(Back, from left) Lennix Leetham, Nate Fitzpatrick, teacher/coach Ash Morris, Lachy Jefferies and Chase Dunn; (front) Cormick Hardman, Jake Taylor, Lykien Byers, Braxton Leetham, Jimmy O'Connor, Lenny Hanns, Callan Leiper, Jed Fitzmaurice and Jake Woolston.
The AFL Paul Kelly Cup team from Deni South School had an unforgettable experience, competing against schools from across NSW.
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Their hard work and teamwork paid off.
After finishing second in their pool, the boys eventually went down in the semi-final but came home with an impressive fourth-place finish in the state.
The boys got knocked out of the competition by Henschke Primary School from Wagga Wagga, the same school that beat them at the Wagga Wagga competition earlier this year.
But the Deni boys were able to tighten the gap from their last defeat, with only a few goals in it.
“The team had a ball and showed outstanding effort,” said teacher and team coach Ash Morris.
“It was a great experience for them to be able to play at an elite facility, like the one in Sydney.”
Across NSW and the ACT, more than 270 schools registered to take part in the Paul Kelly Cup.
The competition is the biggest Australian rules knock-out competition for primary school students in Australia, with almost 10,000 young footballers participating last year.
“It’s a great promotion for NSW Aussie Rules, which has to compete with rugby a lot of the time, so to see something like this come together it’s really good,” Morris said.
“A couple of the boys on the team don’t play for a local club, and I’m sure are now keen to take up the sport.”
The school offered a heartfelt thank you to the families who supported the team with transport and enthusiastic cheering, and to the local football clubs, Rovers and Rams, whose generous sponsorship helped cover the costs of the three-day carnival.
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