Langer Trophy’s magic moments of this decade
Langer Trophy flashback: Here’s 25 golden moments of the decade - so far - as we prepare for a round 7 live stream bonanza on Wednesday.
Live Stream
Don't miss out on the headlines from Live Stream. Followed categories will be added to My News.
What have been some of the golden moments of the Langer Trophy competition this season?
Here we name 25 magic occasions across the last four seasons as the competition storms toward round 7 on Wednesday - and then the finals beyond.
Watch all four Langer games - and four Walters Cup fixtures - live here at www.couriermail.com.au, the Gold Coast Bulletin and News Corp affiliates.
WATCH LANGER, WALTERS WEDNESDAY LIVE STREAMS HERE
MABEL PARK SHS V KEEBRA PARK SHS
HERE’S SOME MAGIC MOMENTS
Keano Kini’s try
Round 1, 2022, Palm Beach Currumbin SHS v Marsden SHS at Marsden. Midway through the first half Kini decides to run from 45m out. He steps, his power, his leg speed and acceleration drive him forward. He steps again and off he goes on a sensational solo try. It was like watching an NRL player playing among schoolboys - and it kind of was. This year he made his NRL debut.
That Alex Leapai and Jury Taewa were okay
For several minutes the crowd at Marsden SHS last Wednesday held their breath as Mabel Park’s Alex Leapai lay in the arms of trainer Duncan Armstrong after a huge kick-off collision with Marsden prop Jury Taewa. Jury Taewa was up and walking but was Leapai okay? Prayers were answered as the big bloke started to recover from the impact of the hit he put on Taewa. There has been no better moment in the Langer Trophy than seeing both boys were okay.
RELATED LINKS
PLAYERS OF THE DAY - PBC v KEEBRA
MOST IMPROVED LANGER PLAYERS REVEALED
Karl Oloapu try
Speaking of NRL players, Wavell SHS’s 2022 five-eight scored his own sensational solo try last year. Oloapu, who would go on to play NRL for Canterbury this season, was thrown a pass about 20m from the line.
Surprisingly he fumbled the ball backwards, with the ball rolling 10m behind him.
He ran back, picked up the ball and stopped for a second before stepping and accelerating 30m through the defence to score. It was very special.
Will Semu’s resurrection
In 2021 Will Semu burst into the Langer Trophy side for Marsden SHS as a Year 10 student. He was a rookie on the rise.
But later that year he sustained a sickening head knock which finished his season, but also affected his confidence for last season. In 2022 he was a shadow of that impressive young centre, but in 2023 he bounced back hard, making the Queensland schoolboys side and looking every bit back on track. It has been a great comeback.
Arama Hau’s coming of age
When Keebra Park SHS coach Peter Norman named Hau as his captain last season, people raised their eyebrows.
We all knew Hau was a promising player, but did he have the temperament to be a captain? Did he what.
RELATED LINKS
It was a master stroke by Keebra Park coach Norman.
Hau was not only exemplary as a leader, he was one of two elite forwards in the competition - the other was Ipswich SHS’s Josiah Pahulu - a superb running No.13 who made the Australian schoolboys side.
Josiah Pahulu’s try
Pahulu was absolutely magnificent in leading Ipswich SHS through its unbeaten 2022 season. Playing prop or No.13, he was a mini Reuben Cotter (Cowboys fame) with his energy, leg drive, fitness and desire.
What a player. And he used all those attributes to score a vital try in last year’s Langer grand final against PBC SHS, surging over to score under the posts behind running to the fence in celebration where he was engulfed by Ipswich SHS supporters. It was a moment in time for that community.
Bula on the burst at Langlands Park
The NRL world knows about him now, but Langer followers knew of Jahream Bula’s (Keebra Park SHS) skills long before.
A long striding athlete, he scored a try coming from the blindside wing against PBC SHS that lives in the memory. It was like he had been fired out of a cannon, so quickly did he come onto the ball, get across the turf at a tight angle, and score in the corner.
Redcliffe SHS’s first ever squad
At Redcliffe SHS they should organise a plaque for Jack Cameron and his merry men so they are honoured for laying the first brick in the school’s rise into the Langer Trophy.
It is very difficult, with only a few months notice, to switch from Gee Cup to Langer Trophy and Cameron’s brave squad did their school proud with effort each weekend.
With him, given its vast junior network, Redcliffe will rise to the top - and when they do, they should ask the Team of 2022 to come back to the school and form a guard of honour for the side.
Michael Roberts try v Marsden
Michael Roberts was a big match player for PBC SHS, a tough kid who could play with injury and still produce driving tackles on his tryline. Tough.
But he was also a great athlete, and it was that speed which was on show when he broke the hearts of Marsden SHS with a sensational 80 solo run for the winning try in the 2021 Langer grand final.
Tyler Peckham-Harris’ try
Rugby league is just as much a game for the little man as it is for the big men. Just look at Ipswich SHS’s Tyler Peckham-Harris.
Jockey-sized, he was sensational at fullback in 2022, including scoring a dazzling 75m solo try against set defence from a scrum.
He made our Meninga Cup Team of the Season squad last year and this year, and also made our Meninga Cup Team of the Season in 2022.
Lauloto Salei’s story
It is one of the great Langer Trophy journeys - from New Zealand to Alice Springs, onto Cairns and finally down to Wavell SHS.
That was the path trodden by Salei on his way to become the Wavell SHS Langer captain, and also a Queensland schoolboys representative this season. We just love his story and the way his chest is puffed out with pride when he leads Wavell SHS on this season. It is a magic moment.
Deine Mariner v St Brendan’s College
Sometimes you just see a schoolboy football who is out of this world and so it was the case in the Phil Hall state grand final between PBC SHS and St Brendan’s in 2021.
Brendan’s coach Scott Minto, a former NRL player, put it best when he described
Deine Mariners performance akin to his students playing against an NRL player.
He was that good in that match. And now the Broncos supporters were starting to see more of him.
Raw speed merchants
It is little wonder PBC were a gun side in 2020 as well, with Deine Mariner (see above) at centre and Xavier Savage on the wing.
Savage, now a NRL player with Canberra, was a blink or you miss it performer that season, an explosive sprinter.
But PBC SHS does not have it all their own way when it came to pace.
They must hand out a pair of sprinting shoes when students enrolled at Marsden SHS.
How else could they have had such quick footballers as Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro and Saxon Innes?
Innes, a fullback or winger in Marsden’s 2023 side, is really, really brisk. Gosh he is explosive over 10-20m.
And a few years back Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro featured for Marsden SHS. He was so quick, the Melbourne Storm raced to sign him and he remains in the Storm’s youth system to this day.
And then their is Tyreece Tait of Wavell SHS. His try against Redcliffe SHS last year was breath-taking for its speed while Ipswich SHS had their own contender for fastest player - Joven Gyemore who clocked low 11 seconds when it came to the 100m dash.
When those boys got into the clear, it was a magic moment
Xavier Stowers’ long reach
While league can be a little man’s game, sometimes it helps to be 196cm tall and with the reach of an octopus. And so it was the case when, with seconds left and his team trailing in a sudden-death semi-final against Ipswich, Marsden SHS prop Stowers threw himself at the line and when tackle, lunged his long frame forward to place the ball on the line and win the match for his school.
Haizyn Mellars’ hands and Hunter Ploegsma’s acrobatics
The modern winger has morphed from a finisher into both a kick return batting ram, and also a borderline acrobat.
And what a treat it was seeing the leap and hands of Marsden SHS’s 2022 schoolboy winger Mellars who could leap like no other.
He seemed spring heeled - which should not be surprising given the year he representative the Queensland schoolboys in league, he also represented his state in basketball.
And speaking of acrobatic wingers, what about the tumble turning, backflipping performance of Hunter Ploegsma to score for PBC SHS.
Talk about spectacular.
He could have got a gig at the 2021 Japan Olympic Games on the gymnastic’s mat. A magic moment for sure.
John Fineanganofo’s ball skills
In a day and age of power forwards, it is a delight for old-timers to see deft, ball handling like Redcliffe SHS’s John Fineanganofo possess. It is like watching old English ball playing forwards of the 1970s, great Redcliffe Dolphin himself Artie Beetson and Wavell SHS old boy Darryl Brohman (Queensland Origin representative). The Australian schoolboys selectors must have liked it as well - they picked him in the national side this season.
Oliva Iaulualo
Stowers did not have a mortgage on magic moments when it came to long reach. Current Ipswich SHS captain provided a magic moment during last year’s remarkable, unbeaten season when he scored an amazing try against PBC SHS.
The highly skilled edge of middle forward seemed to be held short of the line, but holding the ball in his giant right hand, he extended his arm like a crane and then curled over the top of a fallen PBC SHS player in front of him to score in a final.
It was a magic moment, that’s for sure.
Caloundra’s SHS promotion
The start of a new era dawned in May when Caloundra SHS qualified on the old ground of Queensland State of Origin forward Linday Collins, Gibson Park, Stafford.
With Zac Garton leading the forwards and Tully McLellan the backs, Caloundra SHS moved past Stretton State College to win a berth.
It was the culmination of years of work by coaches, teachers and players, a moment to cherish in the school’s proud history.
The wizard of PBC called of Tom Weaver
You could not help but admire the quick between ears play of Tom Weaver, the on field architect of PBC SHS’s success earlier this decade. In partnership with his childhood mate, hooker Oskar Bryant, Australian schoolboys selection Weaver was magnificent with his game management. It was a real highlight watching him play.
Mabel Park SHS’s evolution
Mabel Park SHS’s rise from a winless 2021 debut season to be a title contender this year is a credit to their founding coach, Lee Addison, current coach Ben Weston and their forward leader Alex Leapai.
Leapai has been there from the start, playing front row as a Year 10 student in 2021. Now he is a Queensdland schoolboy representative who had scored more tries than most tight forwards.
He has been an inspiration to his peers, giving them confidence and showing them they can achieve with hard work.
Before suffering a head knock, Leapai’s performance in the opening 25 minutes against Marsden SHS was epic. It was like Alex Leapai v Marsden SHS.
The 2021 and 2022 Langer Trophy grand finals
For raw emotion, nothing can beat Ipswich SHS’s premiership win over Palm Beach Currumbin SHS.
Past players and parents came from near and far to board the Ipswich SHS express, riding a wave of emotion as the squad swept through last season unbeaten on its way to winning the Langer, the Phill Hall state final and the national championship.
Ipswich even had its most famous past student, the great Allan Langer, watching on, while Sharks try scoring whiz Ronaldo Mulitalo flew up from Sydney the day before the game to address the side - and then stayed on to watch his old school break its premiership drought. It was some day.
It was also an emotion-sapping occasion in 2021 when PBC SHS claimed yet another premiership - with a last-gasp win over Marsden courtesy of Michael Roberts’ runaway try as mentioned earlier.
The match featured PBC SHS superstar fullback Keano Kini, and Marsden SHS’s Australian schoolboys No.13 Chris Faagutu - both boys would go on and share the Justin Hodges Medal as Langer players of the season.
PBC SHS’s Mosquito Squadron against Keebra Park SHS
How do you watch Tom Weaver, Josh Lynn, Oskar Bryant and Tanu Nona walk out the front gate in November as graduates and possibly come up with a No.7, No.6 and No.9 to replace them 12 months later?
PBC SHS coach Tim Maccan has managed just that.
The performances of PBC SHS’s little men last Tuesday against Keebra Park - five-eight Bailey McConnell, halfback Zane Harrison and hooker Will Saunders - were a revelation.
The production line of talent coming from the Red Army region is amazing and this this trio leading the way. Same playing numbers, different players from the past, but the same result - success.
AND A SUPER SIX WE JUST HAD TO MENTION
Loko Toia, Jack Laing, Jett Jackson, Seth Nikotemo, Ahmani Leluia and Jacob Tinsley
It is not so much one moment that stands out when it comes to these players - it is just an accumulation of their work that has been a highlight.
The rise of Toia is what the Langer Trophy is all about. Here was a hard working middle forward in a side nowhere near the winners post in 2022 who just worked hard, worked a little harder and then worked some more - no matter what the scoreline read.
Then to see him earn selection in the Queensland schoolboys - and be one of the team’s best forwards, was a joy to behold.
For the same reasons we loved Leluia’s play as a middle forward, and leadership of Ipswich SHS across last season’s rollercoaster of success.
Unassuming, quietly spoken yet some who had the respect of teammates and opponents alike.
And now onto Jack Laing.
Has there been a better glue player in the Langer this decade than Ipswich SHS’s No.13 Jack Laing?
Unheralded, the Ipswich community would not swap their gallant middle forward for anyone else in the competition.
He was a crucial factor in Ipswich SHS’s unbeaten 2022 season, and is also a big factor in their strong challenge again this season.
Marsden SHS hooker Jacob Tinsley is not a player you will read about in the headlines, but his teammates love him being beside them which is the greatest complement a footballer can hear.
Keebra Park SHS Seth Nikotemo’s was in the shadow of his bain-storming skipper Hau last season, but he rose to represent the Queensland schoolboys.
He is not a burst the door down edge forward, but more one of those gritty types whose work ethic and effort areas impress. We love where he has come from, and where he is now - a Gold Coast Titans contracted player and under the miroscope of the Queensland under 18 selectionrs who named in as a shadow player this season.
And then there is Jett Jackson, in his second season of Langer Trophy at PBC SHS.
PBC SHS has a habit of churning out elite representative talent across the forwards and backs.
You won’t find Jackson’s name in those teams, but PBC SHS would not swap their tall, hard working middle forward for all the surf boards on the coast.
The debuts of Wailer Whaiapu and Taylan Toa
Three years ago Keebra Park SHS coaching doyen Glen Campbell was confronting an early season injury crisis when he cast his eyes to the Walters Cup fixture.
Whoever stood out in the first half of that match would be extracted from the match and placed on the bench for their Langer Trophy debut just 90 minutes later.
That player was Wailer Whaiapu who, years later, was named Keebra Park SHS captain.
That was in 2021.
Fast forward to 2023 and another player of the future has been glimpsed, albeit briefly.
Marsden SHS’s Walters Cup edge forward Toa was rewarded for outstanding performances in his age group by making his Langer debut against Redcliffe two weeks ago.
The tall, athletic edge forward is now injured, but that moment would have advanced his career for when he is called upon in the top grade in the years ahead.
LIVE STREAM SCHEDULE
Wednesday
Mabel Park v Keebra, Langlands Park
2.00pm Walters Mabel Pk v Keebra Pk Langlands Pk
3.00pm Langer Mabel Pk v Keebra Pk Langlands Pk
Marsden v Ipswich/Stretton
North Ipswich Reserve
3.00pm Walters Stretton v Marsden Nth Ipswich Res
5.00pm Langer Ipswich v Marsden Nth Ipswich Res
PBC v Wavell, Tugun
4.00pm Walters PBC v Wavell
5.00pm Langer PBC v Wavell
Caloundra v Redcliffe Caloundra
3.00pm Walters Caloundra v Redcliffe
4.00pm Langer Caloundra v Redcliffe
‘Enjoy the hype’: Why Queensland is embracing nationals pressure
An ultra-talented line-up and recent winning pedigree has Queensland primed to attack the Under-20 National Championships. Read the full women’s state-by-state preview.
REPLAYS: Queensland Schools Premier League Grand Finals
A crazy goal from halfway, a one touch, left-footed marvel and a save that has to be seen to be believed ... it’s been quite the day at the home of Wynnum Wolves. Catch the REPLAYS, read the match reports.