NRL Schoolboys live stream: St Gregory’s kick off Peter Mulholland Cup with visit to St Dominic’s

Struggling to breach the defensive line, playmaker Cooper Black went to the air with minutes to go. It proved an inspired decision as St Gregory’s won the first Peter Mulholland Cup game of the year.

A grudge match between two local rivals was the perfect way to kick off the 2024 Peter Mulholland Cup.

And it didn’t disappoint as St Gregory’s College pressure finally paid off with the match-winning try just minutes from the end to seal a 12-10 victory over St Dominic’s College.

“He’s got a bright future, that kid,” St Greg’s coach Tom Morrison said of Black.

“There’s not many schoolboys footy players that would pull the trigger there and roll the dice and put that kick in in the corner.

“He was definitely our clutch player.”

St Dom’s were mostly in full control in the first half, with Henry Young securing the first try of the game with his first touch, which was then successfully converted by Cooper Wnek.

St Greg’s weren’t behind for long though as the impressive Cooper Black found the try line. His successful conversion tied up the scores at 6-6.

A costly mistake minutes from the halftime buzzer gave St Greg’s an easy shot at penalty goal, which Black duly landed to give his side an 8-6 lead.

It proved decisive.

“We were very lucky to be up at halftime, given how we played in that half,” coach Morrison said.

“We made it hard for ourselves, (there was) a lot of dropped balls.”

St Doms started the second half much the same as the first, with a quick try to Cruze Culshaw-Luke putting the home team back in front, but only by two points.

Black led St Greg’s push for tries but the St Dom’s defence consistently stood strong, with their tryline defence particularly impressive.

Tensions boiled over with less than 10 minutes to go with a scuffle resulting in St Dom’s Hunter Bell and St Greg’s Cullum McMenemy sent to the sin bin.

But St Greg’s were determined and with only minutes remaining, Black set up a brilliant play for Luke Fielding to score out wide.

PREVIEW

A confident St Gregory’s heads into their 2024 NRL Schoolboys campaign with eyes on an all-too rare finals appearance.

St Gregs haven’t been played finals footy since 2020 when they lost 52-22 to Patrician Brothers, Blacktown.

Last year they fell just short, a first-up 20-4 defeat to local rivals St Dominic’s costing them dearly.

Against the same opponents first up in 2024, St Greg’s coach Tom Morrison was confident his team has the right mentality and commitment to go achieve their goal.

St Greg’s are fired up and ready to go.

“We’re pretty steady across the board this year,” Morrison said.

“We’ve got a lot of boys just willing to do their best for the team and just do what they have to do in their role.”

St Greg’s will open their 2024 Peter Mulholland Cup campaign at St Dominic’s College on Tuesday, with all the action to be streamed LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV.

Check out the LIVE STREAM details below.

St Greg’s will be without two of their star players though, with Lachlan Dooner out until June with a calf injury and Harvey Gay ruled out for the season after shattering his kneecap during the junior reps season.

Morrison was ‘shattered’ for the boys missing out, but he has plenty of depth in his squad to fill their places.

“We’ve got a pretty even mix of year 11s and 12s this year,” Morrison said.

“We don’t really have an out and out superstar, it’s more of a team where everyone is on the same level.

“We’ve obviously got a few threatening players here and there, but it obviously makes things a little harder for an opposition to defend against a whole team, instead of worrying about just one player.”

St Greg’s have a tough pool this year, with Bass High School and Endeavour Sports High School to come, but Morrison insists he and his team aren’t looking too far ahead.

“At the moment we’re only focused on St Dom’s,” he said.

“We’re focused on what we need to do to play good football and get the job done.”

TEAMS

St Dominic’s College

1. Jack Attard, 2. Caleb Charlton, 3. Kees Muller, 4. Hunter Bell, 5. Caine Johnstone, 6. Liam Powderly, 7. Cohen Benson, 8. Talmage Brown, 9. Cooper Wnek, 10. Mitchell Hayes, 11. Cooper Hale, 12. Ryan Goncalves, 13. Coby Raven, 14. Cruze Culshaw-Luke, 15. Cooper Henderson, 16. Henri Young, 21. Jared Greig.

St Gregory’s College

1. James Croker, 2. Tyson Walker, 3. Callum McMenemy, 4. Damon Potts, 5. Luke Fielding, 6. Cooper Black, 7. Callum Rossiter, 8. Sebastian Sykes, 9. Luke Cannon, 10. Lucas Rossi, 11. Archie Duncombe, 12. Archie Gay, 13. Brady McMillan, 14. Lorima Cosgrave, 15. Mase Hillcoat, 16. Joel Byrne, 17. Cooper Tuilakeba, 18: Ryan Mackander