St Patrickʼs College, Mackay took a huge step towards the title that it once dominated when it stormed home to defeat rivals St Brendanʼs College, Yeppoon in a gripping start to the 2021 Confraternity Carnival at Iona College today.
As “Confro” returned for the first time since 2019, St Patrickʼs College overcame a 6-20 deficit in their Pool A clash with St Brendanʼs, scoring 20 unanswered points to win 26-20 to wrap up a day of 57 pool matches.
There was plenty to take in across Ionaʼs fields on Brisbane’s bayside as 50 schools and more than 1230 players, mostly from Catholic schools, took part in the competition run by Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League.
The highlights of Day One of Confraternity Carnival, sponsored by CQ University, included:
• The historic first Confraternity Carnival girlsʼ competition, with Marymount College, Burleigh Waters, St Patrickʼs College, Mackay, and The Cathedral College, Rockhampton unbeaten in their opening two pool matches.
• Home school Iona College winning both its pool matches including an impressive win over former champions St Mary’s College, Toowoomba.
• The ominous form of defending champions Ignatius Park College, Townsville, and their 2019 grand final opponents The Cathedral College, who cruised through their opening two pool matches.
• A long-awaited return to play after last year’s tournament was cancelled because of COVID.
The stage is set for an important run of final pool matches tomorrow morning that will determine the line-up for the quarter-finals in the afternoon ahead of Wednesday’s rest day.
St Patrickʼs College, Mackay coach Michael Comerford said his players knew that they could set up their best possible quarter-final draw in the Confraternity Shield if they could topple St Brendanʼs College, which came to Iona with genuine finals hopes.
Both teams are royalty in the decorated 40-year history of Confro, sharing 21 titles between them.
But St Patrickʼs College Mackay – the school of the likes of Daly Cherry-Evans, Wendell Sailor and Grant Rovelli – has not won a Confraternity Shield since 2003. Rovelli was in the stands today to watch the team that he steered to victory 21 years ago.
Comerford, in his first year as coach, said his players were aware of the long run between Shield wins and had engaged its old boys with better memories of Confro success.
“Weʼve tried to build those connections with our old boys because we know the pride that St Patʼs has in its Confro history,” Comerford said.
“Weʼre working with our players on what it means to wear the St Patʼs jersey because that’s important to us here.”
St Patrickʼs had sounded a warning with its recent victory over state champions Kirwan State High School in the Aaron Payne Cup but that touch eluded them as St Brendanʼs skipped to a 20-6 lead with a try early in the second half.
But St Patrickʼs flexed its muscle with a stirring finish, relying on the likes of prop Ethan Cocco to build a fightback that has them in line to play Marist College, Ashgrove or St Augustine’s College, Cairns, in the quarter-finals. Cocco is one of the few frontline St Patrickʼs players without a deal with an NRL team despite the excellent form that included his match winning try against Kirwan recently.
St Brendanʼs must defeat Padua College tomorrow morning to book a quarter-final with Ignatius Park College, which did not concede a point today in wins over St Augustine’s Cairns (18-0) and Shalom College, Bundaberg (44-0).
The Cathedral College was just as impressive in its wins over St Mary’s, Toowoomba (26-6) and Aquinas College, Ashmore (46-6) to roll towards the quarter-finals.
Marymount College, Burleigh Waters, booked another quarter-final appearance with wins over St Patrickʼs College, Shorncliffe (20-14) and St Peter Claver College (32-4).
But the biggest roars of the day were for the home team as Iona College, fresh from a rugby union season, defeated Aquinas College (32-12) before landing the knockout blow on 2018 champions St Mary’s, Toowoomba (18-6). The result left Johnathan Thurston’s former school without a win in a tournament in which they were expected to challenge for the grand final.
In Division 2, Holy Spirit College, Mackay, St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane, St Michael’s College, Merrimac and All Souls St Gabriels School, Charters Towers, all won their two pool matches to take an advantage into Day 2.
In Division 3, Ryan Catholic College, Townsville, Xavier Catholic College, Hervey Bay, Chanel College, Gladstone, and Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, Dalby, were undefeated.
The girls took centre stage in the morning as nine schools contested the inaugural girlsʼ competition after efforts to bring them in last year were ruined by COVID.
Marymount College matched the feats of its boysʼ team with an undefeated run today off the back of its promising play in the Titans Cup on the Gold Coast. The girlsʼ competition continues with two pool matches for each team tomorrow to determine the order for Thursday’s finals matches.
The boysʼ carnival is contested in three divisions of 16 teams. Each team plays two matches of 20-minute halves on the opening two days.
The draw and all results can be seen at www.confraternitycarnival.com.au.
All matches are livestreamed on www.confraternitycarnival.com.au.
Day 1 results - Boys
Division 1
Pool A
Marist College, Ashgrove 32 d Shalom College 4
Ignatius Park College 18 d St Augustine’s College, Cairns 0
Ignatius Park College 44 d Shalom College 0
St Augustine’s College, Cairns 24 d Marist College, Ashgrove 16
Pool B
Iona College 32 d Aquinas College 12
The Cathedral College 26 d St Mary’s College, Toowoomba 6
Iona College 18 d St Mary’s, Toowoomba 6
Cathedral College 46 d Aquinas College 6
Pool C
St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe 12 d Rockhampton Grammar 6
Marymount College 32 d St Peter Claver 4
Marymount College 20 d St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe 14
Rockhampton Grammar 22 d St Peter Claver College 10
Pool D
St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon 44 d Emmaus College, Rockhampton 8
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 26 d Padua College 6
St Patrick’s, Mackay 26 d St Brendan’s College 20
Padua College 28 d Emmaus College, Rockhampton 0
Division 2
Pool A
Clairvaux MacKillop College 22 d Assumption College 0
Holy Spirit College 22 d Blackheath and Thornburgh College 8
Assumption College 20 d Blackheath and Thornburgh 4
Holy Spirit College 12 d Clairvaux MacKillop 10
Pool B
St Laurences College 22 d St Edmund’s College 12
St Mary’s, Woree 20 d St Thomas More College 6
St Laurence’s College 30 d St Mary’s, Woree 4
St Edmund’s College 50 d St Thomas More College 0
Pool C
Columba Catholic College 26 d St Columban’s College 0
St Michael’s College 48 d Faith Lutheran College 0
St Columban’s College 20 d Faith Lutheran College 12
St Michael’s College 12 d Columba Catholic College 8
Pool D
All Souls St Gabriel’s 8 d St Joseph’s College 0
St Teresa’s College 32 d Marist College, Emerald 14
Marist College, Emerald 24 d St Joseph’s College 10
All Souls St Gabriel’s 22 v St Teresa’s College 8
Division 3
Pool A
Ryan Catholic College 18 d Emmaus College, Jimboomba 4
St Anthony’s College 26 d St James/Chisholm College 8
St Anthony’s College 12 drew Emmaus College, Jimboomba 12
Ryan Catholic College 38 d St James / Chisholm College 0
Pool B
Xavier Catholic College 22 d Unity College 6
St Augustine’s College, Augustine Heights 16 d Ambrose Treacy College 8
Unity College 32 d Ambrose Treacy College 0
Xavier Catholic College 28 d St Augustine’s, Augustine Heights 6
Pool C
Chanel College 26 d Trinity College 12
St John’s, Roma 18 d Good Shepherd College 6
Good Shepherd College 20 d Trinity College 10
Chanel College 24 d St John’s, Roma 8
Pool D
Gilroy Santa Maria College 18 drew St Patrick’s College, Gympie 18
Our Lady of the Southern Cross, Dalby 20 d Mt Maria College 6
Mt Maria College 26 d Gilroy Santa Maria College 20
Our Lady of the Southern Cross 36 d St Patrick’s, Gympie 6
Day 1 results - Girls
Pool A
Marymount College 32 d Southern Cross Catholic College 0
Emmaus College, Rockhampton 30 d Southern Cross Catholic College 10
Marymount College 32 d Emmaus College, Rockhampton 6
Pool B
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 34 d Trinity College 0
Shalom College 18 d Trinity College 14
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 16 d Shalom College 4
Pool C
The Cathedral College 24 d St Joseph’s College 0
The Cathedral College 40 d Clairvaux MacKillop College 16
St Joseph’s College 12 d Clairvaux MacKillop College 6
