Future Union recruits take it up to Union ... again
League school takes it up to Union ... again
Phil Lutton, March 16, 2011
First, the goods news. The smell of freshly cut grass and the sight of starched collars at Ballymore means schoolboy Sevens is back, heralding the start of a new scholastic season on the rugby field.
How you digest the other news depends on your educational institution of choice. For everyone other than Keebra Park, the league powerhouse from Southport that swept away the traditional rugby strongholds to win the national title last year, it's most likely bad.
A year after their rampage through the cream of Australia's schoolboy rugby talent, Keebra Park made a return to the field yesterday at Ballymore. They're back, not necessarily bigger but every chance of being better.
This time, they are the top dog instead of a novelty act in a code more often associated with the private school crowd. It was as if they hadn't missed a beat, battling past some quality teams and handing out some hidings to progress to the Queensland semi-finals.
There they will play another well-known league school, Wavell, to possibly set up a final against either Toowoomba Grammar or Brisbane State High School at Suncorp Stadium.
Keebra was a media darling last year as the school tried its hand at a game they don't even play, despite many students having New Zealand or Islander heritage. At Keebra, the simple fact is rugby league reigns supreme.
Even so, they turned up to Herston, socks down and without having a single union training session. They had to enlist some Queensland Rugby staff to give them a last-minute rundown of the rules.
This year, according to coach Greg Lenton, the preparation has been even more minimalist. When you're on a good thing, why tinker with the formula?
"I think we've done less, to be quite honest. We've been busy with other things," Lenton said.
"I think we did surprise ourselves a bit [last year]. It's just good to have a little bit of footy at this stage of the year. That's why they're here."
After taking out the Queensland title against Ipswich Grammar, Keebra Park travelled to the hallowed fields of St Ignatious College in Sydney's leafy Lane Cove. In the national final, they defeated Hills Sports High 38-27 to complete what was billed as a fairytale victory by a working class league school over the toffs of the stiff upper lip.
Many of Keebra's kids come from the toughest of backgrounds but the the Hollywood script isn't quite as good as it sounds. Keebra, which has produced NRL stars like Benji Marshall, Robert Lui and Ben Te'o, is an elite league factory that won the ARL Schoolboys Cup in 2009 and finished runner-up last year.
A number of the squad members are already in deals with the Wests Tigers, the main affiliate club for the school. The underdog tag, while tempting to apply, doesn't quite fit this time around.
The lack of technical rugby prowess matters much less in Sevens, says Lenton, who found out last year that his side could take advantage of a hybrid style of game that suited their running play and powerhouse athletes.
And there may yet be hope for the rugby faithful, who will be hoping the marauders from Southport can somehow be stopped in their tracks. Yesterday, at least, they had some of their rivals beaten before they stepped on the park.
Lenton said his side had some technical flaws that could be exploited if any of the union specialists started studying the tapes.
"It's nearly a hybrid game on it's own. I think if you're a union specialist, it doesn't automatically favour you. It depends who you're playing," Lenton said.
"But I'm sure if one of the union sides really got stuck into it and worked out the things we couldn't do, I'm sure they would take us out.
"Last year, it was good. Everybody enjoyed it. We open our eyes to these sort of things. A lot of the boys, their ambition is to go on and play NRL.
"But if they get an opportunity to play rugby union, I'd be more than happy as long as they've got a good career and a pathway."
Beating Keebra is well and good in theory but the reality is more confronting. Yesterday, they beat respected northerners St Brendan's 26-14, Marsden 31-0, flogged Forest Lake 50-0 and eclipsed Nudgee College 20-12 in the finals.
"A lot of the guys are still here and there's a few additions. It should be [better than last year] but sometimes you have second-year syndrome. It depends on attitude and a lot of things. They're disciplined but can never know where boys heads are," Lenton said.
Rugby will never be the big ticket at Keebra, a school where starry eyed recruits from all parts of Australia and the Pacific send audition tapes to try and earn a place. But if they are in it, they want to win it.
"It's not our focus for the year. But they're competitive athletes. They don't like to lose anything they play, whether it's this or ping pong. That's just the nature of them," Lenton said.
The state semi-finals of the Sevens will be played at Suncorp Stadium in the prelude to Friday night's game between the Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels.
Brisbane State High meets Toowoomba Grammar at 5.30pm, with Keebra Park and Wavell SHS in action soon after.
The QRU has reminded fans to arrive early to take in the action as well as the activities in the stadium precinct.
