Clontarf Academy

Taatee Shield

The last fortnight has been a bit of a rollercoaster for the Clontarf. With the local footy finals kicking off we have had some smiles and some sad faces present on a Monday morning. Thankfully, there is always Clontarf footy to keep the boys motivated and the Clontarf boys had a lot to play for on Tuesday with the Taatee Shield being held at lunch. 

The Taatee Shield has traditionally been played during reconciliation week, it is a great coming together of boys from all backgrounds to share in a common love — footy. This was a special day for the Clontarf lads as they got to break out their new playing kit which was designed by 2023 Alumni Cobain Tipiloura. 

Prior to the game the boys circled up and were treated to a rousing speech from College principal Mr Steven O’Connor, who spoke about the importance of recognising the role our Indigenous boys play within the College. 

In very windy conditions the game was played at a fast pace. The first half saw the St Pat’s All Stars scoring strongly, good ball use from their midfield ensured it was tough for the Clontarf lads to defend. By the time half time had arrived a solid crowd had turned up to see the Clontarf boys down by 20 points. The second half saw the opposite with the Clontarf lads coming home with a wet sail to come out five-point victors. There were a number of standouts for the Clontarf side but Jack Donohoe, TJ Wortley and Tyler Kelly were the standouts in tough conditions.

Reece Plumbing visit

On Monday afternoon we took a group down to our local Reece Plumbing store for a behind the scenes look. It was great to link up with Reece and they spoke to the boys about the ins and outs of working with Reece, including the school based traineeships on offer. Reece is a long time partner of Clontarf and have employed many of our boys over the journey. The commitment our partners like Reece show is terrific for our boys and they provide an opportunity for our lads to get into variety of industry.

King of the Table

We are closing in on crowning the Clontarf King of the Table with the grand final to be held next Thursday. It was a pretty fiery quarter final between Mr Ebbels and Mr Nash with the latter coming in as favourite for this match up. Unforced errors cost Mr Nash  dearly with Mr Ebbels moving into the semis comfortably before Will James did a quick dispatch job on the last of our wildcard entries. Will carried his hot form after a big win over last year's King of the Table in Brandon Triangolo. On the other side of the draw Greg Bush defeated Cliffy Ogilvie in a tight game and Requan Taylor had a comfortable victory over Juraiya Calma-Long. The semi was much anticipated with a very high standard being played. Bushy’s ability to move up a gear when required saw him take out his semi with the game of the tournament so far. We wish both Will and Bushy good luck for next week's final.