Sport News

Mr Derek Lennon, Head of Sport

Another great weekend of sport last week with the 1st XVIII kicking off on Friday night with a very strong win against a gallant Ambrose Treacy College. The boys were too strong and blew off the cobwebs in a good performance that sets them up well for a tough week with Padua and Iona on Wednesday and Friday nights respectively this week. Our 1st VI were brave and fought to the end in an electric atmosphere at Iona on Saturday, going down in three tight sets. With Villa losing again, it is everything to play for against St Peters at home this weekend. The First XI played good cricket throughout and were the better team for 80 of the 100 overs only to see the match slip away in the final hour thanks to a terrific lower-order partnership from Iona. Congratulations to Will Nickelson on scoring his maiden 1st XI century.

Across the board our results were mixed against Iona. For me looking at this without emotion, it is evidence that: 1. Iona has grown in size to match our student numbers and 2. They have invested in developing their sporting program across the board. This is evidence for me that in order for Marist to maintain our strong tradition in AIC sport we do need to improve our processes, procedures and development work. For the last six months I have been sharing our renewed expectations of the boys and the community. You can rest assured that we are also working behind the scenes to develop our ability and our resources to support the development of our students to grow as both young men and as athletes.

It is my personal philosophy that taking care of the details, being organised, being prepared and planned, and building a culture of commitment, hard work and honesty means the result takes care of itself. We expect to win, but we do not focus on it. We expect to compete but we are respectful and have integrity. We expect to be champions but we are humble and gracious

The rugby community may have noticed the new Rugby Handbook, published on the College App last Friday. The Football Handbook will be appearing in the coming days. These documents are evidence, along with the renewed selection policies in cricket and football, of the direction we are taking in providing better and more consistent communication. Staff are also now starting to work on new development plans for each sport so we have a plan for how we want to play, how we coach and what objectives we need to have in each cohort to achieve these goals. This type of work takes time to develop but it is an exciting time to be a part of sport at Marist right now and I look forward to watching all our programs grow over the next five years.

Thank you to everyone for the significantly improved dress standards on Saturdays and training from our players and our spectators. I know I keep going on about it but for me how we present ourselves affects how we are perceived by others, but also how we feel about ourselves. We can be better, but it certainly has been a great start to the year on this front. Thank you also to those who have tried to get it right and have hit roadblocks along the way. We are supportive of you and are working with our partners to continue to improve what we do.

This weekend we host St Peters on Saturday. All three of our premier teams are in the hunt for honours and the boys would appreciate your support. The AFL boys play Iona at Iona- 4:45pm start, cricket is on McMahon all day and the volleyball is 12:30 in the Champagnat Centre.

Wet Weather and Cancellations

We will attempt to play to train and play all games.

Should the weather be inclement, a decision will be made by 6am for morning training sessions and 2.30pm for afternoon training sessions. A decision for whether game days will proceed will be communicated by 6.30am.

All communication around wet weather and cancellations will be via the Marist College app.

Registration Process

All players who want to play a sport must register on Student Café during the sign up period in the term before the AIC competition occurs. Parents need to approve this through Parent Lounge.

It is vitally important that all players sign up. We have to nominate team numbers to the AIC and recruit suitable coaches before we start trials. The information we use to do this is the numbers per cohort we see signed up for each sport.

Boys who have not signed up during the registration period will not be guaranteed an opportunity to participate.

Signing Up

Sign in to Student Café; select Extra Curricular; select Sign-up Available; choose the sport you want to play and complete any additional fields as required.

Parent Approval

Sign in to Parent Lounge; select Extra Curricular; click Sign-up Now; select Approve Sign-Up and check and update medical details; click Accept; choose Update; click Submit to School.

To view the details your son has signed up for at Student Details/Extra Curricular.

Track and Field - Mr Richard Graham (Director of Rugby and Track and Field)

Some of the best Marist College Track and Field students are continuing their preparations in the lead-up to 2023 Queensland Athletics Track and Field Championships. The Championship which will run from March 9-12 is a key event in the athletics calendar.

In the Garry Brown Shield Meet on February 11, a number of the students posted personal best times whilst others posted strong results in a heavy training block. Congratulations to the following students:

Connor Campbell

100m – 12.44 sec (PB)

200m – 24.72 sec (PB)

200m Hurdles – 29.16 sec (PB)

Isaac Ting

200m Hurdles – 28.56 sec (PB)

Joel Drew

400m Hurdles – 55.05 sec

Xavier Simms

100m – 11.52 sec

200m – 23.25 sec

James Prole

800m – 1.58.42 sec (PB)

Asher Parkin

800m – 2.05.08 sec

Lee Martin

Discuss - 40.92m

With an event free weekend, the students took the opportunity to continue refining their preparation with Mr Rob Martin (Head Coach – Track and Field) in the lead-up to another Shield Meet this coming weekend.

At the same time, Zac Milligan competed in the U15-U18 division of the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst. Over the 4km event, Zac finished 3rd in a time of 00:14:28 minutes. A fantastic achievement!

We wish all our Track and Field representatives the best over the next few weeks.

AFL - Mr Derek Lennon

1st XVIII v Ambrose Treacy

Our game against ATC didn’t start in the best way with ATC getting on top of us in the first quarter to take a lead at first break. From then on our midfield got on top and our forwards attacked the ball well and played in front. There were strong performances by Tom Williams down back, Ollie Cottam in the ruck and Jack Urquhart up forward. We have a big week ahead with games against Padua Wednesday and Iona Friday which will have a big impact on the success of our season.

Round 3 v Iona College

The program was in full swing last Saturday against Iona. It was a tough set of matches, much like the cricket and volleyball, with Iona continuing to strengthen across the whole sporting landscape. Having a home ground is also an advantage for them. Well done to our boys who persevered and displayed true Marist spirit of competing to the end. Well done to the 8Bs for your first win of the season.

Our new Year 8 coaches shared this with us this week which I think is worth sharing with the community as it highlights how welcoming they have felt by the AFL community here at Marist and encouragement to the boys to keep going.

We are enjoying the coaching role at Marist. The kids are fantastic, well behaved and very keen to learn the game. There are some kids with an AFL background and experience, but most are new to AFL or play in a lower division at club level.

Given the AFL structures the other schools have, this group is doing extremely well, putting up a contest every week. The As just lack the body and skills to compete for four quarters at their level but the Bs have been very competitive with their first win yesterday. Fantastic effort given the number of kids in the Bs are new to AFL.

What is exciting about this Year 8 group is that if we can keep them together, encourage them to develop their skills and knowledge through lower division club footy, they are going to be improved players for Year 9/10 2024 and perhaps competitive at a senior's school level by 2025.

Volleyball - Mr Adam Knight (Volleyball Coordinator)

By Jude Knapp (Volleyball Captain)

In Round one, the boys played their first game against a reigning premiership team from Villanova. With the boys very keen to start the season well in front of a home crowd. The boys knew that the game would be a tough one. At the commencement of the match, we were shown early that the game will be a long one. After narrowly losing the first set, we bounced back well taking out the second. Again, point for point with the other team we narrowly got another set win. Trying to take the game out in the fourth set villa proved to strong and took the fourth narrowly 26-24. Meaning that it all went down to the fifth set, where we show our strength as a team and won the game 15-13 in front of a great atmosphere. The game going for a not often seen two and a half hours.

In the next weeks match against Padua at home once again the boys wanted to make a real season start and go back-to-back against strong opponents. Off the back of a tight match the week before we wanted to make sure the game wasn’t as stressful as the last. After winning the first two sets comfortably we wanted to make the game end quickly, winning in three. But Padua shown a great fight taking out the third set taking a straight set win off the table. Though proving tough in the third, the boys turn it around in the fourth taking out the match 3-1.

Making the trek to Iona for the next round, after a hard-fought battle Iona were the better team and we didn’t come away with a win.

Moving onto to this week we are back at home against a very strong St Peters team and it should be a very great match of volleyball.

Cricket - Mr Mitch Reid

By Benjamin Ferguson, 1st XI Captain

Marist won the toss and elected to bat first playing away at Iona.

Wex and Piper withstood some great bowling early before Piper unluckily gloved one down leg side to the keeper when the score was on 22 in the 7th over. Nickelson then joined Wex at the crease as the two of them enjoyed a 113 run partnership before Tom Wex was dismissed for 51. Ferguson and Nickelson then went about increasing the run tempo before Ferguson held out to a catch square of the wicket. Brandon also provided a quickfire innings of 21 off 17 to keep the momentum moving. Nickelson played a great innings batting through 43 overs to reach 114no and took Marist to 272 off our 50 over allocation.

During the lunch break we lost Tom Wex who was raced to hospital with a heart scare and Jack Watson was substituted into the game from the 10A’s alongside Braiden Polich who fielded for Louis Morris.

After lunch Marist started strongly removing the Iona captain who scored 245no the week prior. Tom Davies was able to rip through the top order with some great length bowling ably supported by Laner and Cleary in their opening spells. Iona slumped to 4/48 after 12 overs and Marist appeared well on top. As well as wickets tumbling, Iona also had to retire one of their key batsman with cramp. With their backs to the wall though their opening bowler and keeper started to find the fence in what is a very difficult oval to defend with the square boundaries being only 30 meters long on both sides. Both players set a new tempo and Marist found it hard to contain the run flow. Malpass their key batsman returned from cramp and took things up a notch with another bowler who belted 82 off 62 to seal victory for the home team in what ended up being a very convincing win.

We had some tough chances which we didn’t seize but to be fair to Iona’s lower order they did time the ball beautifully and momentum was hard to arrest. Iona deserved their victory as many teams would drop their heads at 4/48 however their home crowd support kept cheering them on and they kept believing.

Congratulations to Flynn Cleary on his debut and receiving his baggy blue. Special mention to Morris who once again bowled a beautiful 10 over spell going for only 31 runs.

We will work hard during the week in preparation to take on St Peters. The competition is wide open with at least 4 sides who are capable of winning the premiership and Iona are yet to pay two of these sides. We know we need to get better and more ruthless to capitalise on these early wickets we continue to take each week.

Nickelson 114 (129)

Wex 51 (83)

Ferguson 41 (49)

Davies 3/44 off 9 overs

Lewis 2/57 off 9 overs

Rugby Union - Mr Richard Graham (Director of Rugby and Track and Field)

Rugby Ready Program

A big thank you to the Marist College rugby union community for their support of the Rugby Ready Program. In what is already a demanding schedule for a significant number of staff and students, the amount of positive feedback for the program has been overwhelming.

Thank you to the large group of Year 8 boys who started the Rugby Ready Program yesterday morning and to the fantastic coaching staff who ran Stage 1 of the 4-week progression.

Can I please remind students the need to be dressed in the correct uniform. From the start we have set high expectations and we will continue to drive this message throughout the rugby union season. Please see the Marist app for clear guidelines for the Rugby Ready Program and the AIC season.

Smart Rugby

A huge vote of thanks to the Marist College rugby union coaching community. The coaching staff have been working hard in the background to make this season a safe, challenging and enjoyable experience for the students. Over the weekend they attended a Smart Rugby Workshop delivered by the QRU followed by “The Marist Way” forum delivered by Mr Richard Graham.

Whilst a number of our coaches have the highest coaching accreditation in the country – Level 4; all coaches are required to hold a Smart Rugby accreditation.

Smart Rugby is Rugby Australia’s “Work, Health and Safety” program.

This year the rugby union program is delivering an integrated approach that aligns all year groups here at the College. “The Marist Way” includes a number of the following areas -

Game style
Training guide and support
Common language
Expectations and standards

The coaching staff look forward to delivering this in the up and coming season.

Football - Mr Derek Lennon (Football Coordinator)

Preparations are underway for the 2023 AIC football season. The Football Handbook will be available on the college app in the coming days. This will be a great source of information for the season, without being too overwhelming and I encourage all boys and parents to read it.

The selection policy is also on the app, along with the calendar for the season. Our First XI extended squad are well on the way to selecting their final team for the Easter camp and then the AIC season, with trial matches starting this week against strong opposition. Trials for A teams will start in the coming weeks so look out for notices in the daily notices, the college app and the newsletter. Trials for all other players will commence towards the end of the term.

Trial v St Joseph’s College

I am highlighting the trial v Terrace on Saturday 15 April. We would like to make that as close to a full set of matches as possible, with our A-C teams in each cohort playing. This will be important to our season preparations.

Referee Program

A part of my mandate as football coordinator is to provide opportunities for boys to experience the game beyond just playing the game. We ask all our recent Old Boys if they would like to coach, and as well as helping us out managing such a big program, we offer opportunities for boys who want to try out refereeing to be further involved in the game and earn some pocket money.

All NEW and RETURNING student referees are to come to a meeting on this Friday 24/2 at the second half of First Break in room 108 to register and learn more about the process.

Cross Country - Mr Mitch Reid (Cross Country Coordinator)

Cross Country training for 2023 has started this week. Please see the College App for Week 4 training details. Please also see below for an outline of Term 1 training:

All students from Year 5-12 will train together in one squad.

Location: Marist College Pool

(each session with start at the pool and the students warm up at the training venue for that session. Cross country uses a number of different locations within the College to train – Cameron oval, McMahon oval, Des Connor Park etc.).

Time: Students to meet at 6:35am to start at 6:45am

(Please do not be late or students will miss the start of the warm up)

Sign in: Students need to sign in to each session with their student ID card.

Uniform: Students are to wear Marist branded sport or PE uniform.

After training: Students are welcomed to bring their swimmers for a quick swim after the session if time permits.

Training Structure

Training is divided into two categories:

Training A - Monday & Tuesday

Training B - Wednesday & Thursday

Number of sessions per week: Students are expected to attend one Training A and one Training B session each week

Example of training days students can attend:

Monday and Wednesday
Monday and Thursday
Tuesday and Thursday

This structure allows students to have a rest day between sessions and to complete different types of training. Students should not attend two training sessions in a row.

Extra Training: All students should be attending a minimum of two sessions per week. Students who are not participating in another Term 1 or 2 sport are encouraged to do two additional race distance runs at easy pace. Students looking for extra training advice are to contact Mr Shane Ward and Mr Mitch Reid.

Tennis – Mr Andrew Ward (Director of Tennis)

What is on at the courts this week

Training of all our squads is well underway this term with huge improvements across all year levels.

In our coaching debriefs we all talked about the improvement and maturity that some of our Year 6 boys are showing with their attitude to not only train but also step up and become leaders and role models.

This year for AIC competition we are looking at rewarding students who show leadership qualities by appointing each year level with a captain and a vice-captain. If you think you have what it takes to fill this role, please show us on court with your leadership and work ethic to training. We take this quite seriously, as this will build a strong team environment which we know will bring results.

Wet weather reminder for all squad students. If washed out, we will be holding an indoor session so squad will never be cancelled. Attendance is compulsory so see you all there. Students to meet at the mezzanine level of Champagnat Centre.

Trials for our 1st X squad to train for Term 2 will begin in Week 10 Monday 27 and 28 March 4:00pm-6:00pm and also 5:00pm-7:00pm 20 and 21 April in Week 1 of Term 2. We will pick our squad for this prestigious squad and release it after trials via the App, Friday 21 April. Training for this squad will commence Tuesday and Thursday Week 2, Term 2 and runs from 3:30pm-5:00pm.

Our Division 1 fixtures on a Wednesday is growing with great matches to be seen each week and also our Friday fixtures of Division 2 and 3 also are very popular and we are watching our next generation of stars emerge. As a coach I am so proud of the boys who are playing fixtures, as we get to see who is implementing what they are being taught and using this as part of their game styles. Well done boys.

Thank you to all parents who are so willing in letting their sons be a part of the growing tennis club.

Adult tennis at Marist

We are happy to announce we are introducing adults’ tennis to Marist for all who want to play, get back on the court, or are beginners just learning.

All staff are welcome to come along and play.

Monday and Wednesday nights 7:00pm-9:00pm.

Tuesday and Thursday mornings 9:00am-11:00am.

This would be perfect for any parent who would like to bring their son or daughter along to play in a friendly atmosphere.

All sessions will have coaching followed by matches with the coaches looking on and giving guidance for those who are needing it.

Bookings are essential each week so we can have the correct number of coaches along to make your playing memorable, with tips from the coaching team here to help you improve your game.

For all bookings and enquiries please contact MCA Tennis Club

Ph : 0437 449 523 or email : mcatennis@marash.qld.edu.au

Thank you and hope to see you on the courts.