Dolphins Cup Grand Final live stream: Emmaus College takes on The Cathedral College in decider

It came down to the final minutes but Emmaus College kept its remarkable Dolphins Cup streak running to claim a thrilling grand final victory over The Cathedral. Watch the REPLAY.

Fleet-footed fullback Seth Carpenter scored a double and the player of the match as he led the way for Emmaus College in their Dolphins Cup grand final victory.

Spectators were treated to a brilliant battle between Emmaus and The Cathedral College on Tuesday afternoon.

Emmaus completed their unbeaten cup season with a 24-20 win, earning a berth in next week’s semi-final of the Queensland-wide schoolboys rugby league competition.

It was an exciting day for the Rockhampton school, who also claimed victory in the Dolphins Challenge decider with a decisive 32-12 win over Bundaberg’s Shalom College.

Dolphins Cup champions Emmaus College.

It was TCC who were first on the board in the cup final, courtesy of a strong effort from their Australian schoolboys fullback Mutua Brown, who scored in the ninth minute.

Emmaus levelled it up at 6-all through Carpenter eight minutes later and got their noses in front when utility Josh Barclay crashed over to make it 12-6 at half-time.

Emmaus extended the lead when Caleb Hare reaped the rewards of some great work by hooker Liam Barnes to extend the lead to 18-6 early in the second half.

But TCC were back in the contest in a matter of minutes, with second rower Jack Biles crossing to make it 18-12.

Brown, who was regularly demonstrating his strike power with his incisive breaks and lightning speed, got things back on an even keel at 18-all when he stepped through the defence to score his second.

Emmaus College backrower Josh Nilon makes a charging run in the Dolphins Cup grand final against The Cathedral College.

Last week’s semi-final hero Zac Bateman then got TCC in front 20-18 when he slotted a penalty with eight minutes to go.

But Emmaus, as they have done all year, never gave up and worked their way into striking distance with just minutes left on the clock.

Inspirational skipper Isaac Walker produced a brilliant play, chipping through for Carpenter, who powered over to put Emmaus in front 24-20.

Despite their best efforts, The Cathedral College were unable to add to their tally and it was Emmaus celebrating what was a well-deserved victory.

PREVIEW

Emmaus College are into the semi-final of the Queensland-wide schoolboys rugby league competition, regardless of whether or not they win today’s Dolphins Cup grand final.

They play The Cathedral College at 5pm in what shapes as a blockbuster conclusion to the regional competition - and you can watch it LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV.

The winner would normally go on to play the northern zone’s Aaron Payne Cup champions, but that will not be the case this time if TCC win.

Competition authorities have discovered TCC inadvertently fielded an ineligible player once during the course of the season.

And while they can still be crowned Dolphins Cup champions, they cannot go any further.

That means Emmaus will take on either St Patrick’s College or Kirwan State High in next week’s statewide semi.

Emmaus will still be sure to come out firing, with a victory putting an exclamation mark on what has been an outstanding season to date.

And the Rockhampton school has the chance to claim the titles double, also featuring in the Dolphins Challenge decider against Bundaberg’s Shalom College.

You can also watch that game live from 3.30pm on KommunityTV. Check the full Queensland Schoolboys schedule below for details.

Emmaus went through the regular rounds of the Dolphins Cup unbeaten and scored a gutsy 18-10 win over Shalom in last Tuesday’s semi-final, despite losing their co-captain and powerhouse lock forward Baylee Meilland in the opening exchanges.

TCC booked their finals berth with a last-gasp 10-8 win over Confraternity champions St Brendan’s.

TCC coach Tony Martin said his team would go into the game as “heavy underdogs” against Emmaus, whose only loss this year came in the Confraternity final against St Brendan’s.

The Cathedral’s Zac Bateman played a leading role in his team’s semi win.

“We’re under no illusions about how good they are, so it’s going to take a special effort for us on Tuesday,” he said.

“We’ll go in with the same mindset as we did last week - we’ll try to play as well as we can, execute the things that we’ve practised and see where that gets us.”

Martin said, as it had been all year, defence would be the platform on which TCC would base their game.

“We’ve been very good defensively up until now and we’ll need to be again. They’ve got danger men right across the field; obviously their six, seven, nine and one are very important for them, so we’ll have to be on-guard there.”

Martin said fullback and Australian schoolboys rep Mutua Brown would provide TCC’s main strike power.

Fullback and Australian schoolboys rep Mutua Brown.

“Jack Biles has been fantastic as well, very strong out on the left edge, and Curtis Seierup with his kicking game will be really important as well in pinning Emmaus back,” he said.

“If those three turn up and play really well, the other boys know they just have to get on the back of that and we give ourselves a chance.”

Emmaus coach Mitchel Smith could not have been prouder of his team’s effort in the semifinal but said injuries meant they would be up against it on Tuesday.

As well as losing Meilland, who will undergo surgery on Monday for a broken tibia and fibula, their centre, Chayce Bayles, also fractured his wrist.

Smith said that would mean changes to the line-up, particularly in the forward pack.

Emmaus’ skilful halfback Isaac Walker.

Seth Carpenter will play a big role for Emmaus.

“Those four boys are going to have to dig in and find something extra,” he said.

“Our forward pack has got to do the job and then hopefully our outside backs, and our spine, can do what they do.

“We’ve just to grind them away. If we’re in the contest with five minutes to go, then we’ll back ourselves to win it.

“TCC are a little bit like us - they just play tough footy and if you’re going to beat them, you’ve got to stay in it for the full 60 minutes, otherwise they’ll beat you on the siren, as we’ve done to a lot of the teams this year.”