Green Bay High School take home the trophy.

Green Bay High School have emerged as champions of the Waitakere Hawks Cup for the first time since its inception back in 2009 by defeating 2 teams from Aorere College.

Held at Green Bay High for the 3^rd year in a row, Aorere College arrived at the school with 22 players keen to play.

The first match of the tournament saw Green Bay take on Aorere 1. The visitors started strong and kept their noses in front for the majority of the match until a never give up attitude from Green Bay saw them rewarded with a free kick right on the siren. Trailing by 2 points, Declan Crann kicked a goal after the siren from 40 metres out to win the game.

Next up, Aorere 1 faced Aorere 2, in what was a close match. St Kilda international scholarship holder Giovanni Mountain-Silbery showed off his skills by using his pace to take 2 bounces and kick a goal on the run. Aorere 2 held onto a 1 point victory to set up what would effectively be a final against Green Bay.

The final match was tightly contested in the first half with Green Bay strong in defence playing into the wind and kicking a late goal to take a small lead into half time. In the second half, Green Bay stepped it up to 5^th gear and didn’t drop a mark. Led by AFL NZ Academy Representative Carlos Donnell- Brown, Green Bay kicked a goal in the final minute to seal a victory.

Without the support of coaches and teachers the Hawks Cup would not be possible. Big thanks to Casey Redman and Brooke Mcfall at Green Bay for hosting the event and Drew Dunn at Aorere College.

AFL New Zealand would also like to thank Dave Abetz of the Manurewa Raiders who took time out of his day to come and help coach the Green Bay team. Dave also volunteers his time at the AFL NZ Academy on the weekends.

Game 1:

Green Bay v Aorere 1

Green Bay: 3 4 22 vs Aorere 1: 3 0 18

Goal scorers:

Green Bay: D. Bryant, H. Honan-Crann, D. Honan Crann

Aorere 1: J. Patuki 2, N. Liaina

Game 2:

Aorere 1 v Aorere 2

Aorere 2: 2 2 14 vs Aorere 1: 2 1 13

Goal scorers:

Aorere 1: L. Malohi 1, T. Meleisea

Aorere 2: G. Mountain Silbery 2

Game 3:

Green Bay v Aorere 2

Green Bay: 2 6 18 vs Aorere 1: 0 3 3

Goal scorers:

Green Bay: C. Donnell-Brown, H. Honan-Crann

Player of the day:

Aorere 1: Latimer Maholi

Aorere 2: Daniel Leo

Green Bay: Liam Barnaby

Player of the Tournament: Carlos Donnell-Brown (Green Bay High School)