Live stream: St Brendan’s take on Kirwan Bears in both Dolphins v Payne Cup final, Challenge Playoff

There will be plenty of celebrations back in Townsville after Kirwan State High School won both of the Queensland Schoolboys regional finals in Mackay. Check out the REPLAYS.

Kirwan State High School has progressed to the grand final of the Phil Hall Cup after beating St Brendan’s College 22-18 after a brutal arm-wrestle played at a neutral ground in Mackay.

The two champions of their respective regions could hardly be split as they bashed and belted each other for a ruthless 60 minutes of top-class schoolboys rugby league.

St Brendan’s led from the 15th minute until the 53rd, when Kirwan’s livewire fullback Logan Brookes gave the Bears their first lead by pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

The Kirwan co-captain created something out of nothing when he latched onto an offload just on his own side of halfway, breaking through four attempted tackles before finding halfback Riley Carbone on the inside.

Carbone played a fantastic game and showed maturity beyond his years, but it was his kicking game that helped Kirwan get across the line.

The year 11 halfback nailed three tricky conversions and executed a perfect yardage kick late in the game, rolling a kick across the touchline metres from the corner flag to force St Brendan’s to begin its final set on its own 10m line.

St Brendan’s lethal halves combination of Tyler Melrose and Lachlan Anderson were outstanding in their own respect and couldn’t have done any more to guide their team to victory.

Physical five-eighth Anderson was able to use his size and strength to great effect, scoring a memorable try early in the second half when he sliced through the defence close to the line to dive over.

Roosters-contracted Kirwan centre Cohen Dittmann was a force to be reckoned with on the left edge, regularly swatting away the first defender and creating a number of prime opportunities in attack.

The big-bodied redhead combined well with the Bethel twins, Heath and Zane, who lined up inside and outside Dittmann to form a physically dominant edge.

St Brendan’s had a chance to snatch the game late after claiming a short kick-off following Carbone’s go-ahead try.

A fresh set of six gave the boys from Yeppoon a platform to bang away at the line and it looked like prop Jake Oberhardt – one of the standout forwards from either side – would crash over from a metre out, but he spilt the ball in the process.

Kirwan will immediately turn its attention to Palm Beach Currumbin State High School, who won the Langer Trophy, in the Phil Hall Cup grand final to be crowned Queensland’s best team.

KIRWAN: 22 (Marley Proctor, Dane Ransom, Cohen Dittmann, Riley Carbone tries; Riley Carbone (3) goals)

ST BRENDAN’S: 18 (Jake Murphy, Harvey Mahoney, Lachlan Anderson tries; Tyler Melrose (3) goals)

CHALLENGE PLAYOFF: Kirwan SHS 24 d St Brendan’s College 20

Trent Martin will have a statue built in his honour outside Kirwan State High School if the Cowboys Challenge centre can maintain his stratospheric trajectory through rugby league after engineering a golden point victory over St Brendan’s.

Martin scored three tries, including a decisive 60m runaway in golden point, and assisted twice more to stun the Year 10 champions of Central Queensland in the regional playoff in Mackay on Thursday.

It was the second matchwinning performance in a row from the Cowboys U15-16 Academy playmaker, who scored from long-distance in last week’s Cowboys Challenge grand final to seal a come-from-behind victory and book this date with St Brendan’s.

That Kirwan has no statewide grand final to progress to in this age group is a crying shame because behind Martin and a ferocious Cubs backline blessed with speed and strike, rugby league fans will never know if this North Queensland team is truly the finest in the state.

Martin was magical from start to finish.

Cowboys Challenge v Dolphins Cup playoff - Kirwan SHS v St Brendan's College

His remarkable dash from inside his own half to seal the win in golden point will rightly steal the headlines, but Kirwan might have been blown away if not for Martin’s determination in the final plays of both halves.

St Brendan’s was accelerating clear of Kirwan, ahead 12-4 through halfback Morgan Hair and reserve hooker Harry Roebig, when Martin produced the first moment of the Challenge Playoff.

With seconds remaining in the half, Kirwan found grass from the kickoff and Martin won the race to the ball.

Wrapped up by two defenders, Martin somehow wrestled free and then sped away to the tryline for his first of three tries on the day.

Early in the second half, Martin took a short switch from five-eighth Manua Dau and blazed his way to the tryline to punch his side into the lead for the first time.

A halfback in club football, but thrust wider to accommodate an All-Star Year 10 spine at the Cubs, Martin’s fast hands twice put winger Clavarn Oth over for scores, in the 9th and 36th minutes.

In all, Martin scored and passed for all five of Kirwan’s scores.

“I think I might have to build that kid a statue,” quipped coach Mitch Wells.

“I have nothing but positive things to say about that kid. He works really hard at his game and he is reaping the rewards.

“To get that success, and for him to stand up as our vice-captain and one of our leaders, was so pleasing.”

St Brendan’s had looked the better team in moments and their fire was best summed up by halfback Hair, who rattled Kirwan rib cages like a lock forward of old.

Hair’s strength helped him to open the scoring for the day after charging through the Kirwan line in the first five minutes of the contest.

St Brendan’s prop Cooper Stacpoole was another gruelling enforcer blessed with size and the attitude to use it to maximum effect.

Fullback Kobe Oberhardt was responsible for the match-tying play in the 39th minute when his grubber for backrower Louis Maxwell found a bubble of unguarded space behind the Kirwan tryline, setting the stage for a seesawing final 15 minutes of regular time and golden point.

Then along came Martin – and the kid from Kirwan took his first steps into school legend.

KIRWAN 24: (C Oth 2, T Martin 3 tries; E Gunn-James 2 goals)

ST BRENDAN’S 20: (M Hair, H Roebig, T Commons, L Maxwell tries; N Wright 2 goals)

PREVIEW

History has a habit of repeating itself, and that’s exactly what St Brendan’s College coach Scott Minto is determined to deliver when his First XIII boys take on the Kirwan Bears for a place in the Phil Hall Cup final.

St Brendan’s was once a powerhouse of the Aaron Payne Cup before changes split Central Queensland into its own division.

Before the break-up, Kirwan and St Brendan’s had many memorable battles, none more so than the 2021 Payne Cup decider when St Brendan’s captain Owen Pattie kicked his team to 19-18 victory with a long-range field goal in the dying seconds.

Watch the schoolboys rugby league action from 11.45am on Thursday LIVE and EXCLUSIVE on KommunityTV, available with your subscription to this masthead. See the full fixtures and details below.

Minto, a Rockhampton junior who forged a successful NRL career with the Brisbane Broncos and Cowboys, said he was expecting nothing but the best from Kirwan on Thursday.

“The last time we met Kirwan was in the 2021 Aaron Payne Cup final and we got the result that day, so let’s hope we can repeat the dose,” Minto said.

“They’re a powerhouse footy side; they’ve always got decent backs and big middles, so you’ve got to make sure that everyone’s working hard in defence.

“These sort of games are the ones you really look forward to. We know what Kirwan are like. They’re always tough and you have to try to bring yourself up a little bit to meet them head on.”

Can St Brendan’s cap off a big season?

Kirwan coach Todd Wilson said his team was taking a do-or-die attitude into the match.

“We’re in that knockout stage of the competition now where if you don’t win, it’s your last game,” Wilson said.

“It’s important that we perform well and whenever our last game is we want to be happy that we gave it our best and left nothing on the field.

“So we’re taking each game as our last and preparing the best that we can.”

St Brendan’s middles were instrumental in their victorious Dolphins Cup campaign and their performance will have a big impact on the result.

But Minto expected his exciting centres, Jay Marsh and Harvey Mahoney, to come into the contest with their solid defence and attacking brilliance.

Kirwan dangerman Logan Brookes.

Halfback Tyler Melrose will also have a big say, with his kicking game a feature of the team’s Dolphins Cup grand final win over Rockhampton Grammar.

The winner of Thursday’s fixture will take on the best of South East Queensland next week.

KIRWAN

1. Logan Brookes, 2. Heath Bethel, 3. Cohen Dittmann, 4. Taakoi Benioni, 5. Davidson Benioni, 6. Marley Proctor, 7. Riley Carbone, 8. Eneliko Savelio, 9. Jay Whaley, 10. Bryce Fincham, 11. Wil Hope, 12. Zane Bethel, 13. Kyle Bader, 14. Ryan Van Zanden, 15. Diesel Taylor, 16. Dane Ransom, 17. Quentin Ofahulu, 18. Kees Anderson, 19. Anthony Vaigafa

CHALLENGE PLAY-OFF

In an interesting turn of events Kirwan’s year 10 side, which won the Cowboys Challenge, will play Dolphins Challenge winners St Brendan’s in a match dubbed the Challenge Play-Off.

Both teams were unstoppable in their respective campaigns and the prospect of finishing the year with a top-quality fixture of this calibre couldn’t be denied.

Sensational fullback Kobe Oberhardt will look to continue his blistering form for St Brendan’s after producing a player of the final performance in his team’s 30-6 win over The Cathedral College in last week’s Dolphins Challenge decider.

Try-scoring wizard Noah Wright, who bagged a hat-trick in the victory, will also play a leading role, as will workhorse second rower Louis Maxwell who is a force to be reckoned with.

But the Kirwan Cubs have their own lethal weapons, particularly down the deadly right edge.

Manua Dau, Eru-Gunn-James, Trent Martin and Clavarn Oth have been nothing short of brilliant in attack and their impact must be contained for St Brendan’s to have a chance.

St Brendan’s are wary of the Kirwan threat.

St Brendan’s coach Dominic Draper said this game would give his squad an indication of how they stack up against Queensland’s top teams.

“The boys are really excited for this opportunity – the best of the north versus the best of the central,” Draper said.

“Kirwan will be very tough opposition; they’ve got a history of producing talented football teams who are good defensively and show some attacking flair.

“We’ve got to concentrate on ourselves, limit our mistakes and work well together defensively. If we hold onto the ball and move up in a line, we’ll be okay.”

Originally published as Live stream: St Brendan’s take on Kirwan Bears in both Dolphins v Payne Cup final, Challenge Playoff