Townsville Blackhawks Schoolboy Trophy: Finals form guide
As the Blackhawks Trophy nears its thrilling conclusion, take a closer look at how each team got here and what form they will bring to finals. Read what the coaches from every school had to say.
Local Sport
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Sport. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Ryan Catholic College is set to host the semi-finals of the Townsville Blackhawks Schoolboy Trophy this week as the independent schools competition nears its thrilling conclusion.
Tuesday’s semi-final features the undefeated reigning champions from Charters Towers, Columba Catholic College, who will take on Gilroy Santa Maria College at 4pm.
Although Columba has remained undefeated throughout the season, winning every game but a 10-10 draw with All Souls, head coach Rohan Dixon was looking for further improvement heading into finals and then the Confraternity Carnival.
Dixon said Gilroy Santa Maria would come to Townsville ready to play.
“They’re always strong side. Most of their boys are play in the Herbert River team so they’re always a good football side,” Dixon said.
“It’s been good lead up, actually. We haven’t had any easy games, so we know what we’re in for.
“We’re just hoping to get better. To tell you the truth, we’ve been disappointed with some of the aspects of our game, so we’re hoping we can put our best game out there this week and go from there into Confro.”
The action continues on Wednesday with Ryan hosting All Souls St Gabriel’s School on home turf, also kicking off at 4pm.
The winners of each semi will progress to the grand final next week, which will be played at Jack Manski Oval on Monday, June 9.
The Blackhawks Trophy decider, which kicks off at 6pm, will be pre-empted by the under-13s finals at 4pm and the under-15s final at 5pm.
FORM GUIDE
COLUMBA CATHOLIC COLLEGE
Columba Catholic College locked up top spot in the Western Pool after defeating Burdekin Catholic High School in the final round of action.
The school is yet to taste defeat in 2025 but they have been sheltered from northern Pool frontrunners Ryan and Gilroy, giving an element of the unknown to the cross-pool finals series.
Forward pack leader Callum Bartschat has been the team’s most consistent in the engine room this year while Dixon said the electric Tom Scholes would be key to finals success.
“Callum has led the way for our forwards this year and then our go-to will be Tom Scholes, who represented the Northern team earlier this year,” the Columba coach said.
“The last few weeks he’s pretty well played three or four games every week so I’m hoping he freshens up and is ready to go tomorrow.”
RYAN CATHOLIC COLLEGE
Ryan Catholic College was crowned Northern Pool winners following a victory over Gilroy Santa Maria College last week in Ingham.
The clear heavyweights of Townsville have their sights set on a return to the grand final after they were defeated by Columba in last year’s decider.
Ryan’s middle forwards have paved the way for the side’s success this season with speed and strength on both edges.
Coach Annan Whittington said that his team would look to play high-percentage footy to counter All Souls’ expansive play.
“We just want to stay with them early, they may be small but they’re a really gritty team,” Whittington said.
“We will look to stick to high completion play early in the match, kick to corners and earn the right to spread the ball more as the game goes on.”
ALL SOULS ST GABRIEL’S SCHOOL
All Souls St Gabriel’s School finished as Western Pool runners-up, with an impressive 10-all draw with Columba headlining this season’s results.
All Souls head coach Adrian Guldbransen said his team would need to be at its best to beat Ryan.
“It’s going to be a very tough game for us. I’ve got a lot of time and a lot of respect for them,” Guldbransen said.
“They’ve got a footy program that’s on the way up there with Annan (Whittington) leading away.
“We’ll have to be at our best to beat them, but we’re going to go down there and hopefully put in a good performance.”
With size and age against them, the boys from the Towers will play an expansive brand of football and hope for a bit of luck to swing their way against a great team in Ryan.
“We’re a young side that is just developing and learning. We’re very small. Our middle forwards don’t have a lot of size so we just have to play a different style of footy, which is sometimes high risk and high reward,” Guldbransen said.
“We know we’re going to be big underdogs, but we’re going to go down there and we won’t shy away from the task, that’s for sure. We’ll have a fair crack at it.”
GILROY SANTA MARIA COLLEGE
Gilroy Santa Maria College finished second in the Northern Pool despite their final-round defeat, setting up a blockbuster clash with Columba on Tuesday.
The boys from Ingham are strong and skilful, with a high quality halfback in Matt Spina and a fearsome backrower in Shaun Devietti.
While the squad has suffered a handful of injuries in the last fortnight, the trickle of returning players has coach Matt Spina excited about the lead-in to Confro.
“We’re starting to get a few of our injured boys back, and we’re looking a lot closer to the team we’ll be taking to Confro,” Spina said.
“We know Columba’s middle forwards will be good, they’ve usually got some big boys.
“And then they’ll have some ballhandling skills at lock or dummy half to play through the middle, so we’re expecting a tough match.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Townsville Blackhawks Schoolboy Trophy: Finals form guide
How landmark European tour can unleash the Kirwan Bears’ best
The Kirwan Bears will write a new chapter in the school’s rugby league history this week when they embark on a first-of-its-kind tour of Europe. Find out what the boys can expect while abroad.
Townsville talent selected for national Australian Indigenous team
Townsville teenager Jacob Peachey will proudly fly the flag for his Aborginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage after being selected for the Australian U16 side. Find out why it was such a special moment for the rising footy talent.