2025 Aaron Payne Cup live stream: Trinity Bay SHS v St Augustine’s College
A bulldozing run off the back fence in the final minute has decided a cracking first edition of the Cairns derby in the Payne Cup. Watch the REPLAYS.
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The first Aaron Payne Cup Cairns derby delivered on all expectations as the two proud Far North Queensland rugby league nurseries battled it out over 60 gruelling minutes.
The game was a physical tug-of-war where neither side wanted to take a backwards step during the at-times fiery encounter, but ultimately St Augustine’s College was able to claim a 28-16 victory.
WATCH THE FULL MATCH REPLAY ABOVE, SCROLL DOWN FOR THE COWBOYS CHALLENGE REPLAY
Trinity Bay State High School fought hard to tie the game twice in the second half, but St Augustine’s ability came to the fore in the final 10 minutes with back-to-back tries to seal the result.
After a scoreless 10 minutes to start the match, an error from Trinity Bay fullback Jakobi Addo opened the door for a St Augustine’s attacking raid and the school opened the scoring when Tristian martin and Lucas Russell combined to put Jaic Morris across the line.
A great linebreak from Trinity Bay forward Wyatt Tyrell almost resulted in a try, but the backrower’s pass to his support player was ruled forward.
St Augustine’s’ extended its lead late in the half when T-Bay failed to defuse a Lucas Russell bomb, allowing the ball to bounce for Leslie Fatafehi. The big backrower leapt up and tapped the ball to Xavier Lallemand, who threw an audacious one-handed offload to Elijah Williamson to score.
Tempers flared just before the break and the referees came together to discuss the outbreak of scuffles, but the issue was resolved with a stern word to the captain of each school – who shook hands before going back to speak with their teammates.
With time elapsing in the first half, Trinity Bay finally hit the board when Reuben Ale wore a massive shot but got a late pass away to a barnstorming forward Williami Kolo, who spun out of the fullback’s tackle to reach the line.
Replacement Trinity Bay dummy half Will Parsons levelled the score soon after the break when he dove across the line from dummy half.
St Augustine’s backrower Fatafehi was sin-binned for a shoulder charge on Ale but his school rallied together and managed to score while down a player when Cooper Meares crashed over for his fourth try in the last two weeks.
Trinity Bay responded quickly when Alpha Lokotui took on the line and stormed his way through the defence just to the right of the posts, giving Addo a simple conversion to tie the game.
But a mistake from the ensuing kick-off made it too easy for St Augustine’s to retake the lead via a sneaky dummy half run by Tristian Martin.
St Augustine’s put the game to bed on the next play as Zavier Suluvale-Liumaunu burst through the line on his rampaging kick-off return, finding Lallemand in support for a full-field try.
TRINITY BAY 16 (Williami Kolo, Will Parsons, Alpha Lokotui tries; Jakobi Addo (2) goals) def by ST AUGUSTINE’s 28 (Jaic Morris, Elijah Williamson, Cooper Meares, Tristian Martin, Zavier Suluvale-Liumaunu tries; Lucas Russell (2) goals)
Cowboys Challenge
The future looks bright for Trinity Bay SHS after halfback Manti Eteru and fullback Zaeden Kitching-Ely combined to tear apart St Augustine’s College in the Cowboys Challenge.
The two members of T-Bay’s lethal spine were outstanding in the 44-10 win, scoring two tries each while having a hand in almost everything good that happened for their school.
Replay: Trinity Bay SHS v St Augustine’s College (Cowboys Challenge)
Trinity Bay SHS scored first when winger Brodie Booker took a risk by taking on the fullback after making a nice linebreak down the right sideline, feigning a pass to his inside man before fighting through the tackle to score.
Powerful centre Kris McLeod zigzagged through the line and almost slipped the fullback’s tackle during the next set, putting Trinity Bay deep in attack which allowed Eteru to burrow over from dummy half in the right corner.
Eteru made his mark on the game again midway through the first half when he slipped past the markers from dummy half, streaked into the backfield and threw an outrageous no-look pass to fullback and captain Zaeden Kitching-Ely.
An error late in the half put St Augustine’s deep in attack and the fullback used his speed to get on the outside and race towards the corner post to score.
Kitching-Ely’s second try just before halftime gave the home side a healthy lead at the break, which they were able to add to with five tries in the second half through Eugene Simmons, Eteru, Jai Cross, McLeod and Dayton Emery-Hunia.
PREVIEW
It is the match both schools have had circled on the calendar for months.
Far North Queensland rivals Trinity Bay SHS and St Augustine’s College will go head-to-head in a massive Aaron Payne Cup clash on Monday.
The clash will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV as part of a double header which kicks off with the Cowboys Challenge (Year 10) clash between the two sides at 2.15pm.
While six blocks are all that separates the two proud league nurseries, it may as well be the entire city of Cairns, as both parochial supporter bases buy into the rivalry and history surrounding the contest.
The clash marks the first time since both sides’ introduction to the Payne Cup three years ago, that they will meet at the highest level of schoolboys league.
But that doesn’t mean they are lacking any history.
“Both schools have a strong rugby league history as the two top rugby league schools in Cairns,” Trinity Bay coach Dustin Stewart said.
“There have been a lot of battles over the years and that naturally breeds a strong competitive rivalry.
“A lot of these boys play club footy with and against each other, so it is a game they have all been looking forward to. I think both teams would’ve had this clash circled in the calendar.”
The two schools are at opposite ends of the Payne Cup totem pole this season, with St Augustine’s eyeing off an elusive finals berth with a 2-1 record to start the year, while Trinity Bay has run into stiff opposition in the form of Ignatius Park and St Patrick’s College, leaving them languishing at 0-2.
But Stewart said the current standings and each team’s form lines heading into the contest may as well be forgotten.
“I think results are not going to bear too much on the 60 minutes,” he said.
“We are the two teams playing at this level – naturally we want to come out on top and prove ourselves as the top school in the region. I am sure they are feeling the exact same way.
“We are really excited to get out there and play to the level that we know we are capable of. We have to be better in defence, our ruck is an area we need to solve. If we can do that we will get a lot more opportunity with the ball.”
St Augustine’s come into the contest on the back of a strong win over Mackay State High, with front rower Cooper Meares scoring a hat trick of tries.
With games against St Patrick’s College and Ignatius Park College around the corner, the Cairns nursery will be determined to pick up a crucial two points and build into a tough run to the finals.
Originally published as 2025 Aaron Payne Cup live stream: Trinity Bay SHS v St Augustine’s College
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