St Patrick’s College will travel to Brisbane for the highlight of the rugby league fixture

Six games of rugby league in five days can be daunting, but St Pat’s will go to Brisbane with an expectation of contending for the Confraternity Shield.

St Pat's defeated Mackay SHS in the opening round of the Aaron Payne Cup. Liam Doherty. Picture: Matthew Forrest.

Alternating between different rugby league carnivals and tournaments each week can be demanding on a team, but St Patrick’s College is ready for the glory that comes with the challenge.

Fresh off an upset win over perennial Aaron Payne Cup contenders Kirwan, St Pats will travel to Brisbane for a week of Confraternity Shield football.

The Shield will be a new competition for the entire squad, as the competition didn’t go ahead in 2020.

St Pat’s co-captain Braeden Robinson said the side was ready for the new experiences of the carnival.

“It’s a whole new competition for us, but with everything that happened last year we didn’t get the opportunity to prove ourselves in it,” he said.

“We’ve been training hard and we’ll carry in a lot of confidence from our last couple of games.”

Aaron Payne Cup clash between Kirwan High Bears and St Patrick's College at Kirwan. St Patrick's players after the game. Picture: Evan Morgan

St Pat’s other co-captain Tyler Toby said the side was experienced in carnival football and he expected a confident outfit would take the field.

“We’ve all experienced representative football before, so I think we’ll be ready despite missing out on last year’s carnival,” Toby said.

“There is a bit more excitement heading into the Shield, but we’re all really keen to bring a bit of respect to the St Pats name.

Robinson said he had been impressed with some of the younger players in the Aaron Payne Cup.

“It’s not that I didn’t expect him to come out as he has, but Liam Doherty has been playing outstanding footy so far,” he said.

“A lot of our Year 11 boys are really talented and have been stepping up for us this year, they’ve all been helping us out a heap.

“We’re all really close with each other, we’ve all played a lot of rugby together and being mates with everyone really helps when we go on trips to carnivals like this.”

Aaron Payne Cup clash between Kirwan High Bears and St Patrick's College at Kirwan. Bears Tajshon Santos-Messa and Xavier Chatfield tackle St Patrick's Ethan Cocco. Picture: Evan Morgan

Toby said the side was focused on the task at hand.

“We’ve won our two Aaron Payne Cup matches which is great, but we’ve got a job to do in Brisbane,” he said.

“Then we can worry about the Cup when we come back with a Shield.”

Originally published as St Patrick’s College will travel to Brisbane for the highlight of the rugby league fixture