THE strength of junior rugby league in the Group 21 region was certainly underlined at the Newcastle Knights All Schools Knockout at McDonald Jones Stadium.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The annual competition, hosted by the NRL club, featured more than 140 primary outfits and in excess of 125 secondary squads over the past couple of months.
But, it all culminated with the prestigious grand finals this week.
And, schools from Aberdeen (St Joseph’s High), Scone (Scone Public, St Mary’s Primary) and Singleton (Singleton Heights) proudly flew the local flag.
In fact, St Joseph’s fielded four teams – under-13s, under-14s, under-15s and under-16s – in Tuesday’s deciders for the first time in history.
Unfortunately, only the St Joeys under-13s tasted success, however the rest of the sides were far from disgraced, according to the school’s rugby league coordinator, Royce Geoffrey.
“We’re thrilled for the boys – they played brilliantly,” he said.
“Just to make it to the deciders [in four divisions] is a terrific performance in itself.
“We’re very proud of everyone.”
The under-13s hammered St Joseph’s Lochinvar 38-0 to progress through to the All Schools Carnival in Sydney on Thursday, August 9, but the same opponent extracted revenge in the under-14s (24-10) and under-15s (26-6).
St Peter’s Maitland ruined the under-16s party, pipping the Aberdeen youngsters 18-12.
Twenty-four hours later, at the same venue, Scone Public School captured the open A division title, courtesy of a thrilling golden point victory, 10-6, over Valentine Public School.
There was no close result in the under-10 B division, with St Mary’s Scone trouncing Wiripaang Public School 38-0.
Talented youngster I Cameron, who scored two tries, was also named Player of the Match.
Singleton Heights Public School missed the spoils in the under-10 A division showdown, suffering a 24-12 loss to Valentine Public School.
Newcastle Knights All Schools Knockout
Open A division: Scone Public School 10 (W. Crompton, J. Smith tries; Crompton goal) defeated Valentine Public School 6 (C. McRae try; D. Smyth)
Player of the Match – J. Buchholz (Valentine Public School)
Under-10 A division: Valentine Public School 24 (C. Webb, W. Manning, W. Pittman, M. McBay tries; W. Pittman, Webb, T. Wolfenden, G. Bennett goals) defeated Singleton Heights Public School 12 (K. Baker 2 tries; Baker 2 goals)
Player of the Match – F. Murphy (Valentine Public School)
Under-10 B division: St Mary’s Scone 38 (K. Watts 2, B. Geerin 2, I. Cameron 2, R. Quinn tries; L. Rumsby, J. Hannaford, Watts, Geerin, C. Milton) defeated Wiripaang Public School 0
Player of the Match – I. Cameron (St Mary’s Scone)
Under-13s: St Joseph’s Aberdeen 38 (M. Trofymenko 3, B. Bateman, C. Dowell, A. Watts, R. Pennell tries; Watts 4 goals) defeated St Joseph’ Lochinvar 0
Man of the Match – M. Trofymenko
Under-14s: St Joseph’s Lochinvar 24 (M. Metcalf 2, T. Threadgate, B. Schmidhauser, N. Jennings tries; Metcalf, B. McNickle goals) defeated St Joseph’s Aberdeen 10 (C. Newman 2 tries; C. Newman goal)
Player of the Match – B. McNickle (St Joseph’s Lochinvar)
Under-15s: St Joseph’s Lochinvar 26 (D. Duffin 2, S. Walker, L. Crouch, K. Phelps tries; S. Kelly 3 goals) defeated St Joseph’s Aberdeen 6 (J. Pickett try; H. Schumaker goal)
Player of the Match – D. Duffin (St Joseph’s Lochinvar)
Under-16s: St Peter’s Maitland 18 (T. Cant 2, S. Robinson tries; Cant 3 goals) defeated St Joseph’s Aberdeen 12 (J. Pennell, F. Wilton-Haworth tries; B. Miller 2 goals)
Player of the Match – S. Robinson (St Peter’s Maitland)
