Schools from Mackay, Cairns, Townsville and Capricornia descended upon Harrup Park last week as it hosted the AFLQ Schools Cup North Queensland Championships.
North Queensland’s up and coming Australian rules football players from Junior, Primary and Secondary male and female divisions battled it out from August 15-16, with the six triumphant schools to compete at State Finals in Maroochydore in October.
It was the first time Mackay hosted the tournament which brought over 1,000 visitors to the region, with AFL Queensland agreeing to bring it back in 2024.
“We absolutely love coming to Mackay,” said AFL Queensland's Participation and Programs Manager - Schools, Inclusion and Diversity, Jeff Neumann
“Mackay Regional Council are great partners of us bringing it here with a really big push to have it here in 2023 and 2024.
“We want to make sure school footy is fully accessible to every student, no matter your location or your total school enrolment.
“The results are a great outcome, but the most important thing is we’re bringing all of these schools together to compete.”
Local schools Mackay West Primary School (Primary Male, Primary Female), St Patrick's College (Junior Female, Senior Female) and Moranbah State High School (Junior Male, Senior Male, Senior Female) all competed, with Moranbah being the most represented school from the region.
“For Moranbah, to have three teams, it’s a big achievement for a state high school 200 kilometres from the coast,” said Moranbah State High School Senior Male Coach Jason McKane.
“We’re a proud club, a lot of kids play footy together, and then school footy gives those kids who don’t play club footy on the weekend a chance to experience AFL and grow the game.”
Moranbah State High School’s Senior Female placed third in their division, while the Senior Male and Junior Male teams placed fourth.
“We had a lot of fun and even though we lost both our games, I reckon all the boys had fun,” said Moranbah State High School Senior Male Captain Harry Malone.
“(Moranbah) is a small club but a lot of people get around it.”
Senior Female
The Cathedral College (Rockhampton) 22 def Ryan Catholic College (Townsville) 21
Senior Male
St Augustine’s College (Cairns) 77 def Chanel College (Gladstone) 23
Junior Female
St Andrew's Catholic College (Cairns) 22 def Emmaus College (Rockhampton) 11
Junior Male
St Augustine’s College (Cairns) 49 def St. Brendan's College (Yeppoon) 48
Primary Female
Farnborough State School 27 def Ryan Catholic College (Townsville) 4
Primary Male
Holy Cross (Cairns) 57 def Mackay West Primary School 0
Photo credit: Sam Gillespie
