On a sultry August afternoon in Brisbane’s northern suburbs, at the Behemoth of Christian Brothers St Joseph’s Nudgee College, the Round 6 clash between the undefeated Nudgee and Brisbane State High took place. BSHS students cheered their 1st XV side as they made their way onto the hallowed Ross Oval, only to be drowned out by over 130 years of history as the boarders, in school uniform, bellowed in unison from the old boys’ stand. This was their turf.

The excitement and anticipation didn’t dissipate after the kick-off as these two GPS powerhouses went toe-to-toe from the outset. Nudgee dominated with wave after wave of attack, only for the students south of the River to thwart them. These were only boys, but they played like men, throwing their teenage bodies at each other like young bulls in a pen. The deadlock was broken in the 10th minute with a well-constructed snipe down the blindside to put the butcher-stripes in for their first 5-pointer.

The only government-run school in this premier GPS competition wasn’t about to let the Catholics have their way and forced their way back with two converted tries of their own. They held onto this 14-7 lead almost to the end of the first half, when Nudgee scored from a lineout to claw back the margin on the stroke of halftime to trail 14-12.

The second half was a masterclass by the Nudgee 1st XV, as they have done all season; they ran away with sustained attack, scoring a plethora of tries through controlled kicking by their five-eighth, Chilli Smith (son of the recently departed Brian Smith) and strong running from inside-centre Bond Bradley. BSHS Coach, Stevie Kefu, proved his boys were not walkovers and stayed in the fight to the death with late tries of their own, but with a 43rd Premiership beckoning, the greatest rugby nursery of all time held firm to win 41-26. Nudgee coach Andrew Scotney can be proud of his chargers, who have reached another level since their preseason tour to South Africa, where they toppled SA schools champions Grey College 29-26 in Johannesburg.