Redfield Rugby

Saturday 18/6 Redfield (3) - St Augustine's Primary, Coffs Harbour (2)

THE ESSENTIAL ENERGY NSW PRIMARY SCHOOL STATE CHAMPIONS!

Coaches:
• Scott Ingram
• Tom Hart

Players:
• Louis Bernadello
• Chris Bookallil
• Jamie Burfitt
• Michael Carrington
• Hamish Cox
• Tom Del Rosario
• David Kato
• Finbar McCaughan
• Andrew Moore
• Tom Ragell
• Toby Vieira
• James Westbury

Over 3 days of tournaments, culminating in the Grand Final being played at ANZ Stadium, the Redfield Primary 7’s team managed to defeat St Augustines Primary, Coffs Harbour. The boys fought back from being down 2 tries to nil half way through the game, to force the match into extra time where they managed to hold on during double overtime to secure victory, 3-2.

As the finals progressed, Redfield managed to become the only undefeated team by defeating St Joseph's Alstonville (Lismore area), Illawarra Grammar School, Edgeworth Public School (Newcastle area) and then Assumption School (Bathurst) in the semi-final.

The boys had to play the whole finals tournament with only 11 players available because of illness, and in every game played, they were the smaller team. They showed great courage, skill and teamwork to go into every game with a winning attitude, and every single boy contributed to the team's ultimate success. As coaches, we couldn’t be happier with them. They followed our preparations and game plans to the letter, and even in camp, kept focused and didn’t allow distractions that could come with being away from home with a bunch of mates!. We all shared a common goal — to play at ANZ for the championship in front of friends and families. To their credit, they achieved this goal — and then some!

The parents were terrific in their support, but particular thanks to John Bernadello for being our 'unofficial' team manager and supplying the boys with jumpers for the tournament.

Tom Hart