MHS PDHPE

Winning Glory!! 🏆🏈

Today, our Under 14s and Under 16s boys took a short break from the Rugby Championship to travel to Kellyville and compete in the annual Western Sydney Rugby 7s Gala Day.

Mr Skinner’s Under 16s were low on numbers and had a day that most of them would like to forget. Coming up against some tough opposition, they fought hard and showed growth, resilience and determination right up until the final whistle. Unfortunately, they finished the day without a win.

Despite the results, the boys played some quality rugby throughout the tournament and should be proud of the commitment and effort they displayed when things weren’t going their way. They have learnt a lot from the experience and will no doubt take those lessons back into the Rugby Championship as they continue their push towards the finals.

The heroes of the day, however, were the Under 14s.

With several returning members from last year’s State Championship squad, we arrived full of confidence, completely unaware of the rollercoaster that awaited us.

Our opening match was against our future nemesis, Hornsby High School, in what also doubles as a top-of-the-table Rugby Championship clash. The boys came out fired up and eager to make a statement. Three unanswered tries saw Mitchell High race out to a 17-0 lead before Hornsby mounted a comeback to close the gap to 17-12 with only minutes remaining. As Mr Cook began having flashbacks to Epping Boys High School heartbreaks and losing on the bell once again, a forced error brought about the final whistle and secured a hard-fought opening victory for Mitchell High School.

Our second game against Colo High School was one the boys would rather forget. Some would say it was the loss a champion team needed. Going into the match with far too much complacency, we were comprehensively beaten 29-7.

The scene was set.

To guarantee a place in the final, we needed to win our remaining two pool matches against Pendle Hill High School and St Clair High School. With nerves beginning to creep in, several boys stepped into leadership roles, helping settle the group and refocus everyone on the task at hand.

Against Pendle Hill, fresh from the disappointment of our previous performance, the boys responded brilliantly. They reset, regrouped and produced one of their best performances of the day, running away with a 40-0 victory. Knowing that points differential could prove crucial, this result would later become incredibly important.

Our final pool match against St Clair was framed as our “semi-final”. We knew that a win would secure our place in the grand final. Outsized and outnumbered, the boys put up an incredible fight, only to go down heartbreakingly on the final whistle after St Clair scored a length-of-the-field try.

Devastated and disappointed, we thought our day was over.

With two wins and two losses, we had accepted that our finals hopes had slipped away against some quality opposition. As Mr Cook wandered over to check the standings, one final pool match was still being played: Hornsby vs St Clair.

Suddenly, hope returned.

We needed the result to fall our way to force a three-way countback between Hornsby, Colo and Mitchell for the remaining place in the final against the undefeated St Clair side. The final whistle sounded. St Clair had won… but by enough?

After the official countback, we discovered we had scraped into the grand final by just 20 points, thanks largely to our emphatic win over Pendle Hill.

Running back to tell the boys, there was an instant shift in energy. They were back on their feet, ready to embrace this second chance and determined to make the most of it. They knew St Clair could be beaten — they simply had to produce their best rugby of the day.

And that’s exactly what they did.

The boys exploded out of the blocks, scoring two unanswered tries before St Clair fought back to level the scores and edge ahead by two points at half-time. After a halftime speech from the ages by Mr Cook, Flynn stood up and took ownership of the moment. Building on everything that had already been said, he delivered words that inspired his teammates and brought the group together. The boys were ready to run through a brick wall.

They took the field for the second half and completely dominated, defeating St Clair 22-12 to become Western Sydney Rugby 7s Champions and book their place at the State Championships in Tuggerah next term.

The leadership, growth, resilience and adaptability shown by this group throughout the day was nothing short of outstanding. Every member of this team played a vital role in the journey. Even those who didn’t take the field in the final contributed to the result through their efforts earlier in the day.

This trophy belongs to every single one of them.

It is a day they will remember for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations, boys. Sydney West Rugby 7s Champions. 🏆

A Double for Mitchell!!

Wow, what a difference a week makes!
Today, our Under 14s and Under 16s Rugby Union teams played their Round 2 matches in the Sydney West Schools Rugby Union Tournament against Hawkesbury High School and Airds High School respectively.

Today also marked a momentous occasion, with Mitchell High School hosting its first home Rugby Union matches in decades, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Hundreds of students turned out to support the teams and were treated to some high-quality Rugby Union during their lunch break (before being ushered back to class).

The Under 16s kicked off the day after a disrupted preparation. The boys had only managed 30 minutes of training together, and most had never played a minute of Rugby Union before. However, they used the home crowd to their advantage and fed off the energy throughout the match. The team dug deep, learned on the run, and produced some quality Rugby Union to defeat Airds High School in the opening game of the day. The match was filled with big hits, skilful tries, and excellent technical rugby for a 7s contest. Unfortunately, they went down in their second match, but won the day overall 36-34.

As the end-of-lunch bell rang, the Under 14s took to the field. Fresh off their heartbreaking loss to Epping Boys High School last week, the boys were hungry for success.

From the opening whistle, they put their skills to work and continued the improvement shown in Round 1. The defence looked increasingly solid, the attack began to take shape with Flynn and Ari steering the team around. The boys were determined not to let this one slip away. Despite some changes to the team, with new players coming in and others unavailable, the group continued to build connections, work together, and play some excellent Rugby Union.

Mitchell raced out to a 15-0 lead through tries to Michael and Tuoro (2) before Hawkesbury got on the scoreboard to reduce the margin to 15-5. With a nervous Mr Cook keeping one eye on the clock, the boys closed out the match in style when Ioane crossed under the posts. Liam calmly slotted the conversion to seal a 22-5 victory.

A massive congratulations to all of the Under 14s boys who have been training hard and thoroughly deserved the result. Their improvement over just two weeks has been outstanding, and they should be incredibly proud of their efforts.

Attention now turns to Round 3, where we face one of the competition favourites, Hornsby High School. It promises to be a huge challenge and an exciting contest.

Stay tuned!

Heartbreak for Mitchell!!

The Mitchell High School U14s Rugby Union team had their Round 1 clash in the inaugural Sydney West Schools Rugby Union Championship today.

After training with NSW Rugby development officers for eight weeks and learning the skills required to play high-quality Rugby Union, the boys finally got the opportunity to put those skills to the test at TG Milner Field (Eastwood Rugby Club) against Epping Boys High School.

The game day started with a few challenges, including the team bus arriving an hour late. However, this didn't distract the boys from the task at hand. Mitchell came out firing and scored the opening try through Liam to take an early 5-0 lead.

Epping Boys responded strongly, crossing for three unanswered tries to take a 15-5 lead into half-time.

After a Coach Carter-like half-time speech from Mr Cook the boys came out for the second half full of energy and belief. Despite having played only 20 minutes of Rugby Union, they were already showing an impressive understanding of the skills and strategies of the game. Their ability to learn quickly, work together, solve problems, and adapt on the run resulted in two second-half tries to Malakai and Liam, giving Mitchell a 17-15 lead.

With only minutes remaining, fatigue began to set in for the Mitchell boys, who played the entire match without a single reserve, compared to Epping's bench of 10 players. Unfortunately, a late breakaway try by Epping secured them the win, with the final score ending 20-17.

The boys should all be incredibly proud of themselves, considering it was the first game of proper Rugby Union for most of them. We received fantastic feedback from NSW Rugby, who commented that there are definitely some future representative stars in this team.

Congratulations to Flynn, who received the referee's 3 points for the match, and Tereomutunga, who earned 1 point.

A big thank you to Simon from NSW Rugby for facilitating this competition and providing such a professional and memorable experience for our boys.

Also a big thanks to Mr Skinner who ran the waters for the day, learning the ropes for his team in the future.

Stay tuned for round 2 vs Hawkesbury High School

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Opens Boys Rugby 7s

What a day for our Opens Boys Rugby 7s team last Thursday at Windsor. The boys have all been training hard during pre season with NSW Rugby delivering development sessions for our boys and girls. The signs are already showing of rugby union growing and developing at Mitchell High School.

The boys put together an outstanding run through the round games, showing skill, toughness, and great teamwork across all four matches:
• Defeated Wyndham 28–17
• Defeated Windsor 22–5
• Defeated Arndell 14–12
• Defeated Colo 24–5

Heading into the final, the team faced a strong Arndell side, a private school with a full rugby program. After an incredibly tough day and with three of our boys sidelined due to injury, the team dug deep despite being exhausted. In a hard-fought contest, we narrowly went down 17–12 — just one try short.

The effort from every single player was outstanding. The boys gave everything, put their bodies on the line, and showed incredible resilience and pride throughout the day. Every player played a crucial role in getting us to the final.

A fantastic achievement to finish runners-up and the top CHS school on the day 👏

Mr Cook and MHS are incredibly proud of this group. With lots of praise from the organisers and NSW rugby for the boys skills, determination and behaviour throughout the day.

Zone Cross Country

Last Friday we had 8 students represent Mitchell High School at the Zone Cross Country carnival held at Wyndham College. All students should be commended on the way they carrie themselves throughout the day, demonstrating great sportsmanship and pride in representing our school.

Each runner gave their best effort on the course, pushing themselves and supporting one another in a fantastic display of determination and resilience.

A special congratulations to Patrick and Zachary who qualified for Sydney West. We wish them the very best of luck!

Congratulations to Delinda and Jacinta who competed at the Sydney West Swimming carnival today. Tremendous effort from both girls throughout the day competing in multiple races.

Special congratulations to Delinda who qualified for CHS swimming in 5 events and Jacinta who qualified for 2. Delinda also broke 2 records along the way. One of these records hadn’t been broken for 13 years!

On Tuesday our Mitchell High School Swimming Team made their way to Blacktown Pool to compete in the Zone Swimming Carnival. All of the students put in amazing effort every race they competed in. They conducted themselves with the core values of being a REAL Mitchell High student.

Congratulations to Jacinta and Delinda who have both qualified for the Sydney West Swimming Carnival.

Special congratulations to Delinda who was the 15s girls zone swimming champion and broke 2 records along the way. One of these records has been in place for 50 years before Tuesday.