College faces Cup challenge

WIN, lose or draw tomorrow, St Peter Claver College’s firsts rugby league team has taken huge strides this season.

They are already the first Ipswich team to reach the Arrive Alive Cup, in which they play league powerhouse and 2008 champions Palm Beach Currumbin (PBC) at the Gold Coast.

The underdogs suffered a major blow when captain and centre Brendan O’Reilly broke his ankle playing oztag last week.

“It’s a massive loss,” SPCC coach Todd Riggs said.

“He’s our captain and strike weapon.”

Brett Greinke will take his place in the centres alongside Australian Schoolboys representative Tautau Moga.

“He’s done a great job for us all year,” Riggs said of Greinke.

SPCC exceeded expectations in winning the Gee Shield but Riggs has no illusions about the task facing his team tomorrow.

“We’ll just let the boys go down and have a dig and try to compete for as long as possible,” he said.

“Just defensively we’ve got to keep them out as long as we can.

“You never know in footy – if they’re off and we get some calls.

“We’ve got to make them earn their victory.”

If SPCC can keep their opponents from running amok, Riggs is happy to let his team attack as they see fit.

“I don’t try and place a heap of restrictions on the boys,” he said.

“They’re smart enough to sense when and where to try things.”

Much of the onus for the team’s attack will come from Queensland under-16 representative and SPCC hooker Tony Milford, five-eighth Brandon Lewis and Moga.

All three have to lift a notch in the absence of O’Reilly.

“Tony Milford is an instinctive player and we’ll try to give it to Tau as much as possible,” Riggs said.

“We get a lot of really good plays on the back of blokes going forward, get a quick play the ball then go from there.”

So much of the challenge will be getting that go forward against the PBC behemoths.

“We know they’ve got a very good forward pack,” Riggs said.

“We probably will have some difficulty getting off our line.

“There’s nothing mystical with our plays but the minimum standard is we run the ball with purpose and bend the line.

“They’re probably in the top four schools in Australia.”

It is where SPCC aspires to be.

“It is like the Gee Shield,” Riggs said.

“The first year was tough (three years ago) and it took us well into the second year to win a game.

“It’s part of the process,” Riggs said.

So a loss tomorrow would not be at all a disaster, as long as Riggs sees his boys compete to the best of their ability.

“Realistically the boys know it is going to be a hard game for them,” Riggs said.

“But the idea of competing is not foreign to them. Sometimes it is just the lack of quality to stamp our authority as a top school.”

Belief they can compete with the top teams is another crucial factor SPCC are only just beginning to develop.

“They’re hanging in a lot better,” Riggs said.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve gone out and dominated by any stretch.

“Against PBC seconds and Keebra Park seconds in the Gee Shield, we have hung in there, which we probably wouldn’t have in previous years.”

For Riggs, the way to continue to boost his team’s belief is by ensuring the “quality of training”.

“Every year we’re getting better because the culture of the place is getting better,” he said.

Ironically, SPCC’s progress this year was in part due to what they learned from a combined training session with PBC last year.

It showed them what was consistently required in training to reach the top

“That was a massive eye-opener,” Riggs said.

“The best I’ve seen.”