Heading for the third, final round, ‘grand final’ in a row. Great for the boys fortunate enough to be a part of that - amazing way to end the comp.
A lot of talk for SLC across this year, they were never in the mix with this cohort over the years. It was always Padua, MCA and Iona. Padua have had some close ones against MCA, I recall 1 game going to a conversion after the whistle and a few solid tussles with Iona but that was it. The current Padua cohort went undefeated from 5A’s to 10A’s (the usual player mix up occurred in year 11 with some playing firsts and winning) and I make at least 10 of those boys from the 5A’s in their current team. There were a few years where their B’s went undefeated as well, thus a tonne of depth in this year 12 group. There are boys in there who have never lost a game in school colours – that’s 8 years. Surely not to be repeated.
So what does this mean: With only 1 or 2 year 11 boys in the team (injury dependent) it’s mostly the same team who’ve shown the same desire to win this year, even without their star 10 for 3 games – who’s probably the best player in the comp. MCA have always gone close but never got there. Do they have a few year 11’s to bolster the ranks, or do they need them? It’s a dead heat comparatively in the backs - strike power galore in both sides. MCA have won this year by running, Padua have won a few ways, but with their 10 back (and his boot) he will turn them around, pin them down and cramp that style. Do MCA have something else they haven’t needed to show yet?
It seems like Padua at home, all the way - but if MCA get up, it would be a devastating steal. All the pressure on the brown and gold.