Sport News

Opportunities to compete for a 1st premiership do not come lightly for any school. After last weekend's 3 sets to love win by our 1st VI Volleyball against SPLC, we all eagerly await their game against St Patrick's College on Saturday. A win would ensure an outright premiership for our 1st Volleyball team, a feat not achieved since 2017, when our current captain, Toby Bergh had his brother lead us to an undefeated premiership. The boys are ready to go as we head out to Shorncliffe for this premiership fixture. We also are competing for the Volleyball Aggregate but it will require all our Volleyball teams to be at their absolute best this Saturday. We are aiming for a clean sweep, which would ensure our first Volleyball Aggregate since 2005. 

Our 1st XVIII AFL are attempting to go for four straight wins this Friday afternoon when they play St Pat's at Sandgate. The improvement on show from our 1st AFL team has been a genuine reflection of a sport that continues to develop and integrate into our overall sports program. It will be interesting to watch the Ashgrove Eagles brand develop over the next few years. Our coaches' passion has allowed for the AFL program to advance this season and the interest from our student body continues to surge. 

Similarly, our cricketers are hoping to finish off the season on a good note. MCA didn't fare as well as we would have liked against SPLC last weekend, which hindered our quest for the overall Cricket Aggregate. Stranger things have happened, but it will require every aggregate team to post wins if we are to chase down Villanova, who are currently leading the Cricket Aggregate. We wish all teams the very best this weekend as we approach the final round of AIC Cricket, AFL and Volleyball. 

The positive culture we have and create within our College can go a long way to enhancing our sports program. Supporting our teammates and other teams, displaying work ethic at training, respecting the coach, wanting to improve and being resilient are all positive attributes we are looking to instil in our boys and develop through their involvement in sport. Building and maintaining this type of culture within our students will give them the confidence to back themselves and put in the extra effort needed to get tough. MCA has a reputation for the way we compete in every battle on the sporting field. Let's continue that legacy as we fight for a win in every game we play this weekend across all sports. 

The Sports Office is continuing to plan and prepare for the upcoming rugby and football seasons. All boys wishing to play Term 2 Sport (Rugby, Football, Cross-Country and Chess) should have signed on by now. If some reason you have not done this, please contact the respective coordinators to add your name to the list with your student number and year level:

Rugby – David Miles milesda@marash.qld.edu.au 

Football – Jamie Morgan morganj@marash.qld.edu.au 

Cross-Country – Brendan Furdek furdekb@marash.qld.edu.au 

Chess – Dan Bull bulld@marash.qld.edu.au 

A complete list of all players who have signed on for rugby and football is now posted on the College app and also on the College Noticeboard. May I please ask parents and students to check the list and contact the respective coordinator if a name does not appear, is misspelt or otherwise. 

UNIFORM SHOP

Extended hours to account for upcoming rugby/football season (looking to make sure all boys are kitted out for trials on Saturday 20 March).

Term 1 Week 8

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday – 7:30 am to 12:00 pm 

Wednesday – 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Term 1 Week 9

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday – 7:30 am to 12:00 pm 

Wednesday – 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENTS

A few weeks ago, Matthew Magnussen competed at the 2021 Shannon Eckstein Ironman Classic (which was combined with the Summer of Surf series). This was a massive carnival heavily sponsored by Shaw and Partners and hosted by Northcliffe SLSC, with over $100,000 in prize money - nearly all of this for the Opens (winners of the Open Iron, male and female, won $20,000 each), open to competitors from all over Australia.  The surf was big (5 foot), the conditions tough and plenty of talented competition.  Matt won the U17 Iron and $1000 prize money.  Well done Matt! 

AFL

1st XVIII

The 1st XVIII AFL played St Peters for the first time wanting to leave the impression we were a good team who were hard at the footy and used the footy well. 

St Peters scored the game's first goal, and the MCA boys kicked the next three with Ned Rosenbrock and Dwayne Ludwick settling the side posting majors to give the boys a good lead at ¼ time. MCA furthered their lead in second, scoring another two goals to nil and heading into the main change with a 27 point lead.

At half time we had a chat about getting a big win as we had winners all over the ground.

Munroe Wood had four clearances inside the first five minutes of the third quarter, and Dwayne Ludwick and Ned Rosenbrock posted two more majors as we kicked four goals to one. We continued our dominance in the final quarter and ran out comfortable 52 point winners. It was pleasing to see the boys run out our strong performance, rotating many players through the midfield and having a large spread of goalkickers. 

Best players were: Dwayne Ludwick, Munroe Wood, Mason Houlihan, Jackson Grounds, Aiden O’Connell. 

Goalkickers: Dwayne Ludwick 4, Ned Rosenbrock 3, Jackson Grounds, Mason Houlihan, Patrick Mahony, Cooper Thomas, Oscar Burg 1. 

MCA 8/9s Intermediates vs Padua B

An excellent team effort from the 8/9s team to show their Marist values against a Padua development team that had often been comprehensively beaten in their matches this AIC season. 

A number of players were quite willing to pull on a Padua guernsey when Padua ran short due to injuries to keep the game going. Thomas Williams and Dom Forbes played very well in the brown and gold! Thank you boys.  A very classy gesture and true sportsmanship.

New boarder Harry Laing was outstanding as a constant goal threat and ably supported in the forward lines by Lachlan Berwick, Harry Kemp, Jacob Harper, Nate Hughes, Oscar Pittman and Jackson Williams.

Wingman Aussie Gillett was a constant threat off the wing with his long raking left foot punts into the forward half. 

There were many rotations and different spots for the players to experience, which was great for their own AFL development. 

Next week is the last game vs St Patrick's and a chance to sew up 2nd position on the AIC ladder. 

Goalkickers - Oscar Pittman, Jackson Williams, Thomas Williams 2, Austin Gillett, Thomas Howard, Jacob Harper 2, Lachlan Berwick and Harry Kemp. Best - Harry Laing, Thomas Williams, Thomas Howard, Max Caughley, Austin Gillett, Jacob Harper, Jackson Williams, James Milner, Archibald Forbes, Alexander McNamara.

MCA 7A vs 7B AFL – Round 6 

Round 6 saw the 7A’s take on the MCA 7B’s, in what was an excellent hit out.  It was a quick start out of the blocks for the 7B’s with two early goals in the first half it took a lot of effort for the 7A’s to bounce back.  The second half saw a resurgence from the 7A’s kicking ahead by four points at the end of the third quarter. 

Ultimately the 7A’s held out against their opponent and finished off the game(a lesson learned against Iona last round). The game finished with a score of 23 -13 and has further proved to us that the future of MCA AFL is strong with over 50 boys available in this age group and keen to learn and improve their AFL craft. 

Cricket

Round 6 we played host to St Peters Lutheran College, which for the majority of our 1st XI squad was their last home game at MCA. It was one to remember with the 1st XI winning by 43 runs and a total of seven aggregate wins for the program. 

Below are a few words from our 1st XI Captain Jacob Kumaru:

Round 6 brought about a dominant display over St Peters for our last match on home soil. On a challenging wicket, we scraped to 134 all out in the 48th over thanks to Cooper Mackie (38 off 72 balls), Baxter White (23 off 53 balls) and Darcy Lewis (21 off 64 balls). 

The boys defended the total well dismissing Peter’s for 91 in 35.1 overs. Baxter (2/21 off 8 overs), Marcus Zipf (2/11 off 5 overs) and Nathan Armitage (2/14 off 6 overs) led the bowling attack with wickets to Jesse O'Neill and Jacob Kumaru as well. 

10A

Winning the toss, MCA would bat first and put on a shaky 91 runs after 35 overs. Credit to Harry Marshall (21), Michael Garske (10), and Xavier Evans (13) for steadying the ship, holding off a relentless St Peter’s bowling attack. St Peters would get it done in 23 overs, 4 down. MCA put up a fight early but it wasn’t good enough in the end. St Peter’s won by 6 wickets. 

9A

St Peters proved that the 9A’s competition is a fiercely contested as any premiership race in the AIC. Ashgrove looked shaky with the bat early before Leo Henry and Lachlan McCall were able to put on 90 together to enable us to climb to a first innings score of 8-151. 

A fantastic start with the ball was all in vain as St Peters fought hard and hit everything in the gaps to chase down the total on the last ball of the match. 

8A

St Peters provided a great batting wicket on arrival. We batted first and achieved lengthy partnerships throughout the innings. This has been a goal of the 8A's throughout the year to date with many innings being broken beyond repair. However, Saturday was different, impressive batting from Xavier Howard, Sebastian Gardiner and Braidyn Polich insured MCA a competitive total of 131. St Peters started slowly with tight bowling allowing the MCA team to squeeze the life out of the game. The score at drinks was 1/38 as the chase seemed all too much for the home side. Unfortunately, poor bowling and fielding spelt danger for the very near future. With six overs to go the home side needed 42 runs (7 runs per over). The MCA boys have prided themselves on their ability to bowl with discipline, however, the pressure of the game saw an unbelievable display of momentum and how that affects skill acquisition. Boys who had been relentless all day became wayward and others who would execute skills 9 times out of 10 were lost at sea. The game was eventually won by St Peters as they chased down 96 runs off 90 balls after drinks.

7A

Congratulations to the boys on a hard-fought victory on Saturday that came down to the final ball of the day. St Peters won the toss and batted first. Our bowlers did well to keep St Peters to 5/137, an achievable target on a ground with short boundaries. Harry Clay was outstanding with the ball with taking 1 for 15 off 6 overs. Our run chase began well with solid contributions from Jonah Wilde (32) and Will Easter (16).  We found ourselves within striking distance needing 41 runs off the final 30 balls. Matt Stephens then smashed four boundaries in a row on his way to 32 and Harry Clay knocked a swashbuckling 15 off 9 balls. Needing one run to win off the final ball it was never in doubt as Toby McCormack nudged the ball in close and took off for a quick single making his ground by the closest of margins. Needless to say, the boys celebrated with gusto.

7B

Ashgrove won the toss and elected to bat, searching for their sixth win of the season and taking one step closer to that elusive undefeated premiership. Openers Leo Morris and Jimmy Garden got the boys off to a cracking start, with Leo making 36 and Jimmy retiring on 50*. The stage was then set for Matthew Murdoch and Harry Franklin to come in and make a quick 26* and 11* respectively to close our innings at 1/153 (30). Extremely tidy spells from our opening bowlers once again put the pressure right back on the opposition. This was capitalised on by Lachlan Nisbett (3/8 off 4.4), Fletcher Carlson (2/8 off 3) and Angus Shay (2/4 off 3), who helped the Ashgrove boys end St Peters innings 10/51 (27.4).

Swimming

A recent sit down with the swimming captains.

Chess

Coordinator - Daniel Bull bulld@marash.qld.edu.au 

Chess trials will begin in Week 8 on Tuesday afternoon in Room 403 straight after school. They will continue on Thursday afternoon. This will occur in Week 9 and Tuesday Week 10 as well. There is a lot of interest in the chess team with only 20 spots available in the senior school and 8 in the junior school.

If you would like to be on the team for 2021 please ensure to come to the trials.

Cross Country

Coordinator - Brendan Furdek furdekb@marash.qld.edu.au 

Cross country is off to a cracking start this season with an excellent response from students during our Season Launch Runs last week. We had over 160 boys participate in the program across five days, which made for a well-deserved BBQ breakfast on Friday morning. After participating in quick race distance runs and continuous hill sprints, the students got a taste of how tough XC training will be. It was great to see all the boys push themselves to the limits, and we look forward to an exciting season ahead. A special thanks must go to Mr Shane Ward and all squad supervisors who assisted throughout the week and kept everything under control, and ensured a safe and fun experience for all. Please find below Staff Coordinators and squad supervisors for the 2021 XC season.

• Head Coach – Mr Shane Ward
• Assistant Coordinator – Mr Harry Hunter
• Age Group Coordinators – Mr Calum Mackay (Year 10 – Opens), Mr Jakub Funk (Year 7 – 9) and Mr Brendan Saunders (Year 5 & 6)
• Squad Supervisors - Mr Liam Bacon, Mr Jordy Chugg, Mr Corey Lucas, Mr Harry Lyons, Mr Tyler Newell, Mr Tyler Borham, Mr Ben Roden Cohen, Mr James Clarke

This week, we settle into more normality with our XC Training program, which can be found on the College App. Training A will occur on Monday/ Tuesdays, which will involve rep/interval running and Training B will occur on Wednesday/Thursdays, including hill repeats followed by a long run Friday morning. Students are expected to attend one Training A session and one Training B session per week. Boys who are not participating in another Term 2 sports are encouraged to do two more additional race distance runs off training days. However, this cannot be done a day before XC training day. If boys need further clarity on training requirements or additional sessions, please contact Mr. Ward.

Students are to arrive at the Pool at 6:30 am for check-in for a 6:45 am start to training, and we aim to finish before 7:45 am for cool down to ensure students can get ready for school. 

Later this week, a Cross Country handbook will be published via the college app with all uniform requirements, season calendar, and XC meets. 

Happy Running!

Rugby Union

Coordinator - David Miles milesda@marash.qld.edu.au 

The sounds of footy boots stomping through the playground as boys make their way to the ovals after school has begun! There is always a sense of excitement amongst our students when the rugby season starts, and we are looking forward to our boys returning to a full season in 2021 after last year’s shortened competition. Next week we will commence the official rugby union season. It is hard to believe how quickly the season has arrived, and we know that after last year’s shortened competition, everyone is looking forward to playing as many games as possible.

Organisation – are you ready?

Please make sure you have organised or are organising this week your jersey, playing shorts, boots, MOUTHGUARD and any other protective gear you may require. Please do not leave it until the last minute.

Training/Trial information

Coordinators and coaches are busy locking in our training/trial schedules for the remainder of Term 1 and will meet with each year level later this week to distribute this information. 

College App – All rugby information will be posted on the College app so please make sure you are subscribed to receive the correct notifications regarding your son’s year level and the sport of rugby union.

Student-free day clinic – MONDAY MARCH 15

MCA in partnership with NextGen Rugby is pleased to be offering rugby clinics for our junior students on Monday 15 March which is our College student free day.

The venue will be HAYDEN OVAL and the session times will be as follows:

• 8:15 am – 10:15 am           Year 5 & 6
• 10:30 am – 12:30 pm        Year 7 & 8

For all students this will form 2 hours of our College rugby-ready program where we promote rugby safety through the following focus areas:

• Safety in contact – ball carry, falling safely, presentation, cleanout technique & safety, tackle technique
• Breakdown laws
• Scrum safety – scrum/body position, binds, mayday, referee calls, etc
• Skills – catch & pass, running lines, attack alignment

 Please bring the following gear:

• Any jersey, rugby shorts, socks & boots
• Mouthguard
• Water bottle – named please!
• Any protective gear you may require

 We look forward to seeing as many boys as possible who are playing rugby this year attending.

Some important dates for the remainder of this term:

• Tuesday 16 March: Year level training and trials commence
• Saturday 20 March: Internal College trials (McMahon & Hayden ovals). Times TBC and published on the College app
• Monday 22 March: Friday 26 March - Training in teams
• Saturday 27 March: Full College trials vs Padua College (Home)

Results

AFL Results Round 6

Cricket Results Round 6

Volleyball Results Round 6