The key players in do-or-die Langer Trophy final between PBC and Keebra Park

It’s perhaps the biggest school sport rivalry in Queensland – PBC and Keebra Park will reprise their storied history in a do-or-die clash. LAST TIME THEY MET >>

It’s arguably the biggest school sporting rivalry on the Gold Coast, perhaps in Queensland.

Palm Beach Currumbin and Keebra Park, the two vaunted rugby league nurseries with fingerprints all over the NRL, will add another chapter to their storied rivalry on Wednesday.

The two teams meet at Langlands Park in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon in the semi-finals of the Langer Trophy, with the winner granted safe passage to the decider.

Will it be reigning champions PBC, or perennial contenders Keebra Park whose 2021 campaign continues?

Meet two players from each team who will have a big say in the final outcome:

Seth Nikotemo – Keebra

SETH Nikotemo is the 18-year-old back row enforcer for one of Queensland’s top rugby league nurseries who almost let fear drive him out of the game aged 13.

Nikotemo will today follow in the footsteps of his idol, David Fifita, inspiring fear of his own as Keebra Park embarks on a journey he hopes will mirror Fifita’s all the way to the national championship.

Before every game Nikotemo searches for inspiration in his hero’s highlights.

In Fifita the teenager can find a role model on the footy field, his air of invincibility fuelled by his colossal physical strength.

At 13 Nikotemo couldn’t imagine what that felt like.

“I was getting ready to quit footy,” the Keebra Park No. 11 said as his side prepared to take on Marsden State High in the Langer Trophy season opener.

“I wasn’t the biggest kid on the field, I was out of shape, unfit.

“I wasn’t really into it. I was a bit scared of getting hurt by the bigger boys.”

His concerned dad Neemia saw it as an opportunity to teach his son a life lesson.

Instead of letting his talented son walk away from rugby league, Nikotemo Snr would help him solve the root cause of his fear.

Keebra Park’s Seth Nikotemo. Picture by Richard Gosling

The purchase of a home gym set and careful instruction in how to use it changed Nikotemo’s outlook on life and football.

“My dad played a big role in that, keeping me in footy and getting me to come back,” Nikotemo said.

“He and my mum bought some gym equipment at home and they got me into Crossfit when I was about 14.

“That changed my mindset completely where I wanted to get in shape, get bigger, get fitter.

“That’s changed my whole life and I’m loving footy now.”

Having conquered his physical fears, Nikotemo credits his 2020 Keebra Park teammates Trey Peni and Klese Haas for helping him to develop the mental toughness required in a rising footballer.

“They were big inspirations for me,” he said.

“I had always grown up thinking I was doing it all for myself and playing the best I could play.

“They made me realise it was actually about the team and what you can do for your mates in the team.”

There is no room for fear in the engine room of Queensland’s most famous rugby league school.

Conquering that fear has made Nikotemo who he is.

Now, his goal is following Fifita onto the NRL stage.

Immanuel Kalekale – Keebra

KEEBRA Park won the race for southeast Queensland’s most in-demand schoolboy with a bare bones sales pitch that left rivals in its dust.

Auckland schoolboy prop Immanuel Kalekale, a cousin of Maroons prop Moeaki Fotuaika, travelled to the Gold Coast for a trial period with the Titans in October last year but cancelled his plans to return home after wowing coaches to earn a two-year development contract.

Kalekale toured three schools before deciding on Keebra Park.

“I had to choose between Ipswich, Marsden and Keebra,” the front rower said.

“Ipswich said ‘Come here and you’ve already got a spot,’ but I wanted to challenge myself.

“Marsden’s coach was showing me all the facilities like ‘We have this and we have that.’

“Then I met Glen Campbell (Keebra Park).”

Campebll’s simple pitch won Kalekale over immediately.

“He was just straight-up with me,” the teenager explained.

“He said they didn’t have the equipment but they worked hard and I could check out their results myself.

“That’s what changed my mind (to attend Keebra).

“It reminded me of back home, at my old school.”

Keebra Park’s Immanuel Kalekale. Picture by Richard Gosling

Fellow Titans Arama Hau and Seth Nikotemo have taken the Auckland schoolboy under their wing to forge one of the Langer Trophy’s top forward packs.

Kalekale’s decision has paid dividends for Keebra already with a 2-1 record after three matches.

Kalekale moved in with a cousin in Coomera during his Titans trial and will now complete his education at Keebra Park, with his Titans deal set to expire upon graduation.

Impressing Titans recruitment manager Ezra Howe to earn an extension is Kalekale’s top priority to help support his family of 10 back home.

Kalekale is the third-youngest of eight children.

“They’re my why,” he said.

“It was a tough decision to leave my family but they’re keeping me grounded.”

Tom Weaver – PBC

THE MAN at the wheel of Palm Beach Currumbin’s Langer Trophy title success a year ago has returned with a warning for his rivals – I’m even better than before.

Tom Weaver was handed the keys to the reds’ attack last season and alongside halves partner Ryan Rivett led PBC to a third-straight Langer Trophy.

His class shone through in the elite schoolboys competition, showing why the Gold Coast Titans snapped him up as a 15-year-old.

In what has long been the proving ground for many a future NRL star, the Langer Trophy was a perfect platform for the playmaker to test his mettle against the best in the state.

“It was definitely a big step-up for me. I’d never played at that level of rugby league before,” Weaver said of his Year 11 season.

“It was a great experience for me and now, to be able to come back and do it all again I’m all the better for having played in the competition last year.”

For all his obvious playmaking potential, Weaver said it was the intangibles he learned playing in the Langer Trophy last year that most evolved his game.

“I needed to learn a few different things about my game,” he said.

Palm Beach Currumbin’s Tom Weaver. Picture by Richard Gosling

“How to manage a game better; how to take control of my team, which I hadn’t had to do in the past when I’d played at a lower level of football.”

Weaver’s rising star was shot out of a cannon following his Langer Trophy efforts – and he has only gone to new heights this year, piloting Tweed Seagulls to a Mal Meninga Cup state title on May 1.

The bulk of that Tweed side also plays at PBC and at the helm of both teams is experienced coach Tim Maccan.

“I think there’s … eight of us that played in that grand final that are at PBC at the moment and probably another four or five that were in the Tweed squad,” Weaver said.

“Playing in that competition earlier in the year then coming to play school footy together now, I think, will make us all the better as a team.

“We play a similar game style because there’s so many of us and our coaches at Tweed are our coaches at PBC … it relays really well into school footy.”

Jack Cullen – PBC

PALM Beach Currumbin prop Jack Cullen only needs a glance from hooker Oskar Bryant to know when something big is coming.

It’s as close to a superpower you can find in the Langer Trophy competition because the freewheeling redhead is one of Queensland’s most unpredictable players.

It’s a skill Cullen shares with halfback Tom Weaver, a competitive advantage they have honed together as rugby league’s answer to triplets over almost a decade.

It began in the Cudgen Hornets Under-9s and grew through their time at St Joseph’s College, Banora Point and the Junior Titans System before joining Palm Beach Currumbin together in 2020.

“We’ve been close mates for ages,” Cullen explained.

“Being a middle and Oskar being a middle you can kind of sense when he’s going to give you the ball.

“I’m always ready because he gives you that little blind eye, a little eye to the posts or at a hole and I can tell.”

For the first time in three seasons Palm Beach Currumbin will enter a Langer Trophy campaign without alpha dog prop Xavier Willison, now with the Brisbane Broncos.

Palm Beach Currumbin’s Jack Cullen. Picture by Richard Gosling

Filling those enormous shoes is an ambition for the Junior Titans System prop.

“Last year he was hands down our best player, he used to top our stats in tackles and in runs,” Cullen said.

“I’d like to think I’m one of the leaders in the pack so (filling that void) is definitely one of my goals.”

LAST TIME THEY MET: Stunning Keebra comeback sinks PBC

KEEBRA Park have stormed back from the brink with 24 unanswered points to deal arch rivals Palm Beach Currumbin their first Langer Trophy defeat in two years, 30-22.

Keebra were marooned inside their half for the first 20 minutes of the match, where Palm Beach built a 12-0 lead and showed every sign of preparing to blow Keebra out of the water.

A dominant performance from middle forwards Herman Tofaeono, Arama Hau, Immanuel Kalekale and hooker Blake Mozer flipped that script in a fashion the all-conquering Reds had only ever handed out themselves.

Winger Elijah Lui reeled in a Connor Te Kani cut-out in the 23rd minute to score in Keebra’s first attacking set, their only sign of life in the first half as they entered the sheds behind 18-6.

It was a different side that returned in the second half as Keebra’s middle forwards found their foothold in the match.

Winger Levi Jones spun over in the right corner two minutes into the half before prop Immanuel Kalekale tossed aside multiple defenders to set up edgeman Del Wigmore to equalise 18-all.

Another charge, from lock forward Hau, set the defence onto the back foot for PJ Poutasi to crash over in the 44th before a one-on-one strip from centre Nella Lotaki was rewarded with a try to that man the following phase to lead 30-18.

Shell-shocked Palm Beach were desperate to get back into the match but fumbled their chance when hooker Oskar Bryant knocked on untouched on a clean break.

Winger Hunter Ploegsma eventually found a consolation score but the failure of Tom Weaver to convert maintained an unassailable lead for Keebra Park.