Senior School Sport

SPORT REPORT 

TERM 4 WEEK 7, 2020

It has been such a pleasure for the College returning to competitive MCS sporting competitions. There is chatter in the hallways and on the playgrounds about the imminent games and how the boys rate their past performances.

Our MCS Basketball teams had mixed results with the Senior teams suffering hard losses, while our Junior teams secured maximum points from their 3 games.

Our College Cricket teams had a mixed bag of results too. 

Success at NSW Canoe Championships

Dominic Curtin of Year 9, has again added some sporting milestones to his list of 

achievements. Competing at the NSW Canoe Slalom State Championships, Dominic came away with two Gold Medals, finishing first in the U16 Mens K1 event and first in the U16 Mens C1 event. These results put him in contention for selection into the National Junior team which will be held in March 2021. We wish Dominic all the best at the upcoming selections.

Aspiring Professional Referee

Congratulations to graduating student Jodi Weisz. Football NSW has welcomed twelve rising young and aspiring referees who have been selected for the 2021 Referee Academy for the upcoming season.

The Football NSW Referee Academy has been set up to assist and prepare selected referees for success at National Titles and to potentially be identified by FFA as future A-League, W-League and NYL Referees, to be part of the National Talent Pool.

Referees selected to join the Football NSW Referee Academy will be provided with Speed & Agility training, a Nutritionist, a Sports Behavioural Specialist, access to National and International Coaches as well as A-League Referee Mentors.

We wish Jodi all the best on his journey of on becoming a professional Football Referee.

Marist Carnivals

Following advice from the Marist Carnival Committee, it has been decided that the Marist Basketball Carnival (Adelaide), Marist Netball Carnival and Marist Cricket (Canberra) Carnivals, are to be postponed indefinitely until further notice. The carnivals will not be held in 2021. The 2020 hosts will remain the hosts until the Carnivals resume.

MCS Reports

1st XI Cricket (1/56) defeated Eastwood (5/55)

After a disappointing loss in Round 1, it was important that our 1st Grade boys bounced back this week. We lost the toss and were asked to bowl on a hot afternoon with a flat wicket. The boys were exceptional. We restricted Eastwood to 5-55 off their 20 overs. The pick of the bowlers was Isaac Gasson who took his first wicket in 1st grade finishing with figures of 2-1. Jacob Shortland was also superb with 1-6 off 4 overs. In reply, the boys were dominant only losing 1 wicket and chasing the total down in just the 9th over. Matt Canellis finished 21 not out and Riley Kingsell was 17 not out. Congratulations boys, on your first win of the year.

MVP: Isaac Gasson (Molloy)

Mr L. Morrissey

2nd XI Cricket (9/59) were defeated by Blacktown (10/127)

Last week the Second XI took on Blacktown 1st XI at St Greg’s. Once again we were hit with work placement and called in the cavalry to help us through the game. Blacktown batted first, and thanks to a 47-run innings by their best batsman managed to score a challenging 127 runs to chase down. The wickets were shared between Guymer, Mullan, Low and Lal.

After losing a wicket early Mullan and Zapirain put on a small partnership, but after that, the wickets fell quickly and we were eventually all out for just 69 runs. It was a ‘reality check’ as to where we are in the competition at the moment, but with more boys back on deck next week against the First XI we will be looking to give them a run for their money!

MVP: Marcus Zapirain (Molloy)

Mr S. Bullock

3rd XI Cricket (4/89) defeated Penrith (8/87)

A beautiful day at the St Gregory's Primary field saw 3rd XI host St Dominic's Penrith. Some excellent bowling on a small field reduced St Dominic's to 8/84 from their 20 overs. In response, St Gregory's took little time to claim the win with only 9.1 overs required in chasing down the total. 

Highlights of the match included Jack Losurdo's heroic batting efforts and some excellent fielding from Pat Smalley.

MVP: Aaron Phillip (Molloy)

Mr W. Goodsell

4th XI Cricket (10/59) were defeated by Fairfield (6/82)

Fairfield won the toss and elected to bat. Their opening partnership got them off to a strong start and saw out several overs before Greg’s took two quick wickets. The next batsman resumed their control of the match as Fairfield piled on the runs.

St Greg’s started their innings losing several quick and frequent wickets for very few runs. That changed when Thomas Fletcher came into bat and notched the highest score for Greg’s finishing not out. It was a great game played by both teams, with some excellent bowling. Special mention to Lucas Braithwaite playing his first game in fourth grade taking 3/14 and Marty McGrath taking 2/5.

MVP: Tom Fletcher (Molloy)

Mrs K. Skuse

9/10 A Cricket (8/155) defeated Blacktown (9/82)

This week the 10A Opens came out firing and hungry for the win. We took the bat and quickly went about piling on an impressive 155 runs in 20 overs. Solid batting came from Ryan Polsen (50), Coby Holland (48) and Tom Chell (25). Determined to continue to impress, our bowling attack also played strongly. Tim Saunders took the lead when he took a wicket in the first over and finished with 2/8. Tom Anderson also stepped up to the challenge and scooped 3/5 assisted by a determined wicket-keeper and a classy field. Blacktown performed admirably but was only able to accumulate 9/82.

MVP: Ryan Polsen (Kilian)

Mrs J. Sligar

9/10 B Cricket (3/62) defeated Dundas (7/60)

St Greg’s won the toss elected to bowl first. After frequently taken wickets, Dundas were restricted to 60. Congratulations to L Parmeter who ended with 3-1 after his 4 overs. Runs were found easy from the St Greg’s batsmen and were able to chase the 60 down within 10 overs. Congratulations to D Weston who top-scored with 26. 

MVP: Lincoln Parmeter (Donovan)

Mr Archie Allen

7/8 A Cricket (7/82) were defeated by Blacktown (4/92)

St Greg's won the toss and elected to bowl. Fielding highlights included Ashton Haycock's 3/17 and Matthew Fitzgerald's two catches and a stumping that really changed the course of the game. Unfortunately, the St Greg's boys probably took the COVID-19 ball handling rule a little too literally when they dropped 6 easy sitters. Batting highlights included Aidan Richards' 37 n.o. and Matthew Fitzgerald's 17 off 22 balls.

MVP: Matthew Fitzgerald (Laurentian)

Mr G. Bingham

7/8 B Cricket (0/96) were defeated by Dundas (4/97)

This round of MCS cricket the St Gregory’s college 7B team were facing off against St Patricks Dundas at our local Eschol Park sports complex. St Gregory’s won the toss and elected to bat. The first 10 overs ticked by slowly with only 25 runs scored. Luckily we had lost no wickets and used this to our advantage. Both our opening batsmen unleashed on St Patricks scoring an additional 71 runs from the remaining 10 overs. A special mention to our Captain and Opener, Benjamin Small, who brought up his 50 in style by hitting a 6 completing our innings on 0/96. Unfortunately, while in a commanding position, we were a little too confident and our bowlers didn’t capitalise on this. We allowed too many sundries (38) which gave St Patricks the upper hand and they used this to their advantage winning the game comfortably with 7 wickets in hand and almost full 2 overs remaining.

MVP: Dominic Petrovski (Laurentian)

Mr K. Singh

1st Grade Basketball (49) were defeated by Trinity Auburn (40)

After having a 2-minute warm-up compared to the other teams 10 minutes warm-up, meant that we took at least the first five minutes to get into our game. Emmanuel and Chris were really strong on the boards and we went into the first half with a 4-point lead. The second half was extremely tough for two reasons - our shooting percentage dropping to about 20% and the referees. We were not given the opportunity to compete but if even half of the shots we took would have gone in maybe the result would have been different. Not having access to the hall for training on Wednesday has affected our fitness and finesse!

MVP: Emmanuel Kandidakkis (Donovan)

Mrs Giles

2nd Grade Basketball (23) were defeated by Trinity Auburn (25)

The team were down on substitutes this week due to Year 11 work placements. Players were still getting to know one another and to gel as a team, however some very positive aspects and some potential still to be achieved. If we can improve our shooting, we will certainly start to get some wins on the board.

MVP: Alex Pucovski (Donovan)

Mr Perna

Year 9 Basketball (54) defeated Trinity Auburn (50)

As a group, the boys were really looking forward to this game. Trinity wiped the floor with us last season. It was nothing short of a good old-fashioned flogging! But there is a new mentality amongst the boys this season and we couldn't wait to play after a strong performance in Round 1 vs Parramatta Marist. Trinity scored the first 5 points of the game but then we clicked into gear. The team philosophy of effort and defence above all other concerns is serving the boys well. Our full-court press was relentless and has become the cornerstone of our game plan. This coupled with composure and good ball movement is seeing the boys achieve positive results. Isaac Puse provided a great spark in the first half hitting three shots from behind the arc. The offence was led by the intense, but always in control team leader, Jake Wright. He was brilliant the entire game. We went into the half-time break six points down but were feeling very good about where we were at in the game. The second half was all St Greg's. The defensive intensity and ability to hit big shots from three-point territory kept us on top. A memorable moment was Steven Moran-Briggs pulling up for three in transition and hitting nothing but net, his first points in an MCS Basketball game. We held out to win 54-50. This game was very encouraging, and the boys are pumped for the rest of the season.

MVP: Jake Wright (Donovan)

Mr Ben Limbrey

Year 8 Basketball (59) defeated Trinity Auburn (24)

We started strong keeping Trinity to only 10 points in the first half. It seemed from this point on we lowered our guard and trinity took advantage of this, making some quick baskets in the first 5 minutes of the second half. The team could not seem to get the momentum back with only one referee making calls from the half-court and several weak passing options, made this more of a competition than it should have been. Thankfully we were able to hold them off.

MVP: Dylan Sharp (Molloy)

Mrs Melissa Giles

Year 7 Basketball (54) defeated Trinity Auburn (52)

WOW...what a game! The boys were on a high after a well-fought win last week. The boys were pumped and rearing to go for this traditionally tough match against Trinity. Our point guard, Ethan, did a tremendous job calling the shots with shooting guard Kai feeding off him. Greg’s holding a 12 point lead midway through the first half. However, with a lapse of concentration the opposition came back by halftime to be within 4 points of us. Mentioned must be made to Lucas and Mitchell with their solid rebounding and defensive game. The second half saw a topsy-turvy battle to remain on top, with Leon showing an awesome demonstration of grit and tenacity. In the end, we held them out by 2 points. The boys did a tremendous job holding off the second-half surge of Trinity. Well done lads!

MVP: Leon Kelly (Donovan)

Mr Ivancic

Co-Curricular Assemblies

The second set of the College Co-Curricular assemblies have been completed with Year 7 and Year 9 holding their respective assemblies on Friday of Week 6. Year 11 Co-Curricular Assembly will be held on Wednesday 9 December.

Students who have represented the College or participated in College Co-Curricular activities received commendation certificates. 

Special awards were given to the following students for outstanding individual contributions to College Sport and Co-Curricular programs.

Year 7 Sportsman of the Year – Levi Tuioti and  Year 7 College “All-Rounder” – Hunter Elson

Year 9 Sportsman of the Year –  Joel Offord         Year 9 and College ‘All Rounder” – Angus Limbrey

Year 9 NSW Sporting Pathways Representatives

NSW All Schools Triathlon – Joel Offord     NSW CCC U15 Cricket - Riley Kingsell

SPORT REPORT 

TERM 4 WEEK 8 2020

Welcome back Summer. With temperatures reaching over 35 degrees at the College for our MCS games, all students were doing it tough, especially our MCS Basketballers who play at Minto Stadium. All staff and students are to be congratulated on their efforts to abide by the COVID-19 restrictions while competing at such a competitive level.

Our three Junior Basketball teams again experienced success with close wins over St John Paul II of Schofields, while our 2nd Grade team went down St Andrews in a tough contest. 1st Grade enjoyed a bye round but still completed some training in their allotted game time. Our three junior teams all sit on top of their respective tables and are undefeated. 

MCS Cricket results seem to be unpredictable from week to week as our College teams seem to be moving students around to accommodate Year 11 Work Placement and Year 11 exams. Our Greg’s boys are always ready to be called up and represent the College and those that do, are to be commended on their efforts as they play in the higher grades.

Good luck to those students that have registered for NSW All Schools Athletics. Events that take place on the weekend will have some difficult weather to adjust to, not to mention the rather fierce competitors from around NSW. Good luck to all.

U14 Rugby League vs Matraville H.S

On a beautiful warm afternoon, the boys in the Rugby League Development squad were looking forward to their second game of Rugby League all year for the College. The opponents were Matraville Sports High School, so there was a bit of an unknown presence about the boys from Matraville. The game started with a bit of back forth play between the two teams before a great kick chase led to the first try of the afternoon to Dylan Smith. Matraville soon rallied and hit back with a try of their own, tying the game at 6 all. Mistakes started to creep in on both sides, but the boys fought on before being rewarded with some fantastic individual tries to Lachlan Dooner and Onitoni Large.

Mistakes were the theme for the start of the second half and Matraville had a renewed energy about their play. Just as Matraville looked dangerous, Dylan Smith picked a kick, up off his toes and made a brilliant run down the right sideline, running almost 90m before he was tackled. This changed the momentum of the game and St Greg’s ran in three tries in the next three sets. Matraville kept turning up in the second half and scored two late tries to keep the score competitive.

Overall a fantastic performance by the boys and it was great to see Rugby League being played at the College in 2020. Whilst it was a great team performance there was a few notable performances. Cooper Clarke with his barnstorming runs, Dylan Smith with his dynamic footwork in the middle of the field and Lachlan Dooner with a remarkable 4 tries.

Illawarra Sports High School next week.

Mr Coffey- Coach

MCS Reports

1st XI Cricket (3/91) defeated SGC 2nd XI (5/90)

The local derby - Greg's First versus Greg's Second. Seconds were a little slow with getting the runs on the board, however, Jared Elphick scored a handy 36 and Bayley Suters a quick 17. After 20 overs, the Second XI were 5/90. Given the heat, the First XI wasted no time chasing the runs, despite promising to make a century Lachlan Campbell was out for 5. Joshua Shipley and Jacob Shortland had an impressive 59 run partnership which steered the game to a win for the First XI, finishing at 3/91 in the 17th over. 

MVP: Joshua Shipley (Donovan)

Mr L. Morrissey

2nd XI Cricket (9/59) were defeated by Blacktown (10/127)

The 2nd XI faced off with the more fancied 1st XI last Thursday in the 3rd round of the MCS season.

After winning the toss and batting, the boys started well, keeping wickets in hand and ticking over the scoreboard. Jared Elphick top scored with 36, but after a flurry of late wickets, the boys finished the 20 overs on 90 runs.

The bowling began well, keeping things tight and building pressure on the 1st-grade batsmen, but a strong partnership after a few wickets guided by Joshua Shipley took the game away from us, and the 1st XI chased the total down in the 17th over. It was a good battle, but some inaccurate bowling let us down again.

Next week, we take on Penrith.

MVP: Jarod Elphick (Kilian)

Mr S. Bullock

3rd XI Cricket (7/147) defeated Blacktown (9/87)

The Third Grade team included many players from Fourth Grade and volunteers from Year 10 because of the unavailability of many of our regular Third Grade players. The team was well organised by team captain, Patrick Ward who won the toss and chose to bat first. This decision looked shaky as we lost two wickets in the first over. However, determined batting from Kian Boyne (51 runs), Jamie Nicholson (42 runs) and Lucas Braithwaite saw the team score 147 runs for the loss of 7 wickets. The St Greg's bowling attack was impressive, and wickets were shared by Jack Losurdo (2/7) who took a brilliant reflex catch mid-field, Lucas Braithwaite (3/7), Kian Boyne (2/1), Tom Fletcher (1/7) and Jack Nicholson who took 1/10. Congratulations to all the boys in the team as each player contributed to a fine win and displayed great sportsmanship and support of each other. 

MVP: Kian Boyne (Molloy) + Lucas Braithwaite (Donovan)

Mr G. Bond

4th XI Cricket had the bye

9/10 A Cricket (8/108) defeated Penrith (6/106)

The St Greg's 9As were on fire with a nail-biting finish to the game that saw them grab the win in the last ball of the day. St Dominic's Penrith batted first and set the standard of the game-high with a tally of 6/106. Bowling highlights from the innings included Jack Spragg (3/17 from 4 overs) and Blake Truman (0/2 from 3 overs). Picking up the bat, Greg's boys knew that they had some work to do and made their intentions clear from the very first ball when Ryan Polsen hit a 6. Blake Truman was inspired at the other end by this early work and went on to hit three 6s as he made his way to 31 runs. 

The remaining order all contributed to the score, particularly Lachlan Stanley (17) and Coby Holland (8) but it was the Man of the Match, Jack Spragg (32 not out) who was fearless and determined to get the win as he and his five batting partners pushed for every run possible. With one ball remaining, St Greg's still required 3 runs - Jack's response caused enormous joy to the team and their coach alike as he thumped the ball to the boundary for 4 runs! A memorable victory for St Greg's.

MVP: Jack Spragg (Molloy)

Mrs J. Sligar

9/10 B Cricket (2/81) defeated Greystanes (8/80)

St Greg’s won the toss elected to bowl first. After a good start from St. Paul’s, they were 2-72 at the drinks break. St Greg’s came out with some great bowling and were able to restrict St. Paul’s to 80. St Greg’s then batted and ticked over the runs nicely losing minimal wickets. St Greg’s were able to chase the 80 down in the 14th over.

MVP: Archie Nott (Kilian)

Mr Archie Allen

7/8 A Cricket (7/71) were defeated by Penrith (5/73)

St Greg's won the toss and elected to bat. Batting highlights included Matthew Fitzgerald’s 19 and Sam Tabrett’s 12. Bowling highlights included Ashton Haycock’s 2/8 off 3, Matthew Fitzgerald’s 1/8 off 3, Nathan Salter’s 1/5 off 1. 

MVP: Ashton Haycock (Molloy)

Mr G. Bingham

7/8 B Cricket (1/87) defeated Greystanes (5/82)

This round of MCS cricket, the St Gregory’s College 7B team were facing off against St Pauls Greystanes. It was a very hot day at Clarke Reserve and the umpires decided to bring the overs down to 18 for both teams, but that didn’t deter the students from both schools giving it their all on the field. St Greg’s won the toss and elected to bat and put up a respectable total of 87 runs with only 1 wicket lost. During the second innings, Greystanes struggled to get off the mark as their top 3 batsmen were out for 11 runs, totalling just 24 runs after 9 overs. Greystanes really picked up their game in the next 9 overs scoring a total of 82 runs within the 18 overs. They were helped by the 26 sundries given by St Greg’s. Regardless, St Greg’s were still able to take home the win with 6 runs to spare. 

MVP: Jackson Mills (Donovan)

Mr K. Singh

1st Grade Basketball has a bye

2nd Grade Basketball (48) were defeated by St Andrews (54)

Unfortunately, no team report was submitted this week. Another loss for the team last week. Even though they sit at the bottom of the table, I urge the boys to continue to work hard as individuals and as a team, to grind out each game and hopefully we will start to roll our opposition.

Mr Cook

Year 9 Basketball (40) defeated St John Paul II (30)

After a pair of hard-fought victories in the first two rounds, the boys found themselves up against John Paul II from Schofields. We started the game slowly but took a 25-15 lead into halftime. Our defence wasn't as cohesive as previous weeks and the boys from JPII were certainly giving as good as they got in an at times chippy affair. That lead was due in large part to a trifecta of three-pointers from Isaac Puse, all banked in off the backboard! I'm not sure Isaac will manage to do that again in his entire basketball career! However, Isaac's shooting is no fluke, last week he hit three from behind the arc in the first half against Trinity. His leadership at the top of the full-court press and valuable contributions via his shooting are keeping us in games. Isaac is improving considerably this season and we look forward to him impacting basketball games for St Gregory's over the next couple of years. The second half was scrappy, to say the least, but the boys remained composed with some more strong leadership from Jake Wright. We didn't reach the heights of the previous two games with this performance, but we learned a great deal about where we can improve and ultimately got the job done. Well done boys. On to next week!

MVP: Isaac Puse (Kilian)

Mr Limbrey

Year 8 Basketball (54) defeated St John Paul II (30)

It was a tough match against this team last year so we knew that we had to come out strong from the start. Even though we were in the lead throughout the entire first half St John Paul were really keeping themselves within striking distance. It was extremely hot in the stadium and it seemed that it was getting the better of us. But then in the second half, Taj was working hard at both ends of the court which then inspired to team to lift to that next level quickly increasing the gap on the scoreboard and not letting up. A great hard-fought game.

MVP: Taj Stapleton (Donovan)

Mrs Giles

Year 7 Basketball (36) defeated St John Paul II (33)

Coming off the back of straight wins, I ensured that the boys remained focused in this game. Minto stadium was stifling hot but we were ready for the challenge of maintaining our winning streak. We began the match with an injury to Noah which forced us to make a last-minute change to the 1st 5...LEON gets the call-up. After starting from the side due to COVID, we run the ball up and Kai sinks our 1st basket. We then run off with a 9 point lead thanks to some AWESOME hustling from Leon and co. The opposition then clawed their way back and now it was a neck and neck offensive game. With some solid rebounds by Lucas, Mitchel and Jaxon we head into the 2nd half 3 points ahead and needing to sub Lucas due to his foul count. The 2nd half sees an enormous tussle where the score goes back and forth with us leading and then trailing by 3. After some fine passing by our twins, Cody and Parker, and great hustling by Leon, we narrowly scrape through with a win. They say a win is a win, but if I am going to be honest,  we didn't play our best game. We will need to be sharper next round! Well done lads in what was very very hot conditions.

MVP: Leon Kelly (Donovan)

Mr Ivancic

Latest Sport Information – 2021 NSW CCC Calendar dates

To ensure you remain up to date with the latest sports news, please use the following link to access the Catholic Schools NSW Sport website.

Some NSW All Schools events are scheduled to take place this year. Please check to ensure you don’t miss out on these sports opportunities.

Trial dates for several sports are already confirmed for 2021 and I would recommend you investigate the dates and venues for your respective sports.

CSNSW website - https://csnsw.sport/news/events-suspended

School Sport Australia website - http://www.schoolsportaustralia.edu.au/blog/2020/03/23/ssa-announces-cancellation-of-2020-championships/

Yours in Sport