Rugby league’s famous Confraternity Carnival has thrown up a mouth-watering semi-final draw featuring its most successful teams after a brilliant “heartbreak Tuesday” in Mackay.
In today’s highlights:
- St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon overcame its quarter-final curse to reach Thursday’s final four of the Confraternity Shield alongside defending champions Ignatius Park College, Townsville, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton and host school St Patrick’s College, Mackay.
- The Cathedral College survived a last-minute raid by Marymount College in a tense quarter-final. TCC is the only semi-finalist not to have previously claimed the Shield. The other three contenders have won the Shield a combined 27 times since the first carnival in 1980.
- The historic girls’ competition completed its pool matches today. The finalists will be decided after assessment of the pool results although Marymount College, Burleigh Waters is set to play for the CQ University Shield after remaining unbeaten through its four pool matches.
This 42nd Confraternity Carnival, sponsored by CQ University and staged by Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League, brings together 48 boys’ teams and nine girls’ teams from Catholic and Independent schools across Queensland. A host of Queensland’s greatest players have emerged from the event.
Tuesday has been nicknamed as “heartbreak” day as teams play their fourth match in just two days. The fatigue and the tension of carnival football have brought teams undone and buried their trophy chances ahead of tomorrow’s traditional rest day.
St Brendan’s College knew the feeling from its stumble in 2019 when the finals were last contested ahead of Covid disruptions.
In 2019, St Brendan’s College led Padua College 18-0 at halftime but failed to advance to the last four. That setback was in the minds of the Brendan’s faithful today as they moved to an 18-0 lead against 2018 champions St Mary’s College, Toowoomba.
But St Mary’s hit back to trail 18-10 and then had a bobbling chance to scorch downfield only for a knock-on to present an opportunity for St Brendan’s to stead for a 24-14 win.
Scott Minto’s team showed resolve across 160 combined minutes of football in the two days, qualifying for a semi-final showdown with Ignatius Park College.
“My brothers have probably been to about 20 Confros between them and they all told me that Tuesday afternoon is the toughest part of the week. You just want to get through it and get into the semis,” coach Minto said.
“It was pleasing to get that win because the boys are starting to get used to carnival football with all its bumps and bruises. We’ve been improving across the games and we’ll have a rest now and get ready for Thursday.”
St Brendan’s will need to be at the top of its game to counter a rampaging Ignatius Park College, which has rattled up an aggregate score of 152-4 in its four matches.
Today’s 30-4 quarter-final win over a brave Iona College, Lindum – playing its first league matches of the season and keeping its line intact in the second half – included the first try that Ignatius Park has conceded during the carnival.
Coach Steven Lansley has his team primed for the final four but admitted Thursday’s match would be a big test against a St Brendan’s team that won their Aaron Payne Cup semi-final encounter last year.
“We know how good a team Brendan’s are and it’s so hard to win Confro,” Lansley said. “They’ve done it more than any other school so that’s a big test for our players.”
Thursday’s semi-finals are guaranteed to draw a strong crowd after St Patrick’s College, Mackay advanced with a 28-0 quarter-final win over Cairns’ St Augustine’s College. The result was impressive for the home team, striving to win its first Shield title in 19 years as it hosts the carnival for the first time since 1996.
St Patrick’s will meet The Cathedral College in the semi-final after the Rockhampton team survived the closest of the quarter-finals with a 14-10 win over a valiant Marymount College, Burleigh Waters.
The match brought together the teams coached by best mates and Melbourne Storm NRL premiership teammates Tony Martin (TCC) and Matt Geyer (Marymount). Both men had to endure the nerves of a dramatic finish as Marymount received a penalty and mounted a desperate attacking raid after the siren, only to fall short.
After the boys’ pool matches were contested by three divisions of 16 teams, the carnival moved into six separate draws of eight teams with the Confraternity Shield the most prized of the six trophies on offer.
The second-tier Bob Linder Trophy will pit Shalom College, Bundaberg, St Peter Claver College, Riverview, Marist College, Ashgrove and Padua College, Kedron in its semi-finals.
Meanwhile, four other trophies will reach the final four on Thursday while those teams that lost quarter-finals will play off in separate matches with all teams playing six matches over the four days of competition.
The girls’ competition continued to impress today with Marymount remaining unbeaten while St Patrick’s College, Mackay, Emmaus College, Rockhampton and The Cathedral College all won three matches. Marymount is 7-0 in Confraternity Carnival play after winning all three of its pool matches last year before a snap Covid lockdown prevented finals.
DAY 2 RESULTS
BOYS
Division 1 pool matches
Pool A
The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 14 d St Mary’s College, Toowoomba 0
Emmaus College, Rockhampton 28 d St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe 16
Pool B
Ignatius Park College, Townsville 42 d St Augustine’s College, Cairns 0
Marist College, Ashgrove 24 d Aquinas College, Ashmore 12
Pool C
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 10 d Iona College, Lindum 6
St Peter Claver College, Riverview 10 d Rockhampton Grammar School 6
Pool D
St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon 10 d Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 6
Shalom College, Bundaberg 14 d Padua College, Kedron 8
Division 2 pool matches
Pool A
St Edmund’s College, Ipswich 20 d St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane 4
St Columban’s College, Caboolture 24 d Faith Lutheran College, Plainland 4
Pool B
Marist College, Emerald 20 d All Souls St Gabriel’s College, Charters Towers 4
Assumption College, Warwick 22 d St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 8
Pool C
Columba Catholic College, Charters Towers 24 d St Michael’s College, Merrimac 16
St Thomas More College, Sunnybank 18 d St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie 16
Pool D
Holy Spirit College, Mackay 16 d Clairvaux MacKillop College, Mt Gravatt 8
Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, Dalby 34 d Blackheath & Thornburgh College, Charters Towers 0
Division 3 pool matches
Pool A
Xavier Catholic College, Hervey Bay 22 d Mt Maria College, Mitchelton 4
Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham 14 d Chisholm Catholic College, Cornubia 10
Pool B
Chanel College, Gladstone 16 drew with Emmaus College, Jimboomba 16
Good Shepherd College, Mount Isa 32 d St Augustine’s College, Augustine Heights 6
Pool C
Unity College, Caloundra West 24 d St Mary’s College, Woree 12
Trinity College, Beenleigh 30 d St James’ College, Spring Hill 12
Pool D
St Anthony’s College, Townsville 34 d Ryan Catholic College, Townsville 10
St Patrick’s College, Gympie 22 drew with St John’s School, Roma 22
QUARTER-FINALS
(Listed in order of rankings of divisions from top-down)
Confraternity Shield
The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 14 d Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 10
Ignatius Park College, Townsville 30 d Iona College, Lindum 4
St Brendan’s College, Yeppoon 24 d St Mary’s College, Toowoomba 14
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 28 d St Augustine’s College, Cairns 0
Bob Lindner Trophy
Padua College, Kedron 20 d Emmaus College, Rockhampton 14
Marist College, Ashgrove 12 d Rockhampton Grammar School 4
Shalom College, Bundaberg 10 d St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe 0
St Peter Claver College, Riverview 20 d Aquinas College, Ashmore 4
Neil Bloxsidge Plate
Our Lady of the Southern Cross College, Dalby 20 d St Laurence’s College, South Brisbane 4
St Edmund’s College, Ipswich 18 d Holy Spirit College, Mackay 4
St Michael’s College, Merrimac 14 d Marist College, Emerald 10
Columba Catholic College, Charters Towers 16 d Assumption College, Warwick 10
Confraternity Bowl
All Souls St Gabriel’s College, Charters Towers 28 d St Teresa’s College, Abergowrie 14
Clairvaux MacKillop College, Mt Gravatt 52 d Faith Lutheran College, Plainland 0
St Columban’s College, Caboolture 12 d Blackheath & Thornburgh College, Charters Towers 10
St Thomas More College, Sunnybank 10 d St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 5
Confraternity Cup
Xavier Catholic College, Hervey Bay 14 d St John’s School, Roma 0
Mt Maria College, Mitchelton 10 d St Patrick’s College, Gympie 6
Good Shepherd College, Mount Isa 16 d St Mary’s College, Woree 8
Chanel College, Gladstone 28 d Unity College, Caloundra West 14
Men of League Challenge
Emmaus College, Jimboomba 20 d St James’ College, Spring Hill 4
Gilroy Santa Maria College, Ingham 14 d Ryan Catholic College, Townsville 12
St Anthony’s College, Townsville 16 d Chisholm Catholic College, Cornubia 4
Trinity College, Beenleigh 28 d St Augustine’s College, Augustine Heights 10
GIRLS
Pool matches
The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 22 d St Margaret Mary’s College, Townsville 10
Emmaus College, Rockhampton 30 d Shalom College, Bundaberg 4
St Ursula’s College, Yeppoon 8 d St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 0
Emmaus College, Rockhampton 10 d St Patrick’s College, Mackay 4
St Margaret Mary’s College, Townsville 26 d Southern Cross Catholic College, Townsville 4
Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 28 d St Ursula’s College, Yeppoon 0
The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 20 d Southern Cross Catholic College, Townsville 0
Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 20 d St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 0
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 42 d Shalom College, Bundaberg 6
