Their positional semifinal against St Bede’s College was close, with St Bede’s winning 12-10.
It put GBHS into a playoff for 11th and 12th against Western Heights, resulting in a 10-4 win for GBHS.
Assistant coach Luke Fox said the team’s feats were “amazing”, considering they had less than three weeks of preparation and were “very inexperienced”.
“Turning a rugby team into a league team is no easy feat, but the players’ willingness to learn and their hard-working attitude, and the relentless and committed efforts of all the staff, coaches and parents made it an extremely successful campaign.”
Fox said it had been “a long time” since the school had had a league team.
“There was an inaugural team back in the 90s, but no rugby league since then.”
This was the school’s first secondary school tournament campaign.
“Obviously, with GBHS being a very proud rugby school, the inception of rugby league can bring about its question marks, concerns, debate ... mixed in with the excitement of opportunity and positivity,” Fox said.
About 70% of the squad had never played rugby league before, while the remaining 30% were relatively inexperienced.
The team’s coaching and management group comprised head coach Jordan Scott, an experienced ex-player and coach of the Wellington Orcas league team; assistants GBHS teacher Mike Morrissey, who played over 80 first-class rugby games for Poverty Bay, and Fox, who has played and coached in New Zealand and Australia; team investment manager Ken Gifford; manager Gaye Scott; physiotherapist Wendy Andrews; and fitness and conditioning trainer Mitch Purvis.
A couple of Kiwis rugby league greats were also involved.
Tony Iro, now the player development manager for the New Zealand Warriors, ran a clinic with the players in Gisborne in the build-up to the tournament. He also organised a visit to the Warriors’ base at Go Media Stadium in Auckland, and got the team tickets to the Warriors’ NRL clash with the Parramatta Eels.
NZ Warriors centurion Ali Lauiti’iti did a jersey presentation in Auckland and conducted an NRL wellbeing session with the boys.
Former Warriors, Cronulla Sharks and West Tigers professional Blake Ayshford ran a couple of training sessions with the team.
“Our goal is to build a long-term, genuine career pathway opportunity for aspiring rugby league players of GBHS,” Fox said.
GBHS player Samuel Fox was among those to catch the eye of NRL scouts at the tournament.
Luke Fox said South Sydney Rabbitohs were looking at Samuel playing in a trial game in Australia, with the potential of making Souths’ Harold Matthews Cup squad in 2026.
Several GBHS players were selected for upcoming NZ Warriors age group trials: Under-15s (Rory Gifford and Noah Fox), U17s (Coen-Theros Brown, Anakin Ormsby Cairns, Samuel Fox and Max Hammond) and U19s (Storm De Thier, David Gray, Tomasi Mataele and Timuaki Stewart).
The Team of the Tournament honour recognised a team that embodied “the spirit of rugby league”, ranging from sportsmanship and discipline to commitment and team values.
To cap their campaign, Gaye Scott was named Manager of the Tournament, an accolade acknowledging such qualities as integrity, professionalism, organisation, player welfare and support, and contribution to team culture.
Luke Fox acknowledged the support of the team’s sponsors and backers, whose “investment helped turn a dream into reality”.
Dilworth School defeated Tauranga Boys’ College 26-6 in the Championship final.
Kelston Boys’ High beat St Paul’s College 20-12 in the Premiership final.
