Confraternity Carnival
Sport | Rugby league |
---|---|
Instituted | 1980 |
Number of teams | 64 |
Country | Australia (QRL) |
Holders | Boys St Brendan's College, Yeppoon Girls NRL Schoolboy Cup |
The Confraternity Carnival, commonly referred to as Confro, is the premier
In 2020 a Girls competition was introduced for the first time. However, this was cancelled in 2020 and cut short in 2021 due to COVID-19. The historic inaugural Girls winners were Marymount College in 2022.
The carnival has featured a number of current and former
The most successful school is St Brendan's College, Yeppoon, while the current holders of the Confraternity Shield are Ignatius Park College, who won the competition in 2019 and 2022.[4]
History
In 1980, the first Confraternity Carnival was held in
By 1990, the Carnival had grown to 21 teams. From 1988 to 1992, St Patrick's College, Mackay won the shield five times in a row, a record as of 2020.[5] In 2006, 40 schools took part for the first time, growing to 48 in 2015. In 2013, Ignatius Park College became just the second school to win three straight shields.[6]
In 2018, St Mary's Catholic College, Casino became the first New South Wales-based school to compete at the carnival. They were coached by former North Sydney Bears halfback Paul McCaffery.[2]
On 3 April 2020, the Carnival was cancelled for the first time in its history due to COVID-19. The competition was set to take place at Brisbane's Iona College.[7]
Format
As of 2019, the format of the carnival sees the 48 schools divided into pools of four, with four pools making up the three divisions (either 1, 2 or 3). The schools play the other teams in their pool once before the finals begin. Which division a school is in determines which prize they compete for. Teams in Division 1 compete for the Confraternity Shield, the biggest prize of the carnival, and the Confraternity Trophy. Teams in Division 2 compete for the Confraternity Plate and the Confraternity Bowl, while teams in Division 3 compete for the Confraternity Cup and Challenge Trophy.
The first two days of the carnival are for the pool games and the quarter-finals. A rest day is then held before the semi-finals take place on day four. The final day then features the six Grand Finals, with the Shield game played last. Also on the final day, the team who didn't make the Grand Finals compete in consolation playoff finals.
Until 1988, the schools competed solely for the Shield. As more schools joined, more trophies were added. The first was the Confraternity Trophy, which is known as the
Results
School | Titles | Years won |
---|---|---|
St Brendan's College, Yeppoon | 13 | 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015 , 2023 |
St Patrick's College, Mackay | 8 | 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2003 |
Ignatius Park College, Townsville | 7 | 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022 |
St Mary's College, Toowoomba | 4 | 1994, 1995, 1998, 2018 |
Pauda College, Brisbane | 3 | 1984, 1997, 2005 |
Aquinas College, Ashmore | 2 | 1980, 1981 |
Clairvaux MacKillop College, Brisbane | 1 | 1986 |
Rockhampton Grammar School | 1 | 2017 |
St Augustine's College, Cairns
|
1 | 1993 |
St Teresa's College, Abergowrie | 1 | 1999 |
Marymount College | 1 | 2022 (Girls) |
Male Player of the Carnival
The Male Player of the Carnival is awarded to the most outstanding player in the competition. First awarded in 1982, past winners included future
Female Player of the Carnival
The Female Player of the Carnival is awarded to the most outstanding female player in the competition. It was first awarded in 2022 with Lillian Yarrow named as the inaugural recipient.[10]
Year | Player | School |
---|---|---|
2022 | Lillian Yarrow | Emmaus College, Rockhampton |
2023 | Caitlin Tanner | The Cathedral College, Rockhampton |
See also
- NRL Schoolboy Cup
- Australian Schoolboys rugby league team
References
- ^ "More than 1200 independent school students ready for Confraternity Carnival". Archdiocese of Brisbane. 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b "Schools ready to take on Confraternity Carnival". Queensland Rugby League. 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Confraternity Carnival comes to campus". Australian Catholic University. 26 June 2017.
- ^ "Schoolboys teams prepare for Confraternity Carnival". Queensland Rugby League. 26 June 2019.
- ^ "Top honour for Mackay stalwart". Queensland Rugby League. 13 September 2017.
- ^ "Rugby League". Ignatius Park College. 29 June 2020.
- ^ "The schoolboy league carnival which gave greats their start is off because of the coronavirus crisis". The Courier Mail. 3 April 2020.
- ^ "Semi-finalists set for Confraternity Shield". Queensland Rugby League. 3 July 2019.
- ^ "History of Winners". QISSRL. 29 June 2020.
- ^ McKay, Pam (2 July 2022). "Central Qld school teams feature in the top four of both boys and girls comps at Confraternity Carnival 2022". The Morning Bulletin. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
Emmaus College sensation Lillian Yarrow was the inaugural winner of the Reg Cannon Award for the Female Player of the Carnival.