College tries for rugby riches

Anthony Falua crosses for one of Eumemmerring’s six tries. 31783 Picture: Meagan Rogers

By Marc McGowan
EUMEMMERRING College swept aside South Australian rugby league school champions Aberfoyle Park 28-10 last week to progress to round two of the Arrive Alive Cup.
The Hallam school won the state championship for the second straight year two weeks ago against Bayside Secondary College.
That victory qualified Eumemmerring for the nationally contested Arrive Alive Cup and it overcame Aberfoyle Park after a slow start at Casey Fields last Thursday.
The Arrive Alive Cup is the largest schoolboy competition in Australia.
Penrith-based school Chifley College now awaits in Gundagai next Tuesday and a win in that game would match Eumemmerring’s result from last year.
Eumemmerring rugby league coach Travis McIntosh was thrilled with the school’s success.
“We were a little bit slow to start – we made a couple of early errors and clumsy mistakes and that sort of thing – but it was a good result,” he said.
Eumemmerring pair Jerome Henry and Aaron Laasia, who both played in Melbourne Storm’s under-18 SG Ball Cup side that made the grand final of the competition last month, were standouts.
Fellow student Luke Waiti also represented the Storm, but did not play last week due to injury.
Melbourne’s SG Ball Cup coach Kim Williams doubles as Eumemmerring’s high-performance coach in the school’s successful sports academy program.
Nathan Paiala, Vince Foluena, Beau Keefe and Kieran Pickles were other impressive performers for Eumemmerring.
McIntosh is excited about his players’ chances in the Tier B section of the Arrive Alive Cup – as long as a few of their injured stars can return from the sidelines.
“We did pretty well last year, but whether we’ll be competitive this year is difficult to say,” he said. “I think we’ve got some opportunities there if we get a full-strength side back, but there’s still a long way to go.
“Obviously, we’ll be coming up against schools that have a lot of depth in rugby league. “We’re nursing quite a few injuries at the moment, so hopefully in the next seven or so days those sorts of injuries will come through and we’ll have a full-strength side.”
Eumemmerring is one of 16 schools still in contention to qualify for the elite Tier A competition if it can win the Tier B title.