Bill Turner Cup

Next week our Maribyrnong College U15 Boys and Girls football teams (Soccer) will make their way up to Newcastle for the Semi Finals and Final of the Bill Turner Cup, the largest football competition for secondary schools in Australia.

Around 850 school teams from NSW, Qld, ACT and Victoria participate each year, with all players 15 years and under.  The comp is a knockout format with early round matches starting in Term 1 each year. Bill Turner valued fitness, fun, fair play and the competition pays tribute to these values.  The Bill Turner Cup (open) is in its 44th year.  The Bill Turner Trophy (girls) is in its 32nd year in 2023.

MSA Football Head coach Adrian Mazzarella says it’s been a fantastic opportunity for our young Football athletes to play at such a high level of Competition. “It’s been a few years waiting and we have been unlucky in previous years, with Covid lockdowns really hurting our chances when competition was cancelled.  In the past few years, we have had trouble getting out of the Victorian pool, but we have done well this year, with both our boys and Girls teams getting through.  It’s a huge achievement for the program and it’s so exciting for the boys and girls going, because they will be playing against the best schools in the country, and it’s the first time in history we have had both boys’ and girls’ teams together in Newcastle for the finals. “

Our Boys team have made it through to the Semi Final by winning their way through the Albury Final 32 competition.  They beat Marion College 1-0 in their first game before defeating St John Paul II College 4-0 in the round of 16.  A quarter final win 2-0 over St Gregory’s has Maribyrnong playing Ipswich Grammar in the Semi Final.  A win in that game will have the boys playing either St Joseph’s Regional or Endeavour Sports in the final, the first time Maribyrnong College will have been in the final since 2012 where they went on to win the Bill Turner Cup that year.

Boys coach Brody Crane praising the effort of his boys in the tournament so far. “ It’s hard to say how the boys might perform next week because they will be coming up against the best sides in the comp from Queensland and New South Wales, and I expect they will be all tough sides. They have done a great job up to now, they are trying to play football the way I think that will help them be successful moving forward.  This team has risen to every challenge thrown at them so far, so hopefully we can keep playing the way we want to play and keep getting results.   “

Our Girls team have had a much easier run through to the semis, they won their lead in matches quite convincingly.  First up their group of 32 match and a 7-0 win against St Matthews Mudgee before a 10 goal plus win over Marian College.  Their quarter final match was also a 10 goal plus win over Holy Spirit, putting the Maribyrnong girls into the semi-final against Kelvin Grove, before a possible final match against either Westfield Sports or Merewether. A Maribyrnong College Girls football team has never made it to the grand final of the Trophy competition.

Coach Mazzarella says his Girls team has been so powerful in the leadup games.    “The girls’ team is extremely strong with very good players getting the chance to play together a lot more often, and they are really starting to gel and play some really exciting football on the pitch.  I think the girls should be confident about how they will perform next week. The Girls have only made the Newcastle stage once before and finished 4th. “ 

The Maribyrnong College girls play their semi-final on Tuesday the 5th of September at 10.30 then our boys play their semi at 1.30pm.  Both teams will then play again on Wednesday the 6th in their final match of the tournament.  A live stream is available for all games out of Newcastle at https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/live-streams.  A subscription to the Herald Sun or Kommunity TV is required.

The Score - 290823

Once again it’s been another big week for our current students and Alumni in so many different sports. This is how they went in the past week.

Athletics

Celeste Mucci can hold her head up high after an amazing World Championships in Budapest.  Celeste qualified from her heat of the 100m Hurdles for the Semi Finals in a time of 12.90.  Celeste was 19th fastest of the 24 who qualified but was unable to get a position in the final 8 after a slow start.  So, while Celeste and her coach Darren Clark have mixed feelings as they return home, their eyes are now fully focused on the 2024 Paris Olympics and trying to improve her personal best time by .06 of a second (40cm) and reach an Olympic Qualifying time of 12.77.  We will keep our eyes on Celeste over the Aussie summer.

Badminton

Gronya Somerville didn’t have the Badminton World Championships she would have been expecting, being knocked out of both the Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles in the round of 64.  Gronya and her partner Kenneth Choo won the first set against their English opponents 24-22 then lost the next two sets 21-15, 21-14, while in the Women’s Doubles, Gronya and Kaitlyn EA lost both sets in a tight encounter against their Scottish opponents 25-23, 21-19.

Cycling

MSA Alumni Lucas Plapp has had a mixed Renewi tour which was held through Belgium and the Netherlands.  Over the 5 stages Lucas finished 116th/11th/55th/139th and 110th to finish 79th overall some 14 minutes and 18 seconds from the winner. 

Taekwondo

We wish the following students all the best as they head over to the World Taekwondo Cadet Championships being held in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Congratulations and Good Luck to Year 9 student Lucas Lai and Year 8 students Lacie Gleeson and Teddy Kaing.

Para Table Tennis

Nathan Pellissier has claimed a gold medal in the Mixed doubles at the Korea Para Open.  Nathan and his partner Lei Lina beat the second Australian combination in the class XD17 Mixed Doubles 3 sets to 1 8-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-8.  Nathan also made the quarter finals of the Men’s singles and quarter finals of the Men’s doubles.

NRLW

Najvada George and her club the Wests Tigers continue their losing streak too 5 in a row after winning the first 2 matches of the season.  The Tigers went down 48-10 to the Roosters.  Najvada played 48 minutes of the game had 27 tackles for the game with 2 tackle breaks and 1 offload.

AFL

Hawthorn v Fremantle

Luke Ryan had a solid day for the Dockers in their 37-point victory over the Hawks at the MCG.  Luke had 21 disposals, 9 marks and gained 388 metres. 

North Melbourne v Gold Coast Suns

Paul Curtis kicked 2 goals and had 9 possessions in North Melbourne’s 35-point victory over the Gold Coast Suns.  His teammate Kayne Turner 12 disposals, 8 marks and 5 tackles .  Touk Miller tried to get the Suns over the line with some great numbers including 29 disposals, 4 marks, 3 tackles and a goal.

Brisbane v St Kilda

The Lions had a 12-point win over the Saints and were ably assisted by MSA Alumni Cam Rayner who had 14 disposals, 5 marks, 4 tackles and kicked 1 goal 1. 

Geelong v Western Bulldogs

 A big day from Rhylee West helped the Bulldogs get over the line against Geelong at Geelong but it wasn’t enough to grab a finals spot.  Rhylee had 24 disposals, 4 marks and 5 tackles in the 25-point win.

Port Adelaide v Richmond

 Once again Zak Butters dominated for the Power to help them grab a 31-point win over the Tigers and secure 3rd place on the AFL Ladder.  Zak had 30 disposals, 7 marks and 2 tackles to again put his name up for Brownlow votes.

Sydney v Melbourne

Joel Smith helped the Demons take a last round win against Sydney and consolidate 4th place on the AFL Ladder.  Joel had 7 disposals, 3 marks and 5 tackles in the 21-point victory.

So, we have 5 Alumni left in the AFL final series, they are Cam Rayner at Brisbane, Zak Butters at Port Adelaide, Joel Smith at Melbourne, also Jordan Boyd and Josh Honey at Carlton.

AFLW Season 2023

The AFLW season is just days away with Melbourne and Collingwood playing at ICON Park in the opening game on Friday night.  Once again MSA has great representation of our Alumni in the competition with 9 former students and 1 former Hockey coach playing in season 8.  We have compiled a list of players and how they are expected to go this season.

Essendon

·      Georgia Nanscawen - A former hockey coach here at MSA, Georgia has been picked up by Essendon after playing for their VFLW team last year where she missed the Grand final due to a knee injury.

Geelong Cats

·      Georgie Prespakis – The curly haired blonde with the long sleeves, Georgie had an amazing 2022 with the Cats in her debut AFLW year.  She was named in the All-Australian team on a wing and AFLPA best 22 under 22 team.  Expect her to be prominent in this year’s Best and Fairest voting.

Hawthorn

·      Charlotte Baskaran – Charlotte played 10 games for the Hawks in her first year of AFLW while also finishing her Year 12 studies last year.  With her first full preseason finished, she is expected to shine for the Hawks this year. The 18-year-old averaged 10.5 disposals and 5.1 tackles in her 10 games last year and finished seventh in Hawthorn’s inaugural bast and fairest.

Melbourne

·      Libby Birch - The two-time premiership player (Bulldogs and Melbourne) is entering her 8th season in the AFLW.  Libby once again reached All Australian status in 2022 following on from her selection in 2020.  She also won a premiership with the Demons in Season 7 last year. Coming out of the backline, Libby provides plenty of drive out of the Demons Backline to help set up their forward movement.

Kangaroos

·      Amy Smith – The tackling machine Amy Smith played all games except for one in season 7 last year.  Amy put on a tackling clinic in the Elimination final racking up 17 tackles for the Kangaroos.  She is now a main stay in the North Melbourne outfit and we are expecting a big year from her this season.

Richmond

·      Monique Conti - Monique started her Career at the Western Bulldogs in 2018, helping them win a premiership in her debut year.  Monique enters her 7th season in the AFLW having spent the last 4 season at the Tigers.  Monique has won 5 best and fairest (1 x Bulldogs, 4 x Richmond) and has had 4 All Australian selections.

·      Ellie McKenzie - Ellie was the 2020 #1 draft pick and is in her 4th season at Richmond.  Ellie had an interrupted AFLW season 6 in 2022, she improved in season 7 and was selected in the season 7 All Australian squad. Expect this to be a breakout year for the talented midfielder.

St Kilda

 ·      Georgia Patrikios – After missing the entire in season 2021, Georgia made her return to the competition last year.  The 22-year-old won St Kilda’s Best and Fairest in season 2020 and 2021.   She played 10 games in Season 7 last year and we expect her to return to some great form this season. 

Sydney Swans

·      Aliesha Newman – Aliesha joined the Swans last year after 6 seasons at Melbourne and Collingwood and play season 7 at the Swans.  She is known for her explosiveness and can often be found running down the wing and is very damaging in front of goals. 

Western Bulldogs

·      Jess Fitzgerald - Jess was the #2 pick in season 2020.  Jess is a clever user of the ball who is improving her game year on year.  Expect Jess to also set the AFLW on fire this year.

With the AFLW season commencing this week, we're pleased to announce that the AFL are offering our Maribyrnong College community an AFLW ticket offer for round 1’s Victorian Games.

The offer includes a 2 for 1, making tickets for adults $5 and children under 18 free but you need to redeem a ticket.

To unlock the offer, the promo code MATESW8 needs to entered when prompted.

MELBOURNE vs COLLINGWOOD
IKON PARK
1 September
https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/event/13005F011DA93C51?did=2for1
 
 
CARLTON vs SUNS
IKON PARK
2 September
https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/event/13005F011ED63C69?did=2for1
 
 
GEELONG vs BULLDOGS
GMHBA STADIUM
2 September
https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/event/25005F01206424DD?did=2for1
 
HAWTHORN vs ESSENDON
KINETIC STADIUM
2 September
https://www.ticketmaster.com.au/event/13005F02E7513866?did=2for1