Aaron Payne Cup’s top tryscorers and Teams of the Season for each region revealed

After the biggest Aaron Payne Cup season in recent years, we’ve ranked every tryscorer and selected our Team of the Season for each region, as well as an overall APC dream team.

Jaxon Purdue (St Patrick’s), Cameron Nelson (Trinity Bay SHS) and Logan Brookes (Kirwan SHS) all featured in this masthead’s Aaron Payne Cup Team of the Season 2023.

It was a historic schoolboys season for St Patrick’s College, Mackay, who not only won the Aaron Payne Cup, but took it a step further by reaching the Phil Hall Cup state final for the first time in 23 years.

So it should come as no surprise that it was St Pat’s stars Jaxon Purdue and Bailey Anderson who topped the Payne Cup try-scoring charts with eight apiece.

And they continued their superb try-scoring form into the Phil Hall Cup semi-final against Emmaus College, where Anderson came up with a damaging hat-trick and Purdue found a way to cross the stripe again.

St Pat’s rugby league co-ordinator Chad Buckby was thrilled with the displays the pair produced throughout the season.

The influence of St Pat’s co-captain and Cowboys-contracted Purdue extended far beyond the tries he scored.

Jaxon Purdue at the Aaron Payne Cup 2023 Saint Patrick's College versus Ignatius Park College at Leprechaun Park Mackay Tuesday 30 May 2023 Picture: Michaela Harlow

“Jaxon was excellent, he took ownership of the games and really pulled the team along,” Buckby said.

“Whenever a big play was needed he was the man to step up with that, usually resulting in a try that was required at that time.

“He got us on the front foot and put us in a position to win.”

Buckby also spoke glowingly of his Melbourne Storm-contracted winger Anderson, who’s a strong finisher and positions himself exceptionally.

“As a winger he did his job out there finishing some really good inside work from the halves and the centres,” Buckby said.

“He scored a lot of good tries that still required him to do a bit of work to get to the tryline.

“Whenever he got an opportunity, even half an opportunity, he took that opportunity to score, which is what you want your wingers to do.

“He certainly gave us that momentum by scoring some pretty good tries and setting some up as well.”

Originally published as Aaron Payne Cup’s top tryscorers and Teams of the Season for each region revealed