The first game was against St Phillip’s Catholic College, and the team came away with a resounding 58-0 win. The St Phillip’s team showed great courage and team spirit in every play, even though they were severely undersized with younger players taking the field for them. The St Edward’s students also showed great sportsmanship by kicking off after every try and not looking to be unnecessarily physical with the smaller opposition. Hard to choose a standout during this game as all players played well and shared the ball equally.

The next game against Lisarow High School also ended in another victory for the team, again a game in which it was all one-way traffic for the duration. Lisarow showed great determination being a man down for the whole game. The St Edward’s team also demonstrated their sportsmanship again by playing a man down when Lisarow were reduced to 11 players following an injury. Some great running from the forwards laid the platform for some quality tries scored out wide leading to a 24-0 win.

The last game of the pool rounds against Terrigal High School would prove to be our most ill-disciplined, with a lot on stake as the winner would advance to the semi-finals. Early errors and dropped ball gave Terrigal quality field position for much of the first half resulting in the only try conceded against us all day off a perfectly placed kick to the Terrigal winger on last tackle. The team showed great resilience clawing back to a tough 6-6 scoreline at half-time. The second half would demonstrate how good this team can be when they eliminate the unforced errors. Again, rolling down the field after the 1-2-3-4 punch of the middles, every set making 50-60m. We advanced through to the semi-finals after a 26-4 win over Terrigal.

Up against a tough Wadalba High School side in the semi-final, the game went back-and-forth, with neither team gaining the upper hand. Both sides had errors creeping into their games as fatigue started to set in after a long day. But the team continually turned up for one-another, defending their line with grit and determination. We had opportunities to score in the first half, but the polish just wasn’t there, and the scores were locked up at 0-0 at half time. The second half would be much the same, with hard running and brutal defence. All players stepped up and with incredible direction from the halves and once again the forwards laying the platform, we crossed the line late in the second half to go up 4-0. The remaining 5 minutes would see St Edward’s defend their try line repeatedly, but again they turned away everything Wadalba threw at them, emerging victors.

It was a great day of Coast rugby league, where every player to pull on the jersey stood up in various moments and showed their skills and toughness. Stand out of the day was Ben Hoban, who took run after run making over 10 metres each time and was punishing in defence.

The grand final will be held in Week 8 against what will be a quality Central Coast Sports School team. The team would also like to thank manager/waterboy/distributor of lollies Mr Herringe for his support on the day.