RLO Newsletter 29/8: Colts canned
Queensland's statewide under-21 competition will end this year
After six years and five seasons, the under-21s Hastings Deering Colts competition will come to an end when the final whistle sounds on Grand Final day.
QRL CEO Ben Ikin confirmed the decision on Monday, with the Colts being dropped as part of a restructuring of the state’s junior rep pathways. To align with the New South Wales competitions, the Cyril Connell Challenge will move from under-16s to under-17s and the Mal Meninga Cup from under-18s to under-19s.
The Meninga Cup season will be expanded from seven rounds with two weeks of finals, to 10 rounds with a four-week finals system. The Cyril Connell competition has been short with no finals since being introduced in 2021. Theres no word yet on if it will be expanded (it should). A girls under-17 competition will also be added to the calendar, alongside the existing under-19s competition.
The NSWRL’s Colts-equivalent, the Jersey Flegg Cup, will continue to run in 2024.
A Queensland Cup club source in the article calls the Colts “redundant” and goes on to say, “If you are good enough you are already playing NRL at 19 or 20 and if you aren’t good enough you can go back to local footy and still have a pathway to the Queensland Cup.”
Ikin agrees stating, “This model provides statewide competition clubs with a better opportunity to align with their community league affiliates.”
It is believed that in scrapping the Colts, the QRL will save more than $1 million. This, of course, is the main reason for its axing. Much like the Holden Cup (which reportedly cost clubs an average of $1 million a year to run) was dropped in favour of statewide competitions in 2018, why spend the money when the local comps are right there?
The noise about this decision had been around for the last few weeks. It started to become kind of evident in the last week or so when clubs began advertising for Mal Meninga and Cyril Connell trials with no mention of the Colts. The Colts season has also been shortened every year since 2018.
I have no strong feelings on this either way. Most non-NRL contracted players never even make the step up to the Queensland Cup, let alone NRL. The Colts isn’t a great competition but if I was an NRL club, would I want my contracted players playing in local competitions? Probably not.
In areas with strong competitions, this happens already. Several Burleigh players, including contracted Titans, have played in the Gold Coast A Grade over Colts in 2023. Some teams have even struggled to field a 17, with eligible players preferring to play in the local competitions. Last year, the Western Clydesdales had to loan in several players from Redcliffe to complete the season.
Except for the Titans, all the Queensland NRL clubs (and Melbourne) have numerous Cup feeders they can put their best “over 19 but under 21” players into instead of local comps should they choose to. Right now, the Titans’ only aligned feeder for 2024 is Tweed.
Maybe the Cowboys and Titans (who both prefer a single Cup feeder team) look to the Jersey Flegg to field an under-21 side? Melbourne are already there and have been since 2019, putting several of their academy players into the NSWRL competition while also maintaining Q Cup feeders.
Update: Since I wrote all this, the QRL has put out their official statement.
Anyway, here’s a recap of the Colts finals series.
🏉 Hastings Deering Colts – Finals Week 1
The top two sides, Tweed and the Brisbane Tigers flexed their muscle in the opening weekend of finals, blowing away their opponents to sit one game away from the Grand Final.
The Tigers opened the weekend with a 36–12 win over Townsville. Kicking off bright and early at 10am in Logan, the Tigers got out to an 18–6 lead at halftime, adding 18 more in the second half. Tigers’ prop Casey Morgan was a standout once again, running for 188 metres.
Tweed handed arch-rivals Burleigh one of their biggest Colts defeats, 46–10. Seagulls ran in eight tries, which included doubles to centre Logan Radzievic and bench hooker Tanu Nona. Tweed welcomed back hooker Oskar Bryant, who finished the year in Cup. He scored a try and added two try assists.
In the first elimination game, Redcliffe knocked out Souths Logan in a classic Colts game that ended 42–36. The Dolphins led 32–12 at halftime but had to work hard to hold off a Magpies side that got within six inside the final 15 minutes. Dolphins’ halfback Connor Williams was the standout, contributing a hat-trick and two try assists.
Sunshine Coast wrapped up the weekend on Sunday, eliminating Wynnum Manly with a 34–16 victory. The Seagulls led 10–6 at halftime before the Falcons turned it on, scoring five second-half tries. Falcons’ centre Mason Peut scored another, taking his season tally to 24 from 13 games.
Redcliffe’s Connor Williams was named QRL’s “Heavy Lifter” this week. You can watch his highlights here.
Hastings Deering Colts – Finals Week 2
Saturday, September 2
Townsville vs. Sunshine Coast at Jack Manski Oval, 12pm.
Burleigh vs. Redcliffe at UAA Park, 4pm.
🏉 Jersey Flegg Cup – Round 26
The Jersey Flegg regular season concluded this past weekend and we got a great battle for the final Top 5 spot.
Parramatta sat two points behind fifth-placed Melbourne but with a far superior points differential. They needed to defeat Penrith to keep their hopes alive, which they did, overcoming a 14–10 halftime deficit to win 26–14.
While that was happening, Melbourne, who needed just a draw to secure fifth, were trailing Canberra 16–0 after 35 minutes at AAMI Park. The Storm got back into it in the second, levelling it at 16–all with eight minutes to play. As it stood, Melbourne were in the finals, one competition point ahead of the Eels. Here’s the final play of the game:
Canberra win 20–16 and Melbourne’s season is over. Parramatta finish fifth.
Elsewhere, Canterbury easily took care of a Manly side (who only had 16 players) 28–6, the Roosters handed the Wests Tigers the wooden spoon with a 34–14 win and Cronulla held off the Knights for a 30–26 victory.
The Roosters get the bye as minor premiers and will play the winner of this weekend’s Bulldogs-Sharks game in Week 2. The loser of that game will then play the winner of Saturday’s elimination final between Penrith and Parramatta.
Jersey Flegg Cup – Finals Week 1
Saturday, September 2
Penrith vs. Parramatta at North Sydney Oval, 11am.Sunday, September 3
Canterbury vs. Cronulla at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium, 11am.
Both finals will be streamed live on the NSWRL Facebook page.
🏉 State finals set in Schoolboy and Schoolgirl Cups
St Patrick’s College Mackay and Palm Beach Currumbin State High will meet in Queensland’s Phil Hall Cup state final this week. St Patrick’s qualified after a strong 28–6 victory over Dolphins Cup winners Emmaus College Rockhampton. St Pat’s winger Bailey Anderson scored a hat-trick in the win, while halfback Jaxon Purdue impressed again.
Palm Beach Currumbin held off a late raid by Ipswich SHS to win the Allan Langer Trophy final 16–12 and secure their place. PBC has been the dominant southeast school in recent years, winning the Langer Trophy four times in the last six years.
The final will be played at Townsville’s Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Wednesday, August 30 with kickoff at 1pm. At noon, Kirwan State High will face Mabel Park State High in the Schoolgirl Cup final.
In New South Wales, the Peter Mulholland Cup final will be contested by Patrician Brothers’ Blacktown and Westfields Sports High at Campbelltown Stadium.
Patrician Brothers’ have found some hot form in the finals, knocking off St Dominic’s College 32–0 in the semi-final. Their opponents, Westfields, have not lost a game all season. They held on to defeat Canberra's Erindale College 22–16 to qualify for the final.
That game kicks off at 1pm on Wednesday. At 11:30am, Hills Sports High and Erindale will contest the first-ever NSW Schoolgirl Cup final. Both sides pulled off upsets in the semis, with Hills defeating the previously undefeated Westfields 18–12 and Erindale knocking off Bass High 12–8.
🏉 NRL debuts – Round 26
Blacktown junior Jesse McLean earned his first NRL minutes in Round 26 in Penrith’s loss to Parramatta. McLean has been fast-tracked through the grades at the Panthers, playing SG Ball last year as a 17-year-old, scoring twice in their Grand Final win over the Roosters. The Australian Schoolboys rep played just two Flegg games in 2022 before moving up to the NSW Cup this season, scoring 12 tries in 19 games.
Sione Finau became the latest Victorian junior to make it to the NRL when he debuted for the Dragons last Friday. Unfortunately, his debut lasted just 25 minutes before succumbing to an ankle injury. Finau came through the Thunderbolts system, playing three seasons of SG Ball with the team. In 2022, he moved to the Brisbane Tigers alongside his older brother Haele, playing 16 games on the wing and scoring 13 tries.
Hooker Gordon Chan Kum Tong played his first NRL game with Manly last Sunday after several years in their junior system. In 2018, he won a Harold Matts Grand Final with the club alongside current Sea Eagles Tolu Koula and Kaeo Weekes. A Bankstown and Maroubra junior, he moved up to SG Ball in 2019 and then onto Jersey Flegg in 2021. After two Flegg games, he became a regular for Blacktown in the NSW Cup this season, playing 19 games.
🏉 NRLW Graduates – Round 6
Another week of NRLW and another batch of graduates from the QRL and NSWRL pathways, with six making their debuts in Round 6.
The first three came in the opening game of the round, with Lindsay Tui, Noaria Kapua (Eels) and Libby Surha (Cowboys) debuting in the Eels 16–12 win. Tui is just 18, having played her first season of Tarsha Gale Cup for Parra this year before going on to represent NSW City U19 and New South Wales U19. Kapua also played her first season of Tarsha Gale after moving over from New Zealand. She played 10 games for Canterbury and started at second-row in their Grand Final loss. Surha came through the Mackay Cutters system, starting in the Under-19s competition before becoming a BMD regular in 2023. She started at centre and scored a try in Queensland U19’s win over New South Wales in July.
Titans debutant Sophie Buller was a premiership winner with Burleigh earlier this year. The Bundaberg-born, Woolgoolga junior spent time in the Sharks and Knights’ Tarsha Gale sides before moving to the Gold Coast last year. Outside back Petesa Lio played 36 minutes for Canberra in their loss to Brisbane. A Minchinbury junior, Lio played on the wing for NSW U19 last year. She played for three clubs in her three years of Tarsha Gale (2020 - Penrith, 2021 - Canterbury, 2022 - St George). Wests Tigers’ centre Hope Tevaga made her NRLW debut as an 18th player replacement after two failed HIAs. A NSW U19 rep in 2021, Tevaga started at Penrith before moving to the Tigers system in 2021.
Around the grounds
For more information on all games head to 18thman.com.
Jersey Flegg Cup – Round 26
Canterbury 28 (J Mazzone 2, W Afualo, J Papalii, J Underhill tries; J Papalii 4 goals) def. Manly 6 (D O’Donnell try; C Thompson goal) at Belmore Sports Ground. Referee: E Klein. Halftime: 6-all. Tackles: J Todd 31 (CBY), D O’Donnell 49 (MAN). Run metres: J Mazzone 179 (CBY), V Kuli 166 (MAN).
Parramatta 26 (E Martin 2, E Sanders 2, W Latu tries; E Sanders 3 goals) def. Penrith 14 (J Nohra, T Sielaff-Burns, R Wake tries; T Sielaff-Burns goal) at BlueBet Stadium. Referee: M Ford. Halftime: PEN 14-10. Tackles: R Smith 26 (PEN), M Arthur 42 (PAR). Run metres: L Ison 115 (PEN), S Loizou 147 (PAR).
Canberra 20 (L Kaloutolu, S Leuluai, M Prest, K Rushton tries; M Henderson 2 goals) def. Melbourne 16 (M Jennings, D Perese, J Weir tries; K Russell-Smith 2 goals) at AAMI Park. Referee: B Williams. Halftime: CAN 16-0. Tackles: J Weir 42 (MEL), J Roddy 44 (CAN). Run metres: C Williamson 157 (MEL), J Billing 201 (CAN).
Sydney 34 (C Abal 2, B Alexander, S Foketi, T Henare-Schuster, S Vaenuku tries; V Tamati 5 goals) def. Wests Tigers 14 (J Delle 2, H Tofaeono tries; M Tannous goal) at Wentworth Park. Referee: A Sirianni. Halftime: SYD 12-8. Tackles: C Abal 27 (SYD), B Hodges 38 (WST). Run metres: T Henare-Schuster 141 (SYD), J Delle 138 (WST).
Cronulla 30 (T Boothroyd, E Cocco, K Dixon, H O’Kane, T Wilton tries; K Dixon 5 goals) def. Newcastle 26 (L Pietzner 2, L Aoake, J Cullen, N Nailagoliva tries; J Afoa 3 goals) at St John Oval. Referee: B Mani. Halftime: CRO 18-12. Tackles: N Nailagoliva 24 (NEW), N Lester 28 (CRO). Run metres: F Sharpe 163 (NEW), L Crouch 153 (CRO).
Hastings Deering Colts – Finals Week 1
Brisbane Tigers 36 (J Chang 2, B Ashton 2, G Fisher, B Seu-Easthope, L West tries; B Black 6 goals) def. Townsville 12 (C Hill 2 tries; R Wavik 2 goals) at Logan Metro Football Fields. Referee: D Lawrence. Halftime: BRI 18-6. Tackles: S Pratt 33 (BRI), J Baldwin 38 (TSV). Run metres: C Morgan 188 (BRI), R Wavik 210 (TSV).
Redcliffe 42 (C Williams 3, B Baira 2, T Otukolo, C Thomas, T Toloi tries; B Baira 5 goals) def. Souths Logan 36 (Z Waaka 2, D Cross, R Evenis, L Motufoua, M Pakai tries; G Peace 6 goals) at Logan Metro Football Fields. Referee: N McEwan. Halftime: RED 32-12. Tackles: C Thomas 22 (RED), M Pakai 27 (SLM). Run metres: B Baira 234 (RED), T Mapusua-Lotaki 155 (SLM).
Tweed 46 (T Nona 2, L Radzievic 2, O Bryant, P Bryant, J De Groot, M Donovan tries; E Speed 7 goals) def. Burleigh 10 (C Lasike, Z Munn tries; B Tagg goal) at UAA Park. Referee: C Kwik. Halftime: TWE 24-4. Tackles: J Stewart-Lewis 35 (TWE), S Fotu 29 (BUR). Run metres: L Radzievic 148 (TWE), A Christensen 111 (BUR).
Sunshine Coast 34 (J Chappell, H Dwyer, J Elich, P McGinn, M Peut, E Smethills tries; J Chappell 5 goals) def. Wynnum Manly 16 (J Bignell, C Hewett, C Pereira tries; J Davies 2 goals) at Kayo Stadium. Referee: M Gannon. Halftime: WYN 10-6. Tackles: J Ricotta 24 (SCF), J Radel 44 (WYN). Run metres: E Smethills 231 (SCF), S Roache-Faimalo 214 (WYN).
NRL Schoolboy Cup
Northern Conference - Semi-Finals
St Patrick’s College Mackay 28 (B Anderson 3, J Purdue, W Shears tries; H Harris 4 goals) def. Emmaus College Rockhampton 6 (C Hohn try; I Walker goal) at Mackay JRL Grounds.
Palm Beach Currumbin SHS 16 (S Kama 2, C Kelly-Donovan tries; Z Harrison 2 goals) def. Ipswich SHS 12 (A Naiyep, O Smith tries; I Mafi 2 goals) at Totally Workwear Stadium.
Southern Conference - Semi-Finals
Patrician Brothers’ College Blacktown 32 def. St Dominic’s College Penrith 0.
Westfields Sports High 22 def. Erindale College 16.
NRL Schoolgirl Cup
Southern Conference - Semi-Finals
The Hills Sports High 18 def. Westfields Sports High 12.
Erindale College 12 def. Bass High 8.