Langer Cup: The 2020 Team of the Year
Ahead of the Langer Cup grand final to be played on Wednesday between Palm Beach Currumbin SHS and Keebra Park SHS, Nic Darveniza (Gold Coast Bulletin) and Andrew Dawson (Quest/Courier-Mail) name the Team of the Year.
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Nine players who will be involved in Wednesday’s Langer Cup schoolboy rugby league grand final have been named in the Team of the Year composed by sports writers Nic Darveniza and Andrew Dawson.
Wednesday’s final, to be livestreamed at www.couriermail and affiliates including The Gold Coast Bulletin, will be played between Palm Beach Currumbin SHS and Keebra Park SHS at Langlands Cup.
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The Gee Cup, Walters Cup and DeVere Cup grand finals will also be livestreamed on Wednesday afternoon.
So who made the Langer Cup Team of the Year?
FULLBACK
Corey Thomas (Wavell SHS)
Thomas was the inaugural Justin Hodges medal winner for the player of the Langer Cup. Thomas had a blistering running game but also used that pace to save tries. A lock in club football, Thomas also had the toughness to put his body on the line as the final defender.
WINGERS
Levi Jones (Keebra Park SHS)
The leading tryscorer lit up the Langer Cup playing fields throughout the competition. His six tries in five regular season matches were testament to Keebra Park’s lethal left edge. His two tries in the semi-final win over Ipswich only reinforced the danger he presents to oppositions.
Troy Duckett (PBC SHS)
Duckett entered the competition in the shadow of teammate and fellow PBC winger Xavier Savage, but emerged from his shadow and thoroughly deserved his selection in this side. Finishing and leaping ability are his strengths, despite only standing 5’10 tall.
CENTRES
Prinston Esera (Wavell SHS)
Wavell SHS and the Canberra Raiders have a good one here. The year 11 student is a beautiful mover and will be one of the boom players of next year’s competition. Long striding, like all special prospects he covers the ground effortlessly. Also a committed defender.
Jahream Bula (Keebra Park SHS)
A long striding athlete, Bula is potentially one of the very good ones to have graced the Langer Cup this season. He seems to have untapped potential. The Gold Coast Titans pounced on the basketball convert because his aerial abilities are deadly in the kicking game.
FIVE-EIGHT
Ryan Rivett (PBC SHS)
A lovely old style pivot who is quick between the ears. Rivett has a deft short kicking game, reads play well and is a perfect link between his scrum half Tom Weaver, his edge forwards and expressed outside men.
HALFBACK
Tom Weaver (PBC SHS)
Weaver is a crafty, old-fashioned half with a bag of tricks as big as many magicians. He has a great passing game, both short and long, but is prepared to go to the line and take a knock.
FRONT ROWERS
Xavier Willison (PBC SHS)
It is not often you say of a prop forward that he is “one of the most exciting players in the competition’’, but Willison is a rare jewel. Unlike many, Willison’s main asset is not only his size and power. He has both those attributes, but he also has so much more to his game like the speed to convert a tackle bust into a runaway score.
Oskar Bryant (PBC SHS)
Bryant was the outstanding No.9 of the competition who was able to ramp up PBC’s attack or slow the game down. Bryant is a bit of an unsung hero. An unsung hero off the bench, Bryant’s nose for the tryline for himself and his larger teammates was unsurpassed by rivals.
10. Chris Faagutu (Marsden SHS)
Faagutu was a settling influence on a young Marsden SHS side which failed to gain traction in this season’s competition. Faagutu led by example and was a real “follow me’’ leader of the pack.
SECOND ROWERS
11. Klese Haas, Keebra Park SHS
The boom backrower of the competition. Haas went one position wider in last Wednesday’s semi-final wearing the No.4 jersey and never lost his stride. Haas is a real danger player entering Wednesday’s final.
Junior Taungataua (Wavell SHS)
A go to man for Wavell on the edge, Taungataua rose to the occasion to match it with the best the competition had to offer. Ran great lines and was a constant threat to opposing teams. Another youngster who will benefit enormously from the 2020 campaign
LOCK
13. Brock Priestly (PBC SHS)
Priestly is a real work-a-holic who has been the glue of PBC’s march through the competition this season. If you could pick any player from the Langer Cup and drop him into the NRL PBC’s tough-as-teak lock would blend in seamlessly in defence.
INTERCHANGE
Dave Telea (KEEBRA PARK)
Telea edged out teammate Connor Te Kani for a spot on the interchange bench. Both rookies have been fabulous contributors to pulling the trigger on Keebra Park SHS’s blistering attacking raids. but Telea’s signature dummy-and-go was one of the Langer Cup’s hardest to defend.
15. Jayden Smith, Wavell SHS
Smith was a dynamo off the bench for a young, unheralded Wavell SHS who were the surprise packs of the season. The brother of Melbourne Storm powerhouse Brandon, Smith’s work ethic and intensity ensured Wavell never lost momentum when he was launched into the game after the opening salvos.
16. Josiah Pahulu (Ipswich SHS)
Pahulu was Mr Consistent of the competition. Alternating between front row and No. 13, Pahulu was a muscle man in the middle for Ipswich and played at a consistently high level against quality opposition.
17. Evander Tere-Rongotaua (Ipswich SHS)
A prime mover for Ipswich SHS, Tere-Rongotaua was a fantastic strike weapon who was sorely missed by the side in the semi-final loss to PBC after being injured. Recruited by the Roosters, he is a big unit with all the attributes to be successful.
18th man: Deijion Leugaimafa (Ipswich SHS)
A strong finish to the season by Leugaimafa saw the exciting fullback and outside back prospect deservedly recognised as the 18th man.
WEDNESDAY’S LIVESTREAM
GRAND FINALS
1.30pm: DeVere Cup
2.45pm: Gee Cup
4pm: Walters Cup
5.15pm: Langer Cup
Originally published as Langer Cup: The 2020 Team of the Year