Live stream: Holy Spirit College v Mareeba SHS, Aaron Payne Cup, Round 1

Skipper Jason Hastie led from the front as Mareeba continued on their excellent 2023 form with a big first-up victory over Holy Spirit College. Full Aaron Payne Cup, Cowboys Challenge REPLAYS.

Mareeba have kickstarted their Aaron Payne Cup with a dominant display from start to finish against Mackay‘s Holy Spirit College.

The 30-4 victory was built on the back of an outstanding opening 30 minutes when they scored three tries from Jason Hastie, Daniel Morris and Zion Schaaf and raced out a 16-0 lead.

Captain and prop Hastie had an outstanding game, scoring three tries and causing all sorts of problems for the Holy Spirit defence.

Mareeba coach Clinton Cifuentes said earlier this week they looked to build the side based on new ‘engagement program’ - and the exciting progress of that was evident on the field, with the continuity among the team very impressive.

Holy Spirit managed to score their one and only try midway through the second half through centre Flynn Marchant but could not muster much else.

Mareeba will now look to next Thursday when they take on Mackay SHS while Holy Spirit will take on St Augustine’s College.

Cowboys Challenge round 1 - Holy Spirit College v Mareeba

PREVIEW

For Mareeba State High, the start of the Aaron Payne Cup season means more than just getting kids on the field.

It’s also about getting them into the classrooms.

Mareeba will kick-start its Payne Cup campaign against Mackay rivals Holy Spirit College on Thursday in Townsville.

The clash will be exclusively live streamed on KommunityTV as part of our season-long coverage of the Queensland Schoolboys Cup competitions.

LOOKING FOR ANOTHER GAME? Check out the full Queensland Schoolboys Round 1 schedule below. Click the links to watch live.

While Mareeba, who only narrowly missed the Payne Cup finals last season, made short work of their Mackay rivals in 2023, coach Clinton Cifuentes said this season would be a different prospect.

The Far North Queensland school has gone back to basics with its training program this season, with Cifuentes admitting it was not about creating an excellence program.

Aaron Payne Cup. Mareeba SHS will look to keep their bragging rights over Holy Spirit Picture: Evan Morgan

“The boys are training quite well, we have basically gone back to square one with the program through our school,” Cifuentes said.

“We are actually running the school program as an engagement program, we aren’t a school of excellence or anything like that

“We are running it as an engagement program trying to get kids back into classrooms, back reconnected with their learning.

“And we are using rugby league for the tool for that.

“That has been working quite well, the kids have been starting to feel the success at school as well.”

Neither side made it to the finals last year with Holy Spirit not registering a win while Mareeba fell just a game outside of the finals.

It is a tough draw to start the competition for Holy Spirit as they take on semi-finalists St Augustine’s in week two.

But all eyes will be on Holy Spirit to see if they can claim a win to start the 2024 season.

Originally published as Live stream: Holy Spirit College v Mareeba SHS, Aaron Payne Cup, Round 1