Sport News

Last weekend saw the conclusion to the AIC Chess, Rugby and Football seasons for 2023 with the majority of matches here at Marist in a big day for Super Saturday on the back of the Champagnat Trust lunch on Friday. It was a terrific atmosphere and the boys really enjoyed playing in front of a large crowd.

We started on Friday night with our Chess boys having a strong win against St Edmund’s College 11-5 in the 1st IV and winning the Senior A, Senior B, Intermediate A and drawing the Intermediate B. Overall this meant we finished second in the 1st VI competition behind St Laurence’s College and third in the aggregate behind St Peters and St Laurence’s. The boys are closing the gap each year and are getting very competitive with the best. The Senior A team were undefeated for the season. Thank you to Mr Tim Humphry and Mr Daniel Bull for your leadership, organisation, and guidance of the chess program along with the captain of the 1st IV Chess, Michael Garske.

Saturday saw football taking on St Edmund’s with games being played at multiple venues across Brisbane to give every team a game. The 1st XI finished the season strongly with a 2-0 victory in a controlled performance throughout the game and played attractive Marist football. Across the board, it was a dominant day for Marist football with all teams undefeated against SEC. For the season the 1st XI finished in fourth place in a very tight competition, with Iona College the clear standout, and as a program, we finished second behind St Laurence’s College. The undefeated teams in football were 3rd XI, 10B, 9A, 8B, 6C and 5C. Thank you to the football staff, including the captain of the 1st XI Football, Isaac Roach for your leadership and guidance throughout the season as we continue to build.

The 1st XV has really hit their straps towards the end of the season and have really performed well in the back half of the season. On Saturday they played controlled, attacking rugby to take down St Edmunds College 39-12. Overall, for the day we lost only one game to SEC and enjoyed a terrific day of rugby to conclude the season. The final result was that the 1st XV finished in third place behind St Laurence’s College and Padua College. As a program, we finished in second place, half a point behind Iona College. The undefeated teams in rugby were 3rd XV, 8A, 8D, 8E and 7C. Thank you to Mr Richard Graham for his dedication, passion, and knowledge in leading our rugby program, and to the captain of the 1st XV Rugby Union, Tobias Graham for your leadership of the boys.

This week we have our inter-house athletics carnival. We look forward to enjoying a day of spirited competition between the houses. A broad range of activities and competitions have been organised beyond the traditional track and field events to cater for everyone. Most importantly, it is a chance to come together as a Marist community and enjoy all the great things about inclusion, togetherness, mateship and fun. Good luck to our competitive track and field athletes for the carnival.

Football

Mr Derek Lennon (Football Coordinator)

Thank you to all the coaches and staff who have worked tirelessly this term to support the boys and provide learning opportunities for our young men to develop as athletes and as people. Not all lessons are positive, but they are important in our growth as young men. Thank you to the year coordinators, Mr Shane Wheeler, Mr Matt Jones, Mr Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh, Mr Patrick Denkes, Mr Blair Whitlock, Mr Stewart Moore, and Mr Derek Lennon for your leadership of the boys and the coaches. Thank you to our 1st XI coaches Mr Corey Lucas, Mr Blair Whitlock and Manager Mr Paul Knight for your dedication, expertise, and commitment to the boys. The growth in the boys and the football they were able to play was a testament to your hard work.

Thank you to the boys who volunteered to join the ranks of officialdom by completing the referees’ course with Football Queensland this year. We hope that you enjoy the experience and pursue this as it supports us as a College to have officials on every match.

Our supporters, parents, friends, and Old Boys, who cheer our teams on each Saturday, thank you for your encouragement, positivity, and passion for the blue and gold.

Overall, we finished second in the aggregate competition. We were significantly behind St Laurence’s College in first place and there was a significant gap to third. To give you an indication of our fine overall season, the simplest measure is goals for versus goals against, it is a raw comparison that measures all teams equally. A positive for and against means a good (winning) season, a zero difference (i.e. same goals for and against) means a neutral season and a negative for and against suggests a losing season. For 2023 we finished with 671 goals for and 371 goals against or positive 300, which is quite a number. Our best round was against Villanova in Round 1 (+91) and our lowest was Round 6 against St Laurence’s (-16). This was our only negative round, and positively, it was 30 goals better than the home trial round before Round 1 (-46). It confirms St Laurence’s were the best overall and that we were also a strong performing school.

We have started the work to improve our program this year with the new handbook and the introduction of the new coaching curriculum, and a focus on more coach education, particularly around our key principles of play and values as a program. There is much work to be done here, but progress is being made.

Congratulations to the following teams who remained undefeated throughout the season. All players will be presented with a pennant to signify their achievement at the first assembly after the holidays:

• 3rd XI
• 10B
• 9A
• 8B
• 6C
• 5C

This is a significant achievement that these young men and coaches should be proud of and something we want to build on as a College into the future. 

For boys returning next year, please keep working on your skills, fitness and ability in the offseason, and keep an eye out for opportunities as we look to continue adding to the football programme for 2024. 

Finally, thank you to the Year 12 boys for your years of service to football and to the College. We wish you well on your football journey post-school and hope you stay involved in the sport in some capacity, be it playing, coaching or just as a fan.

Round 7 Results

Chess

Football

Rugby Union