Rugby

Term 3 saw a very busy couple of months jam packed into just 9 weeks. During this time we competed in the Boys and Girls Rugby Vic comps, NRL 9’s and 13 aside competitions and state finals. This consisted of many students backing up and playing multiple games during the same week as well as representative honours and club finals. Despite the number of games and sore bodies we had a number of mixed results which under trying circumstances was very impressive. Below is a summary of each competition.

Rugby Vic U16 & Open Boys: 

This was a 3 part miniature tournament played over 6 weeks with games being held each fortnight. Our first round was in Endeavour Hills where we had 2 close games and one blowout. The 18’s narrowly lost to the combined Sunshine/Lara Secondary College team despite having 10 players the boys played a fast paced game narrowly losing 22-12. Our 16’s also faced Lara and it was a similar result with Lara winning 22-17. The 16’s then took on The Grange who played some free flowing rugby and ran out winners 64-10.Week 2 saw us travel to Wyndham City Rhinos where the 16’s had 2 impressive wins over Mernda and Sunshine whilst the 18’s were beaten by The Grange 32-10. This meant that neither side progressed to the cup Play off in Reservoir for the finals. All participants played each game in the right spirit and it was great to see some new fresh faces play their first games of rugby for the school.

Rugby Vic Rebel Shield Under 16 girls was a 5 week competition which saw our girls go up against 2 other schools. Due to a lack of numbers from injury and representative duties our participation was limited but the girls managed to play some exciting Rugby. Round 1 saw us travel to Endeavour Hills to take on Narre Warren Secondary College where we started our campaign with a win 22-10. Due to a lack of numbers we had to forfeit rounds 2 and 3 but we were able to make a game verse Sunshine College where we were again the victors. The girls showed fantastic sportsmanship to lend players to Sunshine College demonstrating true Melton Secondary spirit. Again it was so nice to see so many new faces playing their first games for the school.

NRL 9’s After progressing to the state finals 3 of our teams played a gala day at Seabrook Reserve Broadmeadows. Our U16 Boys competed the whole day with just 8 players and after winning all their round games they were narrowly beaten by Hampton Park who eventually won the competition. The senior boys lost in the final to Craigieburn Secondary College finishing 2025 as the 9 aside runners up. Our Under 18 Girls beat Craigieburn 12 points to 4 before losing their other round match to Staughton 4-0. This meant that we would play the cross town rivals in the final. After a back and fourth try for try game the Under 18 girls snatched victory in the dying minutes with a well executed kick to Leilani Petaia who flew down the wing narrowly staying in the field of play to score the match winning try making our Under 18 girls team the 9 aside State Champions for 2025.

NRL 13 aside event saw both our Senior teams qualify for the State Finals and had the privilege to meet and chat with Ex NRL stars Dale Finucane and Clinton Toopi who gave an excellent presentation on Mental Health in sport. Unfortunately the girls game was forfeited which meant that again the girls were the Under 18 Storm Trophy holders. The boys took on Craigieburn Secondary College in a rematch from the final of last year and in a gruelling tight affair we were lucky enough to win 22 points to 12. This meant that we defended our 2024 title. Matthew Sauao was recognised as Player of the Final and we will look to defend this next year.

Our Under 16’s and 14’s Boys both won their qualifiers to progress to the State Finals and demonstrated great teamwork and spirit as there were limited numbers for each team. After winning their first game verse Mt Ridley College the Under 14’s narrowly lost their second game to Tarneit. The Under 16 boys played with 12 players the whole day and after winning all of their pool games they came up against a strong Hallam side in the Semi-Final. Hallam proving to be too good on the day winning 16-12. Special shout out to New Year Sene and Axl Portelli who stepped up and played games for both teams.

That’s our Rugby Wrap for 2025, see you all in the New Year!