St Paul’s College have confirmed their place as the champions of the North Island, after a clinical series of wins in the AFL Senior Secondary Schools North Island Championships.
Schools from around Auckland descended on Onepoto domain to take part in the 2015 Senior Hawks Cup North Island championships.
The teams involved earned their places in the competition through performances in the Hawks Cup Regional Cluster Tournaments.
Hawks Cup regulars St Paul’s College and Aorere College kicked things off in a fast paced first game. AFLNZ Academy players Cullen Marsters and Joel Brown stood out for St Paul’s as they showed that being involved in the academy has benefits to skills and general game play. Aorere kept up with the pace of St Paul’s for 3 quarters until they kicked 3 goals in the 4th quarter to come away with the win.
The match of the tournament was a remarkable 2nd round clash between Aorere College and Green Bay High School. After leading for 3 quarters of the match and kicking with the wind in the 4th quarter, Green Bay looked well on their way to a big win. However, after 3 quarter time Aorere came back strongly. The South Auckland School played attacking football and kicked 5 unanswered goals into the wind to snatch victory by just 5 points.
In the final game of the tournament, St Paul’s only needed a win to secure the championship and they got off to the perfect start by kicking the first 3 goals of the match. The goal of the tournament came in the 3rd quarter when Green Bay player Jacob Parkes received the ball in the forward pocket, dodged a St Paul’s player and snapped the ball around his body for a famous goal. Overall, St Paul’s were a level above and claimed the championship for the first time.
AFL New Zealand offers a wide range of both Curriculum and Competition based programmes to Secondary Schools, many of which take place within P.E classes. St Paul’s College noted the benefits of taking part in the AFL Secondary School Curriculum programmes.
We would like to thank all the volunteers who helped out on the day. Especially Marissa Smith who was in charge of timekeeping for the day and Matt Kemp from Mt Roskill Saints who coached the team from Green Bay.
Teachers in charge for each school:
Aorere College: Drew Dunn
St Paul’s College: Mike Jarvis
Green Bay High School: Brooke Mcfall
Thanks to all the parents who came along to show their support. Great to see you all there.
Game 1:
St Paul’s College vs Aorere College
St Paul’s College: 11.10: 76 vs Aorere College: 7.3: 45
Goal scorers:
St Paul’s: F. Manson 4, C. Marsters 3, S. Tafatimeteo 3, M Kafoa 1
Aorere: N. Liania 3, J. Tietie 2, F. Sialie Fainga’a, M. Enote
Game 2:
Aorere College vs Green Bay High School
Aorere College: 7.4: 46 vs Green Bay High School: 6.5: 41
Goal scorers:
Aorere: F. Sialie Fainga’a 2, M. Enote, J. Singh, D. Leo, J. Tuiavii, J. Fa’aso’o
Green Bay: D. Honan-Crann 2, D. Bryant 2, C. Donnell-Brown, D. Hunter
Game 3:
St Paul’s College vs Green Bay High School
St Paul’s College: 9.12: 16 Green Bay High School: 4.5: 29
Goal scorers:
St Paul’s: V. Kanu 4, F. Manson 2, J. Brown 2, C. Marsters
Green Bay: C. Donnell-Brown, J. Parkes, J. Morris, D. Hunter
Player of the day:
St Paul’s College: Viance Kanu
Aorere College: Jerry Singh
Green Bay High School: Liam Barnaby
Player of the Tournament: Fenika Manson (St Paul’s College)
