Queensland Schoolboys rugby league sides revealed at state champs as Met East, Met North crowned
See which young guns earned state team honours after four days of intense schoolboys rugby league on the Gold Coast. Plus hear from the winning coaches on their triumphs, including how a nasty head knock that left one player in hospital fired Met North’s hunger for gold.
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Queensland has named three state teams following the 2024 Schoolboy Championships held at the Gold Coast’s pristine CBUS Super Stadium.
See which young guns earned state team honours after four days of intense rugby league.
Plus hear from the winning coaches on their triumphs, including how a nasty head knock that left one player in hospital fired Met North’s hunger for gold.
Who won?
Joey Watene-Meyer led a determined Met East 16-18 years side to their victory in style, fighting from 16-4 down to win 24-16 over South Coast Maroon.
“The boys have worked really hard and it’s so nice, when you have a goal, to achieve it with all the hard work that went into it.
“They really deserved it, so I’m super proud and relieved,” Watene-Meyer said.
Through thick and thin with just six weeks to prepare, the starring coach said he was more than impressed with how his side came together.
“That was a big focus for us, getting connected, because we have a lot of boys from different schools and we only had a short amount of time together.
“It was the most important thing for us, coming together.”
Trailing by 12 points at half time, Watene-Meyer’s wise words in the shed made all the difference after a bitter start.
“We just reset at half time and talked about what we could do better,” he said.
“Building the belief that we could still get the job done and we had plenty of time.
“We changed a few tactics here and there and there were a few boys that really changed the game for us.”
The praised coach said pressure was no doubt on his boys from the get-go, coming up against South Coast’s B team.
“When you have a team that are underdogs, they have nothing to lose and no pressure.
“We were probably the favourites in that game so the pressure was on us after we beat their A team on day 2.”
Watene-Meyer credited his opposition, citing their fight made a tough game which could have easily gone either way.
Met East’s quest to gold wasn’t all smooth sailing, with a number of niggling injuries threatening their changes from day zero.
“We had a lot of adversity, with boys getting injured right before the carnival and during the carnival as well.
“We lost a few towards the end, with a lot of boys carrying injuries but they still managed to push through,” Watene-Meyer said.
In the 14-15 years age division, it was Met North who came out of their clash with Sunshine Coast as gold medallists, confidently closing the match 40-12.
Head coach Micheal Roberts said it was a testament to an amazing four days of competition.
“The boys have been outstanding both on and off the field so it’s good times and good celebrations.
“We have a few bottom age kids so the future is looking bright for them next year too,” Roberts said.
The side was hit with a blow on Monday, with one of their star youngsters Isaac Salei taken to hospital for a nasty head knock.
“We’ve definitely faced some challenges, but we’ve overcome those and were outstanding in the grand final,” Roberts said.
“He’s been released from hospital and was able to be here for the game which was fantastic.”
While it rattled the team’s mojo at first, captain Charlie Webb said it brought them together for the final day.
“We’re a really tight group, and especially after what happened with Isaac, it brought us even closer,” Webb said.
“We don’t want to see our mate get hurt, so that really pushed us to go harder today.”
With 2024 being his second year in the division, the young halfback said it was a sweet moment to claim a well earned gold medal let alone by such a margin.
“Last year we had a poor loss in the semi final … You always want to have a second crack and we got that this year.
“You’ve got to stick to your footy and play your game then off the back of that will come points and a win,” he said.
Northern School Sport’s bid
Northern’s campaign at the Queensland Schoolboys State Championship came to a quiet end on Tuesday with the 16-18 boys claiming a 26-6 consolation victory over Peninsula.
The Northern 14/15 side finished its carnival with a 16-8 defeat to Darling Downs, a slightly disappointing finish after starting the championships with a bang, demolishing South West 64-0
That terrific triumph proved to be the highest score and biggest margin of victory across all teams in the 14/15 years championship and helped Manau Dau and Tamiana Fatiaki finish tied-third (with 11 others) in the try-scoring charts with three tries.
Five-eighth Dau from Kirwan High was Northern’s only player selected for Queensland Schoolboys after being named in the 14/15 Queensland Whites team.
Palm Island and Charters Towers Miners junior Billo Wotton – who represented Met North after moving to Wavell State High School – made the same team.
Met East were crowned winners in the senior division following a hard-fought 24-16 win against South Coast Maroon.
Three straight tries from the Met East boys in the second half allowed them to snatch the lead and they created an eight-point buffer with a penalty goal late in the contest.
Met North were victors in the 14/15 competition with an emphatic 40-12 win against Sunshine Coast in the decider.
QUEENSLAND SCHOOLBOYS TEAMS
16-18 Queensland Schoolboys
South Coast 13 Marymount College COOPER BAI
South Coast 1 Keebra Park SHS MASON BARBER
Sunshine Coast 9 Mountain Creek SHS JAI BOWDEN
Sunshine Coast 8 Caloundra SHS COOPER CLARKE
South Coast 4 Marymount College PHILLIP COATES
Met North 13 Wavell SHS CHARLIE DICKSON
Sunshine Coast 11 Caloundra SHS ZAC GARTON
Met North 12 Wavell SHS MADDOX GOODWIN
South Coast Maroon 1 Miami SHS SETH GUNDRY
South Coast 7 Palm Beach Currumbin SHS ZANE HARRISON
Met North 7 Wavell SHS ZAC HERDEGEN
Met North 11 Wavell SHS JARED HORNE
Met East 8 Mabel Park SHS ELIJAH KEUNG
South Coast 10 Keebra Park SHS ZAC KUMBAMONG
Met North 4 St Joseph’s Nudgee College PRESTYN LAINE-SIETU
Met East 3 Marsden SHS LUI LEE
Capricornia 3 The Cathedral College ELIJAH MCKAY
South Coast 3 Palm Beach Currumbin SHS SAM STEPHENSON
Met West 8 Ipswich SHS XZAVIER TIMETEO
Met East 7 Marsden SHS HAYDEN WATSON
14/15 Queensland White
Met West 1 Ipswich Grammar School DEREK AHWANG
Sunshine Coast 2 Redcliffe State High School JONATHAN ALO
Sunshine Coast 3 Redcliffe State High School KYRON ARTHY
Sunshine Coast 14 Caloundra State High School DARIUS BIRVE
Met East 7 Brisbane State High School KINGSLEY BRAY
Darling Downs 10 St Mary’s College BROOKLYN CAMPBELL
Northern 6 Kirwan State High School MANUA DAU
Met North 19 Wavell State High School ISRAEL FAIALOGO
Met East 15 Mabel Park State High School EZEKIEL FILIPI
Capricornia 13 St Patrick’s College LUCAS HAACK
Darling Downs 13 St Mary’s College LACHLAN HILLMAN
Met East 11 Brisbane State High School KINGZEN LEFONO
Darling Downs 1 Concordia Lutheran College LEROY MALONE
Met North 11 Wavell State High School CRUZ MOLO
Sunshine Coast 15 Redcliffe State High School LENNOX NGATA-FAOFUA
Met North 16 Wavell State High School ISAAC SALEI
Met West 16 Ipswich State High School KYANU SEIULI
Met North 2 Nudgee St Joseph’s College BARRY TAUKOLO
Met North 14 Nudgee St Josephs College CHILLI TONELLI-SMITH
Met North 3 Wavell State High School BILLO WOTTON
14/15 Queensland Maroons
Sunshine Coast 9 Redcliffe State High School WIL BERRIGAN
Met West 4 Ipswich State High School BAXTER BEST
Met West 3 Ipswich Grammar School LEO BRIGGS
Capricornia 12 St Patrick’s College SANGWANI CHINULA
Met East 12 Marsden State High School DIEZEL GUILONTA
Met East 17 Brisbane State High School KARTER IVA
South Coast 1 Keebra Park State High School CORNELIUS KELSALL
Met West 10 Ipswich State High School CORDELL KIRK
Met North 6 Wavell State High School HAYDEN MADDERS
Met North 1 Wavell State High School BOSTON NAU
Sunshine Coast 5 Redcliffe State High School JAMES PENI
Sunshine Coast 8 Redcliffe State High School LORENZO PESETA
South Coast 7 Miami State High School MURPHY PHILLIPS
Met East 8 Marsden State High School SJ PULEPULE
Met East 13 Marsden State High School MARQUIS SANDO
Met North 13 Nudgee St Joseph’s College BILLY SPICER
Met North 12 Nudgee St Joseph’s College ASHTON TAYLOR
Met West 9 Ipswich State High School PETER VILAVAI-PITA
Met East 1 Marsden State High School CHRISTOPHER VAIMILI-TOALEPAI
Met North 7 Wavell State High School CHARLIE WEBB
Originally published as Queensland Schoolboys rugby league sides revealed at state champs as Met East, Met North crowned
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