Well its all back to normal at school today with just memories of a succesful tour to NZ and Samoa.

Although this wasnt really a serious football tour it was a way to thank the boys who had achieved academically and done the right thing. We had a mixed squad with 5 Opens players, 6 under 16's 3 Opens thirds and 4 boys who were in the Open 4ths.

Well done boys for standing up to some very strong NZ representative sides especially Wellington Under 19's.

It difficult to play when your team consists of 13 backs and 5 forwards but you did the school proud and this experience is sure to come in handy in the future.

Thanks to all the host schools and for their hospitality.

Thanks to the school Maraes and to the staff at Princess Tui Inn. Hope to see you all again soon.

The school grounds are well kept and the temple is quite a sight to see. The whole school and half of Apia seemed to have turned out in their Lava lavas and ready to see the Aussies take on the locals.

Church School is a reknowned rugby Union school and have not lost for 5 seasons but as league was a new sport to them they were always going to struggle.

Four 2o minute quarters in searing heat with a backdrop of volcanos and palm trees saw some good football.....we interrupt this broadcast as finally after 4 hours of trying the boys have finally cracked open the coco nut they managed to shake froma tree out the front......back to the story.

Jack Wells and Jesse Margetts played out of their skins and at a new level that will stand them in good stead for school footy next year and once again Joseph Forrester and Kurtis Rowe were outstanding.

After the game we had a feast at the clubhouse and the local boys performed a haka as is traditional when a tribe loses a battle.

We then went for a road side bbq...which is awesome if you like singed pig trotters but the boys being blissfully unaware of what the food was seemed to woolf it down.

We presented the schoolw ith training gear and some jerseys and they presnted us with a Kava bowl and a talking stick which is the stick the villagers pass amongst themeselves when discussing village issues.

Todays goose was Mitchell Sharp and tonight will see him perform a traditional Samoan Haka in the food markets which if you have ever been to Samoa are quite an intimidating place to behold....so good luck Mitch.

Today Mr Gould and a crew are off deep seas fishing...Thanas gang are at the waterfalls and me and a few boys have been lounging around the 5 star Aggie Grays swimming pool.....luckily they didnt ask which room we were staying in.

Tomorrow will sea another fishing trip......and maybe a trip to the tsunami hit coast to see the devastation caused by the recent event.

KEEBRA IN THE LAND OF THE LONG WHITE CLOUD
Story By : dHart Keebra Park SHS (on tour)
We arrived in Wellington in the wee hours of the morning and were greeted by torrential rain and crisp cool conditions and hightailed it to the Taoto Marae where we were to spend our first night in the land of the long white cloud.

The morning saw a distinct change in weather and whilst still a tad chilly, the sun shone brightly in the azure blue skies..(i hope you are enjoying the adjectives.) We got up showered and met a few of the local Maori elders who explained that we would have recieved a traditional greeting if we had arrived in the daylight, but as we came in the night there would be no way of seeing if we meant war or peace (as they couldnt see our eyes) and so the greeting was waivered.

Wellington is a beautiful city and we visited the "Te Papa" Cultural centre and museum for an introduction to Maori tradition. That evening we played against a Wellington Under 18's rep side in front of a keen and receptive crowd. The conditions were fine but chilly and after a hard game against some very good local reps we headed to the clubhouse for a feeeeeeed.

Saturday saw us leave Wellington and drive some 500kms through rugged country via Taupo to Hamilton. Mr Gould did a bungii and various others partook in all the sports that Taupo has to offer. Once again the scenery was breathtaking with snowcapped peaks and crystal clear waters.

Arriving in Hamilton we found our way to Melville school Marae and bedded down for the night.

"Goose of the day " was introduced to the tour which meant that various tour members had to complete forfeits.

The first found Campbell having to perform a Haka..in the town square. (Luckily the Maori boys gave him lessons and the performance was well recieved by the large gathered crowd...probably attracted to the flouro green Hawaain shirt he was wearing.

Our next game was Monday and we face a Hamilton rep side that featured some good talent and very big forwards. In true Keebra spirit though we were better structured and well drilled and the opposition were genuinely shocked as we ran in a few quick tries off the back of some great work by Kurtis Rowe and Joseph Forrester.

Travis was todays goose and his straight faced rendition of the Australian National Anthem before the game had all gathered somewhat baffled....the green shirt featured once again.

The Hills SHS 2010 ARL Schoolboys Cup Champions (Photo : ourfootymedia)

Keebra started well and early pressure lead to a try to Australian Schoolboys fullback Henare Wells and saw the Gold Coasters notch up a quickfire 6 -0 lead. Hills looked shocked and knew they were in for a game and it was probably Keebra's early dominance that was their undoing.

A few pushed passes rather than set completion gave the lions share of possession to Hills and rather than adding to their momentum, Keebra saw themselves fall behind after two tries to classy Australian Fullback Gerard McCullum.

Half time score.12-6.

The second half saw Hills come out looking very tired and Keebra quickly capitalised with Moseses over again. It was during this period that the game was won/lost with Keebra making some poor decisions while an exhausted Hills managed to spoil and scramble to thwart their opposition.

Standout Toyota Cup player, Jacob Loko added to Keebra's woes with a strong run seeing him carry four defenders over the line and put the score at 18-10.

With four minutes to go Keebra threw caution to the wind and some expansive length of the field play lead to Kurtis Rowe crossing out wide decreasing the margin to 4 points.

Opting not to take the conversion due to time running out, Keebra recieved the ball from the kick off and once more embarked on a length of the field try scoring mission that fell short after an in goal grubber kick was diffused by fullback McCullum.

The siren sounded and what had been a very entertaining game of football came to an end with the Hills doing enough to secure their first Cup victory.

As a school Keebra Park would like to thank Hills and their coaching staff for a great encounter and a game deserving of a Grand Final. Well done to all the teams who took part and heres looking to next years competition when we will all be better for the experience and back to contest for the Cup again.

Keebra Park SHS ARL Schoolboys Cup @ SunCorp Stadium (Photo : ourfootymedia)

Keebra Park & Illawarra SHS ARL Schoolboys Cup @ SunCorp Stadium (Photo : ourfootymedia)

A quickfire try to prop Moseses Fotuaika opened the scoring and conversion by Cayden Matahaere saw the Keebra boys take a 6-0 lead.

An armwrestle ensued and a nasty headclash saw Illawarra lose big prop forward Stokes, who was to play no further part in proceedings.

Connor Toia added another unconverted Keebra try that saw them take a 10-0 lead into the final moments of the first half. Illawarra fired back and great probing by Sam Clunes lead to a try before the whistle that saw the halftime score at 10-6.

Illawarra were looking dangerous and Keebra were looking uncharacteristically flat. The second half talk seemed to refocus Keebra and soon after the restart a try came off the back of some solid defence.

Cayden Matahaere converted his own try and it was 16-6. Illawarra were already down one SGBall rep in Stokes and in the process of Matahaere scoring also lost Sam Clunes with a suspected concussion.

To their credit, Illawarra rallied again and scored to put the score at 16-12 with 8 minutes remaining. Keebra recieved a penalty in front of the posts with 2 minutes to go and opted to kick for the two points that ran down the clock and put Illawarra out of the competition.

This was an scrappy affair with both sides having opportunities to take the game. There is now three weeks until Keebra face off against bthe winner of the Matraville versus Hills encounter.

A time to regroup and refocus and what will ultimately lead to a classic final.

Keebra Park Defend Qld ARL Schoolboys Cup Title

Unsure of the opposition but aware that they had a side laden wih talent who had recently been victorious in the Catholic School's "Confraternity Shield", Keebra were meticulous in their preparation and prepared for an enthusiastic opposition.

The first 8 minutes saw both teams holding their own and probing each others lines with consectutive completions, however it was Brendans who cracked first after a turn over lead to an early try to prop, Mosese Fotuaka.

This score signalled a period of sustained pressure and tries to Corbin Keirnan, Henare Wells, Andrew Vela and Kurtis Rowe saw the half time score at 24-0.

Brendans stayed onfield for the halftime break and seemed somewhat shellshocked at the situation they found themselves in. They had qualified for the final with a win over fellow North Qld heavyweights Kirwan SHS and would have considered themselves an even chance in this State Final.

The second half began as the first had ended and a quick flurry of tries to Falaniko Lelua, a brace for both Henare Wells and Moseses Fotuaka, and another try to Kurtis Rowe sealed Brendans fate.Two late consolation tries left the full time score at 56-10 and a well worked and deserved win o the Keebra boys.

Lead by Jayden Stanley, Keebra went into half time with a 16-10 lead and a spirtited come back by Coombabah saw the scores level at 16-16 with ten minutes to go.

This set the stage for a thrilling finale and a riveting gallop down the final furlong.

A final stanza build up saw Keebra regain the lead and rather than look over their shoulder.....they pressed home there advantage with further sustained attacks on the Coombabah goaline.

This late pressure thwarted any chance of an equaliser for the boys in various shades of blue and it was Keebra who crossed the line victorious and worthy recipients of this years trophy.

Mr.Greg LENTON, Keebra Park's successful coach watches last years Arrive alive Cup Grand Final (Photo : ourfootymedia)

Keebra Park SHS have succesfully defended their South Qld Champions tag with a solid win over Gold Coast heavyweights Palm Beach Curumbin.

In front of a large crowd at Suncorp Stadium, Keebra were too strong for a nippy PBC outfit who never really gained enough momentum to cause Keebra much trouble.

Half time saw the score at 16-6 too Keebra and a tense first five minutes of the second half saw PBC narrow the margin to 16-12. While the game was there for the taking during this period, it was a ten minute blitz lead mainly by tremendous line breaks by Henare Wells that saw Keebra skip away to a 28-12 lead.

PBC rallied and scored a late consolation try but a try to James Dunley gave Keebra a two try buffer and the 34-18 final score was a fair reflection of the nights events.

Keebra now go on to play the winner of the North Qld final in defence of their National Championship win in 2010. Pictures are on the way.

The fourteens were too strong for Caloundra SHS who although soundly beaten on the day, did have some talent in key positions in their ranks.

A solid platform set by Max and JJ allowed Riva and Po to exploit the gaps and open up a first half lead that Caloundra could never reel in.

Braidon was solid at the back and Dysharn was tireless in the second row. Well done boys and good luck for next weeks game with Sunnybank.

The thirteens progressed due to a forfeit and although this was not ideal preparation, the boys will be ready for their semi-final encounter.

Well done to Mr Stevens and Mr Campbell on a strong season so far and good luck for the finals.

Mr Harts Keebra Yellow will face off against Mr Woolfs Keebra Blue after downing PBC and Woodridge respectively.

Dion Taumata was a standout in the win over PBC with a couple of 40-20's and some speculative ball playing that came up trumps on the night. Captain Alex Tobler lead a strong forward pack with Matt Wycliff, Jahmin Gernhoffer and Bodie Apps putting in huge efforts in defence.

A big thanks to all the boys and as you would have expected the smart money is on Mr Hart and experience to be tooooooooo strong for the gallant Keebra Blues.

At last call the Blues were 68-1 outsiders and you would be lucky to find a bookie to take a bet against the Yellows. Mr Hart is also looking good for the coach of the year accolade and rumour has it that the coaches shield is already at the engravers.

Well done to Zac Walsh who was selected in the Queensland Murri to take on the NSW Kooris as a curtain raiser to the Allstars game at Skilled Park last weekend.

Unfortunately the game didnt go their way but im sure Zac gained some useful experience.

In other news the school put a sevens side into the Queensland Reds sevens competition and finished top of their group beating some of the best Union sides in the area including St Josephs College Nudgee.

They now face a semi final against the fancied Brisbane State High and a rematch with Nudgee if they win that game. These games are to be played as curtain raisers to the Reds versus Canterbury game and Suncorp on Friday night.

They may well be short with a number of the team flying down to Sydney for SG Ball duty but whatever the result it has been a great effort from boys with no union background.

Early trials against PBC showed that the Under 14s will be a side to be reckoned with this year and there are upcoming trials in all grades.

Well done to graduates Corey Norman who is progressing well at the Broncos and there is good news from the Tigers with the boys going well down there.

The under 16 side also looks like they will give the Titans Competition a shake with nine (9) of this side already aelected and playing for the Titans Cyril Connell Cup team.

The name itself is an aboriginal word meaning “Place of Happy People” and it certainly embraces this ideal.

There is the extremely successful ESL program (English As a Second Language) attracting students from as far away as Honduras and Iceland, its rugby league program attracting students from Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands and its International Student program with students from as far afield as Brazil and Germany and of course our local Australian and indigenous populations.

There is no doubt this diversity, assists with teaching and understanding in the classroom with students able to access cultural knowledge from their peers that is not so readily available in the homogenous environments in some schools.

There also seems to be some advantages in the sporting realm with students from these very different backgrounds able to come together and contribute to produce fantastic results.

“We all mix in really well and I think its all of us coming together that makes us a formidable opposition.” Said year 11 student Henare Wells.

“Ive met students from everywhere this year and they teach me as much as I teach them” He added.

This was evident this year at Keebra Park where Samoans and Tongans mixed in with Australians, Germans and Brazillians to take out three much sought after trophies.

First of all there was the Arrive Cup win, followed by the Queensland All Schools Touch Competition and most recently the Gold Coast 9 aside AFL championship.

Schools often fend off a fair bit of negative press in the mass media and stories such as this are a way for the students to let what they do in the classroom and the sporting field talk for them and their peers.

“We study the media industry as part of our sports specialisation program and realise that schools are an easy target for journalists and its disappointing but part of society today.”

Danny White & Jordan Kahu were outstanding in 2009

Keebra Park players celebrate with the Cup (Photo : ourfootymedia)

The Boys

Lawry Award

The Arrive alive Cup at Keebra

CHECK OUT THE GRAND FINAL ACTION

Keebra Park are not just a one team school having '09 success in all competition including the Steve Renouf, Titans Cup to name just a couple.

It is teams, training and mateship that enable good sides to play good footy, awards are individual awards in a team sport and generally go to those who put in that bit more each game.

Amoung the outstanding achivements by all the players were the 2009 Keebra Park major award winners.

Check them out, these boys will be playing in Sydney next year having been involved with the WestsTigers Academy.

DANNY WHITE won the MVP

BEN MURDOCH won the Lawry Award
(YouTube Lawry will best explain that)

JORDAN KAHU won the sportsman of the year.

More tomz

Keebra Park belted Wavell SHS on Friday to the tune of 32 - 6 in a powerful display of schoolboys rugby league to move onto the next stage of the Arrive alive Cup