The young women of The Cathedral College turned a suffocating defensive set into one of the best finals fightbacks in recent Confraternity Shield history in Rockhampton today.
The Cathedral College surged past St James’ College, Spring Hill 26-16 to claim the final of the girls’ Confraternity Shield, delighting a huge home crowd at Kettle Park. It was The Cathedral College’s second girls’ Shield title following their success in Brisbane in 2023.
The host college was in serious trouble with 15 minutes remaining as the powerful St James’ College pack led 16-10 and stormed the line. But The Cathedral College repelled three consecutive tackles within centimetres of the tryline before forcing a turnover.
From the next set, The Cathedral College produced one of the tries of the carnival. On the second tackle, they passed the ball through seven sets of hands and sent winger Millie Price on a 70-metre sprint to the line to level the scores.
They scored again from the next set, marching downfield for halfback Maddie Johnson to send a cutout pass to Heidi Silvester for a try that put the final within The Cathedral College’s reach.
This was a gritty win, built on forward energy, crisp backline play and the drive of player-of-the-carnival Josie Wogand. And it atoned for The Cathedral College’s tight loss to St Patrick’s College, Mackay in last year’s final.
“About half of our squad played last year so they had experience in that type of game but they weren’t nervous. They were so excited to be playing here in front of their family and friends,” The Cathedral College coach Damon Moore said.
“Before the game, we spoke about our attack but we also spoke about how championships come down to defence. St James’ are a very strong and powerful team and we just prayed that our nimble girls could cause them trouble.”
This was the fourth girls’ Shield final at the Confraternity Carnival, which brings together 16 girls’ teams and 56 boys’ teams from Catholic and Independent schools around the state. The carnival has been run by Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League since the inaugural boys’ event in 1980.
St James’ College brought a surprise element to the week in their first appearance at a girls’ Confraternity Carnival. Rival coaches did not know what to expect from a school that has started a rugby league excellence program.
Early in the second half, the team from the heart of the capital city looked set to end regional Queensland’s stranglehold on the girls’ Shield.
St James’ scored its 16 points within seven minutes and looked on track to bring the girls’ Shield to Brisbane for the first time after the previous finals were won by teams from the Gold Coast, Rockhampton and Mackay.
St James’ lock Kina Vainga scored twice to continue her excellent form under rookie coach Bella Satui, who rallied her team well. Satui’s little sister Layla was named in the carnival’s merit team.
St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba claimed their second Division 2 Confraternity Trophy in three years after defeating locals St Ursula’s College, Yeppoon 26-6. St Joseph’s were a part of the inaugural girls’ carnival in 2021 and won the Trophy in Brisbane two years later.
Coach Cameron Love, who was a trainer for St Joseph’s last year, moulded a team that featured players from different backgrounds including league to Australian Rules, soccer and touch football.
“We have a larger group of Year 11 students which is good to see,” Love said. “It [the trophy win] is a reward for the hard effort put in,” Love said.
St Joseph’s scored six tries scored in the final, reflecting the dominance the team with five wins from as many matches in Division 2.
“We have been training since term 1 and to get the opportunity to think about moving back up into Division 1 is exciting,” Love said.
Girls’ finals and playoff results
DIVISION 1
Shield final
The Cathedral College, Rockhampton 26 d St James College, Spring Hill 16
Positional Playoffs (in order of placing)
St Patrick’s College, Mackay 20 d St Margaret Mary’s College, Townsville 4
Marymount College, Burleigh Waters 10 d Rockhampton Grammar School, Rockhampton 4
Shalom College, Bundaberg 10 d Emmaus College, Rockhampton 4
DIVISION 2
Trophy final
St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba 26 d St Ursula’s College, Yeppoon 6
Positional Playoffs (in order of placing)
Holy Spirit College, Mackay 22 d Marist College, Emerald 0
St Patrick’s College, Townsville 4 d Mt Maria College, Mitchelton 0
Emmaus College, Jimboomba 16 d Xavier Catholic College, Hervey Bay 12
AWARDS
The Reg Cannon Medal for Player of the Carnival
Josie Wogand, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
Player of the Final
Josie Wogand, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
Player of the Carnival (2nd Division)
Holly Robinson, St Joseph’s College, Toowoomba
Carbine Club Spirit of the Carnival Award
Kiara Wright, Marymount College, Burleigh Waters
Catholic Schools Parents Queensland Player with the Most Potential
Kina Vainga, St James’ College, Spring Hill
QISSRL Girls’ Merit Team
1 Kayla Vella, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
2 Ellie Goodwin, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
3 Reece Orcher, St James’ College, Spring Hill
4 Mia Slater, St Patrick’s College, Mackay
5 Courtney Harris, St Patrick’s College, Mackay
6 Manaia Fauimu Malone, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
7 Lenore Georgetown, St James’ College, Spring Hill
8 Kiara Wright, Marymount College, Burleigh Waters
9 Josie Wogand, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
10 Rachel Oakley, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
11 Ebony Temple, St Patrick’s College, Mackay
12 Charlotte McLean, The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
13 Kina Vainga, St James’ College, Spring Hill
14 Layla Satui, St James’ College, Spring Hill
15 Kelsi Hazledine, St Patrick’s College, Mackay
16 Evoltia Tuala, St Margaret Mary’s College, Townsville
17 Alice Kallquist, Rockhampton Grammar School
Coach: Imogen Healy, St Patrick’s College, Mackay
Manager: Dan Sullivan, Mt Maria College, Mitchelton
