Confraternity Carnival

The Confraternity Carnival, commonly referred to as Confro, is the premier rugby league competition for Catholic and independent secondary schools in Queensland, Australia, held annually since 1980.[1] Administered by the Queensland Rugby League and run by the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League, the competition is a week-long carnival that features over 1,000 students from up to 48 schools in July each year.[2]

Confraternity Carnival
SportRugby league
Instituted1980
Number of teams48
CountryAustralia (QRL)
HoldersBoys St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
Girls The Cathedral College, Rockhampton (2023)
Most titlesSt Brendan's College, Yeppoon (14 titles)
WebsiteQISSRL Confraternity Carnival website
Related competitionNRL Schoolboy Cup

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 Australian and Queensland representatives, including Johnathan Thurston, Matthew Scott, Matthew Bowen, Bob Lindner, Xavier Coates, Wendell Sailor, Daly Cherry-Evans, Michael Morgan and Cameron Munster.[3]

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 Bundaberg and featured just six teams. Prior to this, Christian Brothers schools from Bundaberg and Ipswich competed against each other for the Bunswich Shield. The first winners of the Confraternity Shield were Aquinas College, Ashmore, who also won the second carnival in 1981, becoming the first side to win back-to-back shields.

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 Bob Lindner Trophy. Lindner was the first Carnival participant to represent Australia.[8]

Results

Year Location Winners
1980 Bundaberg Aquinas College, Ashmore
1981 Ipswich Aquinas College, Ashmore (2)
1982 Brisbane St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
1983 Yeppoon St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (2)
1984 Brisbane Pauda College, Brisbane
1985 Bundaberg St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (3)
1986 Cairns Clairvaux MacKillop College, Brisbane
1987 Australia St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (4)
1988 Brisbane St Patrick's College, Mackay
1989 Toowoomba St Patrick's College, Mackay (2)
1990 Yeppoon St Patrick's College, Mackay (3)
1991 Charters Towers St Patrick's College, Mackay (4)
1992 Brisbane St Patrick's College, Mackay (5)
1993 Cairns St Augustine's College, Cairns
1994 Rockhampton St Mary's College, Toowoomba
1995 Toowoomba St Mary's College, Toowoomba (2)
1996 Mackay St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (5)
1997 Townsville Pauda College, Brisbane (2)
1998 Ipswich St Mary's College, Toowoomba (2)
1999 Rockhampton St Teresa's College, Abergowrie
2000 Bundaberg St Patrick's College, Mackay (6)
2001 Yeppoon St Patrick's College, Mackay (7)
2002 Charters Towers St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (6)
2003 Gold Coast St Patrick's College, Mackay (8)
2004 Townsville St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (7)
2005 Toowoomba Pauda College, Brisbane (3)
2006 Brisbane St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (8)
2007 Ipswich St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (9)
2008 Rockhampton Ignatius Park College, Townsville
2009 Bundaberg St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (10)
2010 Brisbane St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (11)
2011 Yeppoon Ignatius Park College, Townsville (2)
2012 Shorncliffe Ignatius Park College, Townsville (3)
2013 Townsville Ignatius Park College, Townsville (4)
2014 Gold Coast St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (12)
2015 Ipswich St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (13)
2016 Rockhampton Ignatius Park College, Townsville (5)
2017 Brisbane Rockhampton Grammar School
2018 Charters Towers St Mary's College, Toowoomba (3)
2019 Bundaberg Ignatius Park College, Townsville (6)
2022 Mackay Boys Ignatius Park College, Townsville (7)

Girls Marymount College (1)

2023 Brisbane Boys St Brendan's College, Yeppoon (14)

Girls The Cathedral College, Rockhampton (1)

School Titles Years won
St Brendan's College, Yeppoon 13 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015
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 Australian and Queensland representatives Julian O'Neill, Wendell Sailor, Matthew Bowen and David Taylor.[9]

Year Player School
1982 Paul Young Aquinas College, Ashmore
1983 Gary Beddoes St Edmund's College, Ipswich
1984 Anthony Griffin Emmaus College, Rockhampton
1985 Gary Anderson St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
1986 Clinton Peters Mt Maria College, Mitchelton
1987 Andrew Schick St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
1988 Allan Barrett St Augustine's College, Cairns
1989 Julian O'Neill St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
1990 Peter Phillips St Patrick's College, Mackay
1991 Butch Fatnowna St Patrick's College, Mackay
1992 Wendell Sailor St Patrick's College, Mackay
1993 Cameron McNabb St Augustine's College, Cairns
1994 Robert Bella St Augustine's College, Cairns
1995 Shane Walker St Mary's College, Toowoomba
1996 Chris Walker St Mary's College, Toowoomba
1997 Danny Bampton St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
1998 Ned Murphy St Mary's College, Toowoomba
1999 Matthew Bowen St Teresa's College, Abergowrie
2000 Grant Rovelli St Patrick's College, Mackay
2001 Ryan Bartlett St Augustine's College, Cairns
2002 Darren Rodgers St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
2003 Danny Williams St Patrick's College, Mackay
2004 Jamie Simpson St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
2005 David Taylor St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
2006 Ben Barba St Patrick's College, Mackay
2007 Jayden Maua'i Clairvaux MacKillop College, Brisbane
2008 Jay Lobwein Ignatius Park College, Townsville
2009 Maipele Morseu St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
2010 Sam Foster Ignatius Park College, Townsville
2011 Andrew Shipway St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
2012 Kieran Quabba Ignatius Park College, Townsville
2013 Josh Berkers Marymount College, Burleigh
2014 Brayden Josephs St Mary's College, Toowoomba
2015 Bailey Butler St Brendan's College, Yeppoon
2016 Lochlyn Sheldon Aquinas College, Ashmore
2017 Ben Condon Rockhampton Grammar School
2018 Jake Simpkin St Mary's College, Toowoomba
2019 Charlie Murray Marymount College, Burleigh
2020 Carnival cancelled (COVID-19) Carnival cancelled (COVID-19)
2021 Carnival cancelled (COVID-19) Carnival cancelled (COVID-19)
2022 Jamal Shibasaki Ignatius Park College, Townsville
2023 Cooper Bai Marymount College, Burleigh

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

References

  1. "More than 1000 Catholic school students ready for Confraternity Carnival". Archdiocese of Brisbane. 29 June 2018.
  2. "Schools ready to take on Confraternity Carnival". Queensland Rugby League. 1 July 2018.
  3. "Confraternity Carnival comes to campus". Australian Catholic University. 26 June 2017.
  4. "Schoolboys teams prepare for Confraternity Carnival". Queensland Rugby League. 26 June 2019.
  5. "Top honour for Mackay stalwart". Queensland Rugby League. 13 September 2017.
  6. "Rugby League". Ignatius Park College. 29 June 2020.
  7. "The schoolboy league carnival which gave greats their start is off because of the coronavirus crisis". The Courier Mail. 3 April 2020.
  8. "Semi-finalists set for Confraternity Shield". Queensland Rugby League. 3 July 2019.
  9. "History of Winners". QISSRL. 29 June 2020.
  10. 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.
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