St Joseph’s Nudgee College have won four premierships to finish off a stellar QIS AFL season for the school.
In a dominant display, the Nudgee boys claimed the Year 10 Division One and three Open Division premierships including the prized Division One Jason Dunstall Cup last Friday night at Yeronga AFC.
Led by the eventual best-on-ground medallist Paddy James and coached by QISAFL stalwart John Stackpoole, the boys in blue and white were unstoppable against rivals Brisbane Boys’ College in the Open Division One final, putting on a big first quarter to all but set up the match.
Not to be outdone, BBC fought hard in the remaining quarters, managing to stay goal for goal with Nudgee and were brave in their eventual 13.14.92 to 5.6.36 defeat.
It was a big night at Yeronga with six grand finals in the annual Division One grand final night, with an estimated 700 people on hand to witness the best of the best schools go head to head.
Earlier in the night the Nudgee Year 10 team also took out the Stephen Lawrence Shield premiership against a gallant Brisbane Grammar School, in a tight tussle 8.11.59 to 5.6.36. Grammar got a dream start putting on three unanswered goals early, before Nudgee fought their way back into the match, led by their best-on-ground Casey Brittain. At three quarter time scores were level 4.5 a-piece before Nudgee piled on four goals to one in the final quarter to run out winners.
Brisbane Grammar fared much better in their other two grand finals, taking out both the Year 8 Robin Hull Cup and Year 9 Clint Bizzell Cup over Brisbane Boys’ College in both.
In the Clint Bizzell Cup, Grammar waited until the last quarter to pull away from BBC with Fraser Jeavons starring for the winning team. But it was the continual efforts and never-say-die attitude of BBC’s Tyson Rech that won him the best-on-ground medal for the grand final, with the eventual result 4.11.35 to 2.0.12.
The Year 8 Robin Hull Cup saw Grammar take control of the game early and never let BBC get a look-in with a 6.3.39 to 0.3.3 victory. Grammar’s Alister Fleming was outstanding for the winners taking the best-on-ground honours, while BBC’s Mitchell Grimmond, Tom Knight and Sean McMillan all could hold their heads high after strong performances.
It wasn’t all bad news for Brisbane Boys’ College, with their Year 7 boys playing an enthralling final against Anglican Church Grammar School, kicking the winning goal in the dying minutes to secure the Margery McIntyre Cup. It was a fantastic effort by the BBC boys after being 12 points down at three quarter time. The Cup’s namesake was on hand to present BBC with their medallions and trophy for the third consecutive year, with BBC’s Chris Kotis awarded the best-on-ground medallion after a sterling performance by a boy who surprisingly doesn’t play club AFL.
In the other final of the night, the Michael Voss Open Division Two premiership was fought out by Brisbane State High School and John Paul College. It was a dominating JPC who took to the field and never let State High into the match, running out 11 goal winners 12.12.84 to 2.6.18. JPC were well represented and a stand-out performance from Sam Wallace earned him the best-on-ground medal.
The 2011 QISAFL season has two grand finals to go – this Friday will see St Laurence’s College take on Sheldon College in the Year 8 Division 2 Robin Hull Cup at 4:15pm, while in the Open Division 3 South John Downing Cup, Faith Lutheran College at Redlands will host Ormiston College at 4:30pm.
