Kirwan State High School have won the 2015 Aaron Payne Cup with a classy 24-18 victory over arch-rival Ignatius Park College at 1300SMILES Stadium this afternoon.
Leading 8-6 at half-time, Kirwan found themselves trailing briefly in the second half and hung tough to prevail five tries to three.
In an at-times spiteful encounter, two melees broke out, but the referee controlled the flare-ups well, and allowed for some impressive schoolboys rugby league to be played.
As expected, Kirwan dominated the ruck, using their powerful forward pack to bend the Ignatius defensive line, while Iggy Park used their speed and broken-play running game to good effect.
Although Kirwan are the 2015 Aaron Payne Cup champions, both teams still have plenty of footy left this year and will be the North’s 1 and 2 seeds heading into the wider schoolboys comp, the GIO Cup, involving sides from throughout the state.
KIRWAN STATE HIGH SCHOOL 24 (AJ Willis, Julien Christian, Enari Tuala, George Moananu, Kaleb Fuimaono tries; Duarne Dempsey, Marshall Hudson goals) def IGNATIUS PARK COLLEGE 18 (James Conroy 2, Reece O’Brien tries; Jacob Bourke 3 goals) at 1300SMILES Stadium.
