Rugby league, Aussie rules break into prestigious private schools’ sports program from 2019

THERE has been a seismic shift in the sporting landscape of Brisbane’s private schools, with the prestigious Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) to play rugby league from next year.

Dylan Napa in action for St Patrick's College. Photo: Supplied.

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THERE has been a seismic shift in the sporting landscape of Brisbane’s private schools, with the prestigious Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) announcing they will play rugby league from next year.

For two decades, the AIC — comprising of eight member colleges Iona, St Laurence’s, Villanova, Marist Brothers Ashgrove, Padua, St Edmund’s, St Patrick’s and St Peters Lutheran College — has offered only rugby union and soccer as winter football codes.

AIC schools will offer rugby league and AFL alongside rugby union and soccer.

That will change from next year, with league (Term 3) and AFL (Term 1) to be offered alongside soccer and rugby (Term 2) on a two-year-trial basis from 2019.

After extensive meetings between AIC stakeholders, including senior staff and parents, and the NRL and AFL, an AIC review of cultural and sporting activities has endorsed the introduction of the two new codes.

The AIC Management Committee, made up of all principals from the member schools, will announce the decision to parents, students and staff this afternoon.

The two new football codes will be offered on an “opt-in” basis, meaning it is not compulsory for all eight member schools to participate in league or Australian rules.

Each school can choose whether the addition of the new sports suits their individual circumstances.

Most schools have expressed interest, and are expected to participate.

The announcement says that details of the two new in-term competitions will be finalised towards the end of the year.

But the rugby league competition will be played on Saturdays in the third term, with each school to provide one team for each year level between grades five and 10, as well as an open-age team.

The Australian rules competition will be played on Friday nights in Term 1 for older students, and on Saturday mornings for primary students and those in Year 7.

The addition of league and Aussie rules to the AIC will be a blow for rugby union, which has used the competition and the rival Greater Public Schools (GPS) competition as a production line for schoolboy talent for decades.

The AIC’s move into rugby league in particular is significant. Six of the eight member colleges — with only Villanova and St Peters excepted — will play in the traditional Confraternity Shield competition, as part of nearly 50 Queensland Independent Secondary Schools.

This year’s Confraternity Shield is being hosted by Columba Catholic College in Charters Towers.

Despite neither league nor Aussie rules being played officially at AIC schools, the system has proven a breeding ground for NRL and AFL talent.

St Laurence's College first XV rugby union team with Cooper Cronk in the front row, third from right. Photo: Supplied.

Cooper Cronk, Ryley Jacks (St Laurence’s), Dylan Napa, Jason Bukuya (St Parick’s) and Jared Warea-Hargreaves (Iona) are some of the current first grade stars to come out of the AIC, while Tom Bell, Tom Hickey, Josh Thomas (Iona), Archie Smith (St Laurence’s) and Brendan Whitecross (St Patrick’s) are among the players to have graduated to the AFL.

Dylan Napa in action for St Patrick's College. Photo: Supplied.

Among other changes in this afternoon’s AIC announcement is the likely shift of track and field from Term 4 to Term 3, to help seniors students focus on end-of-year exams.