall, Coby Neilly, Luca Norris, Will McClelland, Ryley McIver, Lachlan Park, Brendan Ratay, Tahj Regattieri, Max Roth, Harry Rutherford, Cooper Smith, Oliver Staples, Kobi Straker, Ajay Yates

Rugby League

Under 14’s Joshua Mantellato and John Moloney

Central Coast Catholic Schools Rugby League Gala Day - College Oval

The opportunity to play in front of the school was enough motivation to get the boys up for a great day of Rugby League. The format for the day involved each team playing each other, with the winner being first past the post. The Under 14 winner would progress to the next round of the Cochrane Cup and the Central Coast All Schools Grand Final. The winner of the Open’s would also progress to the Central Coast All Schools Grand Final Day.

In the Under 14’s due to our abundance of footballers, we submitted two teams (Red and Black) to compete on the day. Both teams played four games each and showed the big crowd at the College what they had to offer.

Team Red went through the day undefeated and progressed through to the grand final to be held in Week 10. The final game of the day provided the College with the most highlights with Jay Clarke scoring two scorching tries down the right edge and Kieran Dafter also scoring a longrange solo try from within his own half. With the impressive leadership of Archer Mesritz and precise kicking game of Sam Flakus, the boys managed to win the final game of the day 28-0 in front of a vocal crowd to progress through to the grand final. Other special mentions for the day goes to Cameron Day, Oscar Mahoney, and Tyson Finn.

The Under 14 Black Team played their friends from the Red Team. The Reds are a very good side and managed to hold the ball for most of the game, winning 22 to nil. The Black Team tried very hard in defence. Unfortunately, a few errors were quite costly. The boys then played St Peter’s Catholic College, losing 6 nil and MacKillop Catholic College losing 12 nil. In both these games the Black Team improved out of sight. Their defence against St Peter’s who were consistently attacking our line was outstanding. We won the final game against St Brigid’s Catholic College on a forfeit as they had sustained a few injuries. Thank you to all the boys who represented the College. It was an enjoyable day, and your sportsmanship is to be commended.

Team Members Black Team: Tom Flynn, Nick Herkess-Thomas, Cooper Jones, Aidan Knott, Sam Logan, Blade Marquart, Brayden O’Leary, Caleb Peterson, Harry Robinson, Logan Treble, Cooper Wheelock, Declan Willmott, Ben Willoughby, Donovan Wright, Saxon Young

Red Team: Noah Best-Minto, Joshua Brown, Luke Cherub, Jay Clarke, Kieran Dafter, Cameron Day, Tyson Finn, Sam Flakus, Riley Gardner, Max Leaitua, Oscar Mahoney, Archer Mesritz, Brooklyn Roberts, Harper Turner, Ryley Turner, Kieran White, Deakin Wright

Rugby League

Under 14’s Red Team Joshua Mantellato

The Under 14’s Rugby League side played in the next round against St Joseph’s College, Lochinvar at Cessnock Sports Ground. The game began well for the boys scoring an early try through Jay Clarke which was converted by Sam Flakus. Lochinvar drew level 2 minutes later but our boys composed themselves and went into the halftime break with a handy 16-6 lead. The second half produced the same result with Jay Clarke claiming his hat-trick and Donovan Wright scoring a powerful try from 25 meters out. Other try scorers were Riley Turner and Kieran White. We finished with a convincing 32-12 win and progressed through to the next round to be played in Port Macquarie.

Under 15’s Tony Herringe

Annual Trial vs Patrician Brothers, Blacktown: The game began well for St Edward’s with great charges from the forwards and slick work from the backs. This gave our boys plenty of confidence, but Blacktown were not going to go away without a fight. As the game progressed Blacktown showed their great depth and began to dominate both on the field and the score board. The tough tackling from all players and organised attack was a feature of this highly entertaining contest. At full time St Edward’s narrowly won the game.

Central Coast Metro Cup: St Edward’s were successful in winning this competition and were due to go to Sydney and represent the Central Coast against the other winners from Sydney, unfortunately COVID put a stop to this.

Results from the Metro Cup: Game 1 St Edward’s College 12 - Northlakes High School 0 Game 2 St Edward’s College 6 - Terrigal High School 6 Game 3 St Edward’s College 18 - Brisbane Water High School 0 (Semi-final) Game 4 St Edward’s College 2 - Terrigal High School 0

This final was an amazing contest with awesome defence shown by both sides. The boys played some really good football on the day and are to be congratulated on their sportsmanship and the way they represented the College on and off the field. Special thanks to Mr Alex Rozario for his assistance and footy knowledge on the day.

Team Members Rex Allwood, Kory Botting, Sean Bullen, Harry Burgess, Cohen Crook, Harley Dimech, Harry Fennell, Jared Gilston, Cooper Grady, Matt Humphries, Kaelan Markey, Sam Nowalinski, Taj Oehm, Tevita Paea, Tom Roth, Zac Straker, Luther Thomas, Lachlan Tibbutt, Devonte Vaotuva

Rugby League

Under 16’s Jason Carpenter

Central Coast All School Carnival

On Thursday 27 May, the Under 16 Rugby League team headed to Erina Oval to contest the Central Coast All Schools Carnival. The team played pool games against Wadalba High School (winning 18-6), Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College (winning 14-10) and Northlakes High School (winning 22-4). A combination of great teamwork, and some fantastic individual play saw the team comfortably progress to the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, the boys came up against a determined Terrigal High School side with a few individuals we needed to contain. The team did a great job of this and ran away winners 22-4.

A big thank you to Lachlan Gibson who stepped in at the last minute to assist with the team.

Central Coast All Schools Grand Final

It did not take long for the boys to kick into gear. The nerves seemed to settle, and we started to make in-roads through the middle, led by Atticus and Malachi. From there we were able to attack their edges, with Aymn, Kieran and Tyrone taking advantage of the space and time created. Off the back of this we scored some great tries, going to the break leading 22-0. Kieran’s try off the kick-off was a highlight of the half.

At the break we spoke about continuing-on with the momentum we had created, pushing up through the middle and attacking their edges. And that was exactly what the team did. Mason Stafford took advantage of some early ball to score a couple of tries late in the half to extend our lead over Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College. Late in the half we had the luxury of resting a few players to back-up for the Open’s game later in the day. The boys ran out eventual winners 38-6.

The result sees them crowned Central Coast All School Champions. Unfortunately, this is the last game for the boys this year. With the restructuring of Schoolboy Rugby League – there is no further pathway competitions in the Under 16’s. Well done on a great season boys.

Team Members Harry Bates, Joe Bonham, Tom Breen, Leroy Carter-Mason, Ethan Cohen, Dylan Day, Kieran Diamond, Tyrone Dorrell, Atticus Fotofili, Lachlan Gibson, Callum Gilston, Aymn Hamilton, Jackson Herbert, Will Hodder, Jack Legge, Blaine McIntosh, Emmett Newlands, Malachi Smith, Zane Smith, Mason Stafford, Gabe Stuart

Opens Jason Carpenter

Central Coast Rugby League All Schools Grand Final

A number of changes and inclusions were made in the Open’s team in the days prior to the game. However, the one consistency was that the boys that came into the team, would do the College proud and play their part in the team, as needed.

What eventuated in this game was one of the better performances both Mr Beacroft and I, have seen from an Eddies team. Taking into consideration that we were unable to train in the lead up, it was remarkable how easily the new boys slipped into place and played their role.

The team was led by Tyler, who controlled the tempo of the game and the centre of the field, Owen, who added a touch of class in attack and controlled our field position and Beau, who chimed in all over the field when needed. The end result was a resounding win 42-0 against a Tuggerah Lakes Secondary College side boasting a quality team.

But the highlight of the day was the work of the unsung players who stepped in and did their work without fanfare. We had first timers, Jackson Ryan, Matt Smith, Jonty Clayton and Cruz Yarnold, who all answered the call-up and played really well individually and in their role in the team. Josh Attard, Lulu Paea, Tommo Peters, Toby Paterson and Ullysees Fotofili, who each had to step-up and play a more senior role for the team. And finally, Tyrone Dorrell, Kieran Diamond, Will Hodder and Atticus Fotofili, who each backed-up from the earlier U16’s game to play for us. The win saw us crowned as Central Coast All Schools Champions.

Team Members Josh Attard, Jonty Clayton, Kieran Diamond, Tyrone Dorrell, Owen Flaherty, Atticus Fotofili, Ullysees Fotofili, Will Hodder, Tyler Moriarty, Beau Newlands, Lulu Paea, Toby Paterson, Tommo Peters, Matt Smith, Nathanial Stanley, Gabe Stuart, Ben Taylor, Cruz Yarnold

Under 16 Rugby League Opens Rugby League