The 2025 Langer Trophy larrikins named ahead of a bumper round 5 return
The Langer Trophy’s larrikins of schoolboy rugby league can be revealed ahead of Wednesday’s bumper round 5 of matches. See who gets the teams giggling here.
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The Langer Trophy will return with a bang on Wednesday as teams chase a cherished top-five finish after a four week hiatus over the holidays.
Mabel Park SHS host Ipswich SHS, Wavell SHS play away against Marsden SHS, Stretton SC take on Keebra Park SHS and Redcliffe SHS also head to the Gold Coast to tackle Palm Beach Currumbin SHS.
All games will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV.
To win the Langer Trophy championship, it takes more than ability, desire and courage.
It requires a nice mix of personalities who balance out the playing squad or bring a fun-loving vibe to training.
They are the squad members who, aside from their skill on the field, offer a point of difference for their school with their ability to break the tension with a quip or two.
One of them is a newly-minted Australian Schoolboy selection.
Ipswich State High captain Xzavier Timoteo is a larrikin through and through, an Ipswich local who switches easily from being a friendly giant off the field to a physical front-row force when on it.
After a top-notch showing at the national championships in Coffs Harbour, Timoteo and Queensland teammates Hayden Watson (Marsden SHS), David Bryenton (Keebra Park SHS), Jackson Koina (Mountain Creek SHS) and Antonio Verhoeven (PBC SHS) made the hotly-contested outfit that players like Sam Walker, Jack Howarth and Reece Walsh once featured in (2019).
Cheeky bugger Timoteo played his part on and off the field, as did every squad member in their own right, to create a team culture that ultimately culminated in Queensland claiming that elusive championship.
It is something that has evaded the grasp of Queensland Schoolboys teams this decade but not this group.
The 2025 class is something special.
“He (Xzavier) can do both,” Ipswich SHS coach Josh Bretherton said of Timoteo.
“He is a very respectful person to all people and he can also be a goofball.”
Bretherton admired his ability to decipher fun time and the time to work.
“He’ll have a laugh with the boys and then can turn it on to training mode and be like ‘this is what we’re going to do’.
“He’s got a fun side but he is quite ruthless on the field.”
Indeed he is.
On his day Timoteo, as evidenced by recent selection, is one of the finest young props in the land.
His school dummyhalf, No. 14 Peter Uilavai-Pita, is one of the other larrikins lurking in the Langer Trophy.
A Year 11 youngster who springs off the bench for Ipswich, Uilavai-Pita, referred to as ‘Peter Peter’, is Ipswich SHS’s ball of energy who brings an infectious, up-beat attitude wherever he goes.
“He’s a ball of energy,” said Bretherton.
“The boys just love being around him. He’s always having a laugh or doing something a bit silly.
“He’ll crack jokes, get up in front of the group and sing songs and he’s just a light (cheerful, easy going) kid.”
Uilavai-Pita and his teammates will travel to Langlands Park on Wednesday to take on Mabel Park SHS.
It took Mabel Park coach Ben Weston less than one second to utter the words Maje Peachey when asked who his team’s biggest larrikin was.
“Hands down Maje Peachey,” Weston said with a smile.
“He is just Mr Personality. He is always up for a laugh.”
On the field, tearaway edge forward Peachey has been a valued member of Mabel Park and Wynnum Manly (Cyril Connell Cup) teams over the past three years since moving from Western Australia to further his development.
“He’s great value,” Weston said.
On the topic of good value, Palm Beach Currumbin centre Devin Bates-Wellington has been making things tick for the Reds.
On the field Bates-Wellington, a Kiwi-born bulldozer like Peachey, is a versatile footballer who can play in the second row, at centre and even on the wing if needed.
A South Coast representative team selection now signed by the Titans, Bates-Wellington has a mean step in his game and plenty of agility.
Off the field he is the joker of the pack. “Or he thinks he is the joker,’’ smiled coach Tim Maccan.
“Things are just funny every time he is around.’’
Bates-Wellington and PBC SHS host Redcliffe SHS at Tugun on Wednesday.
The Eagles have a friendly giant behind the scenes who has been playing his role as the larrikin.
His name is Marcus Harris-Pomare, and while he hasn’t cracked a top-team berth yet this season, the Queensland schoolboys rugby representative is playing a valued, behind-the-scenes role in Redcliffe’s campaign.
A front-rower in both rugby codes, Harris-Pomare is of proud Maori heritage and moved across the Tasman with his family to start Year 7 at Redcliffe SHS back in 2020.
A product of Auckland, Harris-Pomare played rugby most of his life in New Zealand and started playing league when he arrived on the Peninsula.
The likes of All Blacks greats Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock inspire him and both mother and father are big motivators for the league middle forward and rugby No. 8 turned prop.
He said Redcliffe SHS coach Scott Murray and program director Jay Wilkinson have been big influences in his journey.
“They’ve taught me to become a more independent person,” the Langer Reserves skipper said.
“To become a leader for the team, it has made me step up and put more onus on myself playing well.
“Last year I was just there to play, but now they’ve pushed me to step up and it’s made me a better person.”
Wilkinson said Harris-Pomare was a popular member within the program.
“He adds a lot of value to training and is very energetic.”
In Logan, Marsden SHS host a Wavell SHS outfit chock-full of larrikins.
“We’ve got a few of those,” said coach Paul Stanley.
Two of the best in that aspect are prop James Spicer and hooker Kanon Phillips.
He said Samford-local Spicer was just a downright “good fella”, a hands-on type who brings a nice vibe and work ethic to the squad.
He has been muscling up in the middle for Wavell.
There’s also plenty of larrikin about Phillips, whose older brother Mason played in this competition last year before heading south to play in the SG Ball Cup for the Illawarra Steelers.
The fast-paced Kanon, who like Mason plays dummyhalf with distinction, is “always winding someone up”— both teammates and coaches.
“It’s usually one of the coaching staff,” Stanley said with a smirk.
“The boys love to wind him up too.”
Marsden’s larrikins are a little more understated.
Hooker-halfback dynamo Hayden Watson, and lock-prop prodigy Tupou Francis, love a laugh and a joke when the time is right.
“They don’t say too much,” coach Krys Freeman said.
Their actions on the field say plenty.
Both players have had seasons to cherish so far, with Francis’ club form for Burleigh simply superb.
Meanwhile, Watson played his way into an Australian Schoolboys jersey just last week.
“He can run the ball, he scores tries and can control games well with his kicking,” Freeman praised.
Ladder-leaders Keebra Park SHS will host Stretton SC at Southport in the final match of the round.
The Stretton Storm are well equipped with larrikins, with halfback or fullback Lexin Hill the pick of the bunch.
In his early days at the school, Hill was a bit mischievous but has matured and picks and chooses his moments wisely on when to speak his mind.
“He’s come a long way,” coach Rhys Jacks said of the boisterous Hill, whose tenacity in defence went a long way in Stretton’s historic qualifying win against Caloundra SHS earlier this year.
Keebra have their fair share of larrikins themselves.
Fullback David Bryenton is both cheeky and respectful. But Perhaps the biggest larrikin is hiding in plain sight.
“An undercover one is Joey Tupuse,” said coach Peter Norman.
“Joey is super cheeky.”
His fend on the other hand, is not.
Originally published as The 2025 Langer Trophy larrikins named ahead of a bumper round 5 return
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