The two squads have many players in common, and both were successful in making it to the next level of the competition. 

“It’s a good tradition in the school that they tend to work at that really high level,” teacher Catherine Lane said.

“That’s a great achievement that they see as the pinnacle of year five and six for their sporting with rugby and with league.” 

The league team, coached by Toni Palmer, played five games against other regional Catholic Primary schools and will compete in the second round of the Catholic and Independent School Challenge next school term at Raymond Terrace, north of Newcastle. 

The 13 man rugby union squad, coached by Andrew Walsh, retained their winning title in the competition, and will go on to compete at a state level at St Joseph’s Hunters Hill in Sydney early August.

“It was a pretty challenging piece of footy. They were physical, pretty full on,” Matt de Gunst said. He felt the wet conditions just made the game more fun. De Gunst, along with his teammates Jake House, Xavier Gobbert and Sam Gilligan was selected to play in the union Polding Trials in Forbes on June 27.

“(We) get a lot of opportunities here. Might as well make the most of them,” Gobbert said. He said working with the rest of the team was important.

“If you need people, just use your voice,” he said.

Lane said many of the players from surrounding areas already knew each other from weekend rugby carnivals, and enjoyed playing with their friends.

“It’s quite fun to get on the paddock and play against those kids, but representing your school, not just your town,” she said.

“So they have a wide range of experiences, which is really good. The kids that play week in week out tend to bring the other kids that don’t have the opportunity to play on weekends with them, and so their standard improves as well.”

Lane said it was quite a challenge for so many of the boys to travel twice, and was grateful to parents for their commitment.