2016 year in review

RUGBY League Year in Review

Canterbury Ruby Football League 9 aside

Year 7&8

The Year 7&8 Rugby league team came 4th in the A grade a great effort, and our highest placing. Stand out players were Felix Faatili, Finley Esera, Eruera- Keelan, Cooper Te Hau and Jacob Nyman

Year 9&10

In a huge effort St Thomas of Canterbury College retained their title, winning the Canterbury Secondary School Junior Rugby League 9 aside for the second year in a row. Undefeated in pool play St Thomas came up against a Linwood College team who weren't going to give an inch. The game went into two periods of golden point - sudden death before St Thomas forced a goal line drop out that Linwood put out on the full. Kicking to win the game from directly in front, the kick deflected of the post, however quick ball movement resulted in a try in the corner.

Having effectively played an extra game St Thomas went into the final against a large 
Shirley Boys High School team that had steamrolled their opposition. Some great tactical kicking and aggressive defence saw STCC quickly go three tries up, and some great defence shut SBHS out, until Elisara Vaifale sealed the win with a runaway try right on the fulltime hooter.

Seniors

The year started with the Canterbury Rugby Football League 9 Aside tourney and with 5 senior players away it was going to be a big ask to repeat last years victory and so it proved. A first up loss to Aranui High School was repeated in the final with our boys going down to the Aranui academy side in the final 10-6. Some moments of great defence and attack, and when we put it all together, we were awesome.

For the first time St Thomas was in the Premier grade at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rugby League Tournament, and drawn into what had been dubbed the “pool of death”.         Apart from our first match against Westlake BHS (3^rd place) 12-34, our largest losing margin was 6 points. Inexperience, and perhaps a lack of self belief meant we couldn’t close several matches and went down to Tamaki College (5^th place)16-22, Avondale College 20-22 (10^th place), Papatoetoe (13^th place) 16-17, before thumping Manukura, and placing 15^th.

Most of our players will be back next year, and believe we can make the semis, so bring it on!

Other highlights of the year were 14 students attending the Warriors South Island trial - Jalen Tangiiti-Turner, Seth Tauamiti, Brodie Floris, Sua Aiiloilo, Tahemaka Nui, Klayton Waikato Domanyc Fidow-Kele, Malyche Tafili, Caius Faatili, Zach Amituanai, Elisara Vaifale, Jordan Mehlhopt, Josh Vaifale, Josh Reihana.

Later Domanyc Fidow-Kele and Zinzan Martin were selected to attend the 2016 NZRL National Performance Camp in Rotorua. This camp culminated in NZ 16’s and 18's trials.

A special thanks to Paul Ruri and sir Peter Leitch for their generous donations to our raffle, and to Paul for taking the time out and coming over from Australia to assist us with training, to Shanna Taula for a massive fundraising effort, to Rugby League Coaching Manuals for their sponsorship, and to Brendan Biggs, Brian Roughan, Moresby Peseta and Delane Luke for helping run our senior side at National Tourney.

Representative honours

South Island Scorpions 17’s

Jalen Tangiiti-Turner,Seth Tauamiti, Brodie Floris, Sua Aiiloilo, Tahemaka Nui, Keanau Newson, Domanyc Fidow-Kele, Malyche Tafili, Zinzan Martin

South Island Scorpions 15’s

Caius Faatili C, Zach Amituanai, Tuhaka Pooley and Elisara Vaifale VC

Canterbury 13s

Felix Faatili, Finley Esera, Eruera Keelan-Jackson, Tyler Bruce, Mekhye Wiparata 

Canterbury 12s

Jacob Nyman, Cooper Te Hau, Felix Faatili and Finley Esera 

Canterbury Maori

Jalen Tangiiti-Turner, Seth Tauamiti, Brodie Floris Tahemaka Nui, Keanau Newson, Cameron Brody Greig,

Canterbury Secondary Schools

Amani Ah Kuoi, Jordan Mehlhopt, Joshua Vaifale, Sebastian Pelenato, Taani Taufa, TJ Belford

Looking Ahead

Next year we will be looking at matches for junior and senior sides against West Coast and Otago sides, 2 tours by North Island School teams, a possible South island Tournament, and returning and making our mark on the premier grade at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Tournament. Roll on 2017!

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St Thomas Rugby League raffle prizes!

Thanks to the generosity of  Paul Ruri from Wynnum Manly and sir Peter Leitch we have some awesome prizes for our raffle! A Collectors item NZ Warriors 9s jersey signed by the team, 2 NZ Warriors 9s jersey signed by warriors staff Andrew McFadden, Ruben Wiki, Justin Morgan Duane Mann, Stacey Jones and Ben Henry,NZ Maoris Jacket, 5th a Canadian Rugby League Jersey, a NZ Warriors signed football, and signed copies of Sir Peter Leitch’s Autobiography "What A Ride". 

This raffle will help get our team to Auckland to compete in the NZ Rugby League Nationals Secondary Schools Tournament. 100 tickets at $20 each, nearly 1 in 10 odds of winning! Closing this Friday so follow this link to get a piece of priceless rugby league memorabilia!

Givealittle campaign 5 days to go!

With 5 days to go on our givealittle campaign, we've raised $1,150.00, but still have a long way to go. Our Barbecue on saturday raised $160 and our bonus no draw should bring in a $1000 (only 11 tickets left - you can get the lucky last one here ) - so we still have a large target to meet.

Our students are passionate about rugby league and we believe that any sports activity that engages a young person is a positive investment in the educational and life outcomes for the young people involved.
Research shows that participation by youth in school sports favorably influences positive youth development and educational outcomes. Sports participation improves school achievement,increases chances of participation in further education, and increases the likelihood of graduating from high school. 

We would greatly appreciate your support in helping this to happen for our young men help us by donating or sharing this post - whatever you do, make sure you check out our video!

 

New Zealand Secondary School Rugby League Nationals 2016 Here We Come!

St Thomas will be playing in the Premier grade of the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rugby League Tournament this year, and your son has indicated that he would like to be part of this team.

The tournament will be from Monday 29^th  August – Friday 2^nd  September

At  Bruce Pullman Park, Papakura. Accommodation will be at James Cook High School Marae

Total cost for the tournament will be $10,100.00, or $450 each.

Last year we were able to get this figure down by fundraising and sponsorship to $150.00 and hope to do so again.

We will need a deposit of $50 by friday the 3rd of June.This will let us know who wants to go to this tournament and enable us to pay deposits on travel to get the best price and start fundraising activities.

If you have any questions please contact Andrew Auimatagi email aauimatagi@stc.school.nz, or Tony Kidd emailtkidd@stc.school.nz, cell phone 0220780310.

St Thomas Open Day

St Thomas of Canterbury College Open Day

If you have sons, friends, cousins, etc that play rugby league encourage them and their parents to come along to the open day on Tuesday morning at St Thomas of Canterbury College. 

Players recieving their finalists medals at NZSSRL Tournament 2015

With the closure of Aranui High School, St Thomas is the only school in Canterbury with a commitment to rugby league. This year will be our 3rd entry into the New Zealand Secondary Schools National Rugby League tournament, and our second in the South Island Intermediate schools Tournament.
If you are unsure about the enrolment criteria, Mr kidd is more than happy to talk you through it.

If a school that emphasises academic excellence, entreprenuership, ethics and morals, and values your sport of choice is important to you and your son, then St Thomas is an easy choice to make.
See you on Tuesday!

ST. Thomas Students at the recent Warriors camp

Back to back victories for St Thomas at the Canterbury 9's!

Team talk

In a huge effort St Thomas of Canterbury College retained their title, winning the Canterbury Secondary School Junior Rugby League 9 aside for the second year in a row. Undefeated in pool play St Thomas came up against a Linwood High School team who weren't going to give an inch. The game went into two periods of golden point - sudden death before St Thomas forced a goal line drop out that linwood put out on the full. Kicking to win the game from directly in front, the kick deflected of the post, however quick ball movement resulted in a try in the corner. Having effectively played an extra game St Thomas went into the final against a large 
Shirley Boys High School team that had steamrolled their opposition. Some great tactical kicking and agressive defence saw STCC quickly go three tries up, and some great defence shut SBHS until Elisara Vaifale sealed the win with a runaway try right on the fulltime hooter.Player of the Tournament was Suli Sulimona, but it was a great team effort, with every player standing up and doing their part. The boys were fired up by a great group of supporters, a special thanks to Domanyc Fidow-Kele and Jalen Tangiiti-Turner for their work with the boys.Also Awesome to see Lincoln High School, the only other school from the western part of Christchurch putting a team in and coming third.

warming down

victory photo

Elisara Vaifale about to score as the final hooter sounds

dog pile as Elisara Vaifale scores on the final hooter