AIC First XIII rugby league’s top 13 players of the week revealed for Round 1
A Newcastle Knights signed fullback, a Year 10 star and a hat-trick hero were among the first players picked in our AIC rugby league top players for the opening round. SEE THE LIST
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A Newcastle Knights signed fullback, a Year 10 and a hat-trick hero were among the first players picked in our AIC Rugby League round 1 players of the week list.
Iona College, led by Year 10 Jack Pascoe, avenged their one-point loss to Villanova during the rugby union season, with a dominant 34-4 victory in the local derby.
All the while St Edmund’s College and St Laurence’s College earned their spot in the winner’s circle with convincing wins over St Patrick’s College and Marist College Ashgrove.
Game 1: IONA 34 def VILLA 4
Iona proved to be a tough opponent for Villanova in the opening round of the AIC Rugby League Competition.
The Villa boys were on top at times but simple errors coupled with fatigue in the final minutes allowed Iona to capitalise and get the win.
Iona were able to take their chances early and opened up the scoring through some rattled defenders around the ruck. Villa proved that they can score points after applying pressure to Iona’s defence through repeat sets late in the second half, however the boys in black and white had too much firepower.
Iona College top performances:
Jack Pascoe:
Pascoe, a Year 10 student who was making his AIC First XIII debut, had a cracking performance.
He plays several positions but did his best work playing as middle forward for Iona on Saturday with his footwork, speed and skill making him very dangerous against tired forwards.
Evanda Tofilau
Iona lock Evanda Tofilau was impressive as a strong defender and smart player, who tips on at the right times.
Jeremy Trappett
Star rugby league talent Jeremy Trappett was back in Iona colours after missing the Confraternity Carnival.
At fullback, Trappett gave the backline added confidence with the halves really benefiting from his presence, coming together to defeat Villanova convincingly.
Villanova College top performances
Caden Griffiths and Larry Clark
Both players went above and beyond defensively. Although they are not the biggest players on the paddock, they worked hard the entire match making an enormous amount of tackles and leading the Villa side in defence.
Cam Bukowski
Bukowski proved to be dangerous when he had his hands on the ball but Iona was too strong in the opening game of the season.
Game 2: SEC 26 def SPC 6
Round 1 of the AIC Rugby League saw St Patrick’s College take on St Edmund’s College at host college, Villanova.
The SPC team prepared well over the last two weeks and were looking for improved effort in marker work, defence decisions, and consistency in their attack.
They achieved both in a very fast first half.
SPC had the hard task of facing a very good SEC team, who only just missed the rugby union premiership.
After leading 6-4 at the break, SEC were able to capitalise on turnovers to win 26-6 in the end.
St Edmund’s College top performances
Tafito Falaniko Ah-Ki
Falaniko is an interchange forward, who played lock and hooker on Saturday and the star rugby union halfback was damaging in both positions.
His footwork and speed around the ruck proved too much for a big SPC forward pack as he finished with four line breaks and two tries.
Regan Payne
Payne, the team's vice-captain, played the full 60 minutes and was relentless on both sides of the ball with his wrestling and control of the play-the-ball being unmatched.
Payne also ran a hard line for his team’s first try of the game.
St Patrick’s College top performances
Ethan Travers, Samuel Condon, and Dean Laws were excellent for SPC with their workloads and effort around the paddock.
“We look forward to training this week and continuing to improve all our effort areas for our Round 2 game against Iona College,” Patties’ rugby league coach, Brian Polich, said.
Game 3: SLC 38 def ASH 10
“We were definitely happy with our performance with a lot of credit going to the young men for their preparation leading into the big clash,” St Laurence’s College coach Paul Boase said.
“This year we have a plethora of players to choose from which brings out the healthy competition amongst the young men for positions in the Firsts team.
“This competition helped to field a strong and competitive team that beat Ashgrove for the first time in 71 Years (for rugby league).”
St Laurence’s College top performances
Calum Reidy
Ready, the co-captain and hooker, leads from the front with everything he does on the field with his defence through the middle on the weekend against a large Ashgrove pack, which went a long way to reducing Ashgrove to 10 points.
His relentless effort gave the players around him confidence, which showed in attack.
Joe Nadenic
Nadenic, the co-captain and second rower, showed his class on the weekend with his barnstorming runs down the left edge of the field and crushing defence.
He continually shut down any chance Ashgrove had in attack with line speed and dominant defence with his hard lines in attack also helping set up numerous tries.
Harri Armstrong
Armstrong is the only Year 10 player in the St Laurence’s College side and is still learning the game but on the weekend, he showed how far he has come and what an asset he is going to be in his team.
With his AFL background, he was able to dismantle any kick Ashgrove tried to throw at him with a barnstorming return, which made him very hard to contain and also established him as a player to watch in the coming weeks.
Mikael Ibrahim
Ibrahim has freshened up from a long union season to be a player to look out for in the coming weeks. following a three-try feast in the opening round.
Marist College Ashgrove top performances
Jack Billing
Billing, who plays lock, is better known around the place as Pat Carrigan’s cousin, or little brother to the up-and-coming Canberra Raider, Josh Billing.
But over the past two years playing at Ashgrove, Billing has made a name for himself as a hit man in defence.
Despite being on the lighter side for a modern-day lock at just 87kg, Billing is all heart and plays well above his weight with his tireless work in defence and little regard for his body.
Connor Lyons
Lyons, Ashgrove’s captain, leads by example in every case with his effort and commitment to the team always on display through his involvement in every set of six.
The Year 12 five-eighth, heralding from near Charters Towers, has brought a tough relentless attitude to the Ashgrove team.
Dan Witt
Witt has been a revelation this year after being unheralded and unknown last year, the left centre has stood up as a defensive weapon, who troubles the opposition with swift footwork and enthusiasm.
Witt was rewarded for his application and effort by being named the Marist College Ashgrove player of the Confraternity Shield, held in Mackay in June.
AIC Rugby League Round 2 draw:
SPC v IONA
PADUA v SLC
ASH v SEC
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