AIC First XV rugby: Most improved, hardworking players revealed
AIC First XV rugby: Who have been the competition’s most improved and most hardworking players this season? Revealed here.
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The AIC First XV schoolboy rugby competition will reach boiling point this weekend, with Ashgrove and St Laurence’s facing off.
Meanwhile, Iona and Villanova will butt horns in a bayside derby as St Peters look to hand Padua their first loss of the season.
And to celebrate the second last round of another brilliant season of footy, we name the most improved and most hardworking players of the year here.
MOST IMPROVED
Kyan Mitchell (Padua)
A sharp winger who played lower grades last year, Mitchell had a superb pre-season where his turn of speed and ability to apply feedback into his craft earned him a starting spot.
Callum and Aidan Rooney (Padua)
The front row brothers have been excellent all season, their big engines and technically sound games a big reason why Padua have done so well.
Harry Thomson (Ashgrove)
Originally selected in the Seconds, the flanker’s debut came as injury cover seven minutes into the Round 1 clash with Villanova.
He has picked up two Players Player awards for his high work rate and accuracy on both sides of the ball, and it wouldn’t come as a surprise to hear his name thrown around as Ashgrove’s sportsman of the year.
HOW ROUND 5 UNFOLDED, SUPER SUB STARS
Tobias Graham (Ashgrove)
Graham’s ability to keep his team moving forward has been a noticeable feature of Ashgrove’s play this season.
With a pinpoint kicking game featuring 50:22s and a strong running game, there is little wonder why Graham was recognised in the Queensland Reds under 18s combine.
Ned Dore and Tommy Nicholson (Iona)
With both of Iona’s lineout aces Ned Dore and Tommy Nicholson students turning 16 this year, the future looks bright when it comes to set-piece ascendancy.
Just 12 months ago, Dore and Nicholson were working hard to hold down regular starting positions in the 10As - now they are fixtures in the Iona 1st XV pack bringing freakish work ethic and capability to the forward unit.
Dore has stood tall in 2023 and has admirably filled the big shoes of injured skipper Jack Leo at No.8.
Campbell Rolfe (Iona)
Rolfe missed the 2022 season with a broken finger, but in 2023 he has progressively regained his mojo and has been among Iona’s best over the past fortnight.
A capable goalkicker, centre Rolfe is also a talented ballplayer and will get to tap into that skillet when he resumes his partnership with the hard running Will Lane against Villanova this Saturday.
Max Whitbourne (St Patrick’s)
A league player, Whitbourne has been an outstanding scrummager at loose head prop.
“Slowly getting the grips with the complexities of the game around the field,” St Patrick’s coach Jim Potts said about Whitbourne, who will be back for more next year with front row buddies Manaaki Bateman and Kian Nukuku.
Tarnah Ford-West (St Peters)
Moving from winger to flanker like Chandler (see below), Ford-West has taken everything in his stride and brought the energy each week.
RELATED LINKS
ROUND 4 AIC FIRST XV RUGBY TEAM OF THE WEEK
AIC ROUND 4: HOW YOUR SCHOOL WENT
Jack chandler (St Edmund’s)
Having played wing throughout juniors, Chandler decided it was time for a change.
And what a change it has been, the ball-hungry Eddie’s flanker taking out two Peter Daly medals this season.
Will be one to watch come term 3 when the rugby league season starts.
Jackson Moloney (Villanova)
A terrific leader, Moloney has stood up when Villa has needed him. His reward - selection in the Queensland 1 under 18s team.
Ben Addley (Villanova)
“Dedication to training, the work he has done in the gym and his conditioning has been outstanding.”
That’s what coach Eddie Harris had to say about Addley after a “season for the ages.”
Having tormented teams all year, the barnstorming Addley will be giving 110 per cent in his final two games in Villa colours.
Tom Jago and Tom Nadenic (St Laurence’s)
Jago and Nadenic put the hours in during the offseason and have made big jumps in their skillset and physicality.
Workhorses.
Oscar Hunter (St Laurence’s)
The openside flanker is a hybrid - one of the hardest workers in the team but also one of the most improved - having jumped from the Thirds.
He lived and breathed rugby and now the Laurie’s No.7 is the one leading the pack in fitness blocks.
HARDEST WORKERS
Larry Clark (Villanova)
Clark has been fine tuning his game, working on game management and communication.
He has the natural ability but it has been extra pleasing for coach Eddie Harris seeing how he has improved his control and management.
Hugo Harrison (Villanova)
Harrison put his head down and got to work with the goal of making Firsts in mind.
His skills, rugby IQ and game sense - all areas of vast improvement for the starting winger who has been a pleasure to watch.
Brock Powell (Padua)
Powell has led the way for Padua both on and off the field with his inspiring work rate.
George Noone (Padua)
A fit and agile hooker, Noone covers more ground than most.
Isaac Boal (Padua)
Boal is always on the move and he is always chatting. An excellent scramble and cover defender.
Hopo Leota and Adam Kelly (Iona)
The bulky frame of prop Hopo Leota can often be seen walking along Wynnum Road in the pre-dawn gloom on his way to the local gym.
Leota, working hard to regain full fitness following an early-season knee injury.
Along with teammate and fellow year 11 student Adam Kelly, Leota is regularly the first to arrive and the last to leave training sessions and is always looking to do extras.
Meanwhile Kelly has one speed – flat-out – and he is no different on the training paddock. No one at Lindum works harder than the diminutive Kelly, the flanker always looking for ways to not only improve but to become AIC’s best on-ball flanker.
Rylan Lock (St Laurence’s)
Every training session and every game he turns up and puts in the hard work.
The first to arrive and the last to leave, the Laurie’s skip leads by example.
Bailey Caplick (Ashgrove)
After suffering from illness in Round 1, Caplick has been a consistent performer each week for Ashgrove.
In jersey No. 3 he has been the cornerstone of a strong scrum and his tireless work around the field continues to improve.
Harry Condon (Ashgrove)
A third year 1st XV player, Condon’s improvement has been a credit to his own commitment to training and his desire to see the team achieve success.
Big for a half back, his level of fitness and quality of service has helped his side play at a high tempo.
He is in good company - with Ashgrove alum Jaz Day the last scrumhalf to wear a Rosalee jersey for three consecutive years.
Riley Horne (St Patrick’s)
He covers plenty of ground, and the gps trackers prove without fail that he is running the most and making those repeat efforts.
His consistency was rewarded with Queensland 1 under 18s team honours.
Connor Chalmers (St Peters)
A hooker whose contact in the collisions is unrivalled.
You would see his name atop the tackle count after a tireless 70 minutes of work.
Johnny Nona (St Peters)
A flanker, Nona is not unlike Chalmers with his work rate, consistency and tackling setting the tone for St Peters.
“Lifts in the second half,” according to coach Cameron Wright.
Jack Gleeson (St Edmund’s)
Gleeson has not missed one minute of First XV footy in two years and that’s even more impressive when you take into account his position of tighthead prop.
A pick and drive enthusiast with strong defence.
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