Kirwan State High School and Ignatius Park College rugby league dream teams: Best players

With more than 100 Origin games between them, the question comes down to this: Would the all-time greats of Kirwan beat the all-time greats of Iggy Park? SEE THE FULL TEAM LISTS

THE high school rugby league dream teams of Townsville’s Ignatius Park College and Kirwan State High are proof the Cowboys are sitting on a goldfield of NRL talent in their back yard.

Together the schools have produced some of Queensland’s greatest warriors in the State of Origin arena.

Their dream team starting XIIIs alone account for more than 100 matches for the Maroons and 3600 NRL games between them.

Kalyn Ponga, Kyle Feldt, Valentine Holmes, Danny Moore, Terry Butler, Michael Morgan and Scott Prince make an Ignatius Park backline composed entirely of Maroons representatives, with Coen Hess, Aidan Guerra and Chris Phelan the pick of the school’s forwards.

Rivals Kirwan count Maroons Sam Thaiday, Jacob Lillyman, Jeremiah Nanai and Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Kiwi internationals Jason Taumalolo, Brent Webb and Brandon Smith among the greatest to emerge from their school’s campus.

Cowboys football manager Micheal Luck, a Kirwan graduate who went on to play 226 NRL games for North Queensland and the Warriors, said the dream teams were a great advertisement for the quality in Townsville schoolboy rugby league.

“Both teams are littered with NRL and State of Origin experience. It says something about how much the schools put in to developing players and systems and talent,” said Luck, who was selected at lock in the Kirwan dream team.

“It’s great to see that being recognised, that all those guys came out of those nurseries.

“It’s a really great base for guys to start their rugby league journeys.

Rugby League: Why 2022 could be the best team in Ignatius Park College history

“The stronger your base, the pointier your pyramid is (at the NRL level) and both schools have done a great job over the last 20 years making sure that base of the pyramid is really strong.”

Kirwan coach Nathan Norford said one of the greatest endorsements of the impact his school had on its former players is their willingness to return to cheer on the next generation.

Jeremiah Nanai, Kirwan’s latest Queensland debutant, led a jersey presentation a few weeks ago.

“We congratulated him on his achievement and his first response was when was the next game because he wanted to come and watch,” Norford said.

THE RIVALRY

“It’s obviously a proud moment for our school to see how many people go on to have wonderful careers in rugby league, but to see the boys (come back), it means a lot to those who look up to them as well.

“It gives them something to strive for, to know that those players were once in the same position.”

Ignatius Park coach Steve Lansley believes it is the schools’ ability to teach students how to train effectively that sets them up for future success on both sides of the fence.

That, and the annual Iggy-Kirwan local derby, which offers students the first real rivalry of their footballing careers.

“It very much is that State of Origin feel,” Lansley said.

“We’ve grown but over the years there has always been a history with Kirwan.

“We don’t train during school hours, they study rugby league as a subject, so we feel that is a big advantage for them but we still stay competitive.

“We sort of feel like we’re Queensland playing against New South Wales because we’re always the underdogs and they have all the cards stacked in their favour but we always get up for it.”

Originally published as Kirwan State High School and Ignatius Park College rugby league dream teams: Best players