Rugby gala kicks up a storm

By Kelly Yates
EUMEMMERRING College students were treated to a special visit from Melbourne Storm chief Tony Muller.
The club’s national development officer visited to hand out awards after the school’s Rugby Gala Day.
He presented students with Melbourne Storm hats, T-shirts and signed footballs as recognition for their efforts.
As an added bonus, he also brought with him the Australian Rugby League Premiership Trophy, which the Melbourne Storm received for their whitewash victory in the 2007 Grand Final.
A selection of students from the Fountain Gate campus participated in the school’s first Year 7/8 Rugby Gala Day held at the Police Paddocks in Dandenong on 7 November last year.
The students took to the event with true commitment, many even giving up their lunchtimes and afternoons to train.
Each training session saw the teams bond together to practise the tricky manoeuvres, many of which were put into play at the Gala Day.
Due to the modified rules, scrums were not allowed however, there were plenty of hard hitting tackles, particularly by Year 8 student, Jireh Haenga.
It was this great defence led by the team that saw them invited to play at the State Finals even though taking runners up position in the final on the Gala day.
The Year 7 boys team showed plenty of spirit as they approached victory in the final dying minutes of the game.
But this wasn’t just the boys’ game; the Year 7 girls team were also the champions in their non-contact flag final. But unfortunately, the Year 8 girls Non-Contact Flag team was narrowly beaten in their final after being undefeated in all of their round robin matches.
All winning teams were invited to participate in the State Final at Elwood Park on 15 November.
All the teams had some mixed results but put in a great effort against some strong competition, despite not coming home with the Robbie Kearns Trophy.