Langer Trophy live stream: Defending champs Palm Beach Currumbin face Ipswich in opener

Reigning champs Palm Beach Currumbin entered this year’s title fight talking up agility and speed, but their opening effort will have alarms ringing. Full Langer Trophy, Walters Cup REPLAYS.

The reigning Langer Trophy champions have been stunned.

Ipswich held Palm Beach Currumbin scoreless in a 34-0 triumph to kickstart its Langer Trophy campaign.

The tantalising clash was a rematch of last year’s grand final, a game in which the Reds prevailed 16-12.

But Ipswich coach Josh Bretherton insisted revenge was far from the minds of his players.

“It was less about grand final retribution because Palm Beach is a very good school and we’ve had many, many great battles with them,” Bretherton said following the triumph.

REPLAYS

Palm Beach Currumbin v Ipswich SHS (Langer Trophy)

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Palm Beach Currumbin v Ipswich SHS (Walters Cup)

“The preparation all pre-season was that we’re playing one of the best and we have to do everything we can to give ourselves the best shot.

“The way the boys executed tonight, we were very proud of them.”

As the scoreline would suggest, Palm Beach barely had a sniff the whole game, with Ipswich grasping the momentum early and refusing to relinquish it.

The travelling side’s winger was among their best.

“Junior Saifiti, I thought he did an outstanding job, his carries and exit were really good, and he shifted to lock for us when we got short in rotation,” Bretherton said.

“(I’m) super proud of his efforts.”

Big hits in were dished out in abundance by a bruising Ipswich forward pack, forcing a number of Palm Beach ball drops.

The reigning Phil Hall Cup champions and national schoolboys finalists can be forgiven for an uncharacteristic opening given their interrupted preparation.

Despite the loss, prominent Palm Beach centre Sam Simpson showed glimpses of his talent in an unfamiliar fullback role.

With Gold Coast sides Tweed and Burleigh contesting the Mal Meninga Cup final, it meant the bulk of the PBC outfit has had little break from competitive footy.

For Ipswich, Chris Simpson was also among the best and found himself crossing the stripe not once, not twice, but on three occasions.

Two of his three tries came in the final five minutes as Ipswich piled on the pain late.

His second four-point effort was no doubt his best. Simpson would bounce and spin off a zealous defender that had charged off his line, before hitting the subsequent hole left in his absence and slicing through the scrambling red jerseys for a neat finish with minimal room in the corner.

Bretherton also was thrilled with the efforts of his forward pack.

The travelling Ipswich contingent was vocal in their support throughout the clash, with Palm Beach left feeling Ike the away side at times on its home turf.

A rendition of “na na na na, hey hey, goodbye,” from the visiting fans on the final bell rubbed salt into the Palm Beach changerooms.

Ipswich’s Langer triumph capped off a historic day for the Brisbane school, who also ran away 30-0 victors over PBC in the earlier Walters Cup clash.

Check out the full Langer Trophy LIVE STREAM schedule below.

PREVIEW

Palm Beach Currumbin State High School have sent a warning shot across the bow of rivals, declaring the up-tempo and expansive brand of football that took the team to last year’s Langer Trophy title will remain in 2024.

The electric Reds outfit will kickstart it’s title defence against Ipswich State High School this Wednesday at Tugun Junior Rugby League Club, with the round 1 fixture to be livestreamed by KommunityTV from 4.15pm.

Palm Beach Currumbin have become known for building its squads around lighter players packed with speed and agility and coach Tim Maccan said it would be no different this year.

Rivals routinely have forwards averaging over 100kg but the Reds won’t have a single player in the position hitting triple figures on the scales.

“We are generally one of the smaller sides in the competition,” Maccan said.

“We like to be as fit as we can and like to play fast with everything we do.

“Whether that is in attach with our decision making or in defence trying to make sure we get to them early to stop them gaining momentum.

“We like to play fast up-tempo footy and make sure we use that to our advantage because the other guys are bigger and stronger than us. We have to beat them with skill and play as quick as possible.”

It’s a recipe that also resulted in Palm Beach Currumbin winning the Phil Hall Cup in 2023 before losing the National Schoolboys Cup to Westfields Sports High School.

The Reds will need to overcome one of its most interrupted starts in recent years to dominate the Langer Trophy again.

PBC SHS celebrate winning the 2023 Langer Trophy. Picture: Liam Kidston.

The 2024 Mal Meninga Cup under-19 competition finished around five weeks later than previous years, with Burleigh and Tweed playing in the grand final last Saturday.

The presence of both Gold Coast sides reflects the strength of the region’s league nursery but meant PBC’s ability to train the group at school level more difficult.

“It has been more about managing their workloads. They are fit and healthy but we need to keep them as sharp as we can,” Maccan said.

“When they are with us we focus more on the game plan and skills rather than fitness and conditioning because they are doing that at club.

“It’s been trickier to manage. They started semi-finals in the Meninga Cup four weeks ago so really only Redcliffe, Ipswich, Tweed and Burleigh have dragged on a bit longer.”

Originally published as Langer Trophy live stream: Defending champs Palm Beach Currumbin face Ipswich in opener