Our journey towards Nationals in 2025 started back in week two with Super Touch trials, where there was an incredible turnout of 44 players.

This group was reduced to a squad of 29 players who competed on a weekly basis in the local Super Touch competition. The weekly games provided us with opportunities to grow and develop new talent off the back of losing seven players in 2024. At the end of the Term 1 Super Touch competition, a squad of 16 was announced to compete in the South Island Secondary Schools: Championships. The squad was:

Charlie Applegarth, Lachie Bartram, Manu Carey*, LaDanian Davis (c), Cody Donaldson*, Monty Fosita, George Kneebone, Cooper McDowall, Reuben McIntyre*, Ethan O'Donovan, Dylan Ollsson*, Angus Patrick*, Kaden Roberts*, James Setter, Jacob Taylor*, George Wilson

*denotes debutant

We were really excited about what our debutants would bring to our team. In particular, Cody Donaldson, Dylan Ollsson and Jacob Taylor who had come out of the Junior Development Programme in 2024.

The team were drawn in a pool to play John McGlashan College, Mt Aspiring College, Christchurch Boys’ High School, St Andrew’s College, Shirley Boys 'High School and Marlborough Boys’ College. 

Day one of the tournament was a day of real growth and learning for everyone, especially our new lads. It was fantastic to have Bedean old boys Tom Robertson, Reuben Ngariki and Maddox Wright there to support and guide the team. Maddox especially provided another coaching voice in the box with Mr Hikaka.

Strong wins against John McGlashan and Mt Aspiring led to a top of the table clash with Christchurch Boys’. The team played well, staying in the match with a scoreline of 5-7 at halftime. Unfortunately, too many defensive lapses allowed Christchurch to dominate the second half. This meant the remaining 3 games would have to be must-win if we wanted to qualify for the top four. On the last game of day one we were comfortable winners over STAC, which would set up two crucial games on day two.

Results from Day 1:

Win vs John McGlashan 12-7 (Try scorers: Ethan x3, Jacob x2, Angus, James, Cody, Kaden, Reuben, George K, Charlie)

Win vs Mt Aspiring 7-1 (Try scorers: Jacob x2, Angus x2, LaDanian x2, Reuben)

Loss vs Christchurch Boys’ 7-13 (Try scorers: LaDanian, Jacob, George W, Dylan, Kaden, George K, Angus)

Win vs St Andrew’s 8-3 (Try scorers: George K x3, LaDanian, Kaden, Reuben, Ethan, Angus)

On day two, we were greeted with thick fog and a lot of dew. Our first game would see us go up against Super Touch finalists, Shirley Boys’. It was an error-ridden game given the conditions and both teams traded blows scoring some wonderful tries. A 3-3 halftime score showed just how tight the match was. The awesome setup and patience by the lads led to some wonderful tries in the second half resulting in a 8-6 win. Buoyed by this effort, the boys continued with grit and determination to grind out another gutsy win in the final pool game against Marlborough Boys’.

It was amazing how well the team had done to this point considering the number of new players to the team. A top four finish was on the cards.

Due to our second place pool finish, we played Nelson College, the winner of the other pool, in the semifinal. Nelson dominated and led 5-1 at the break. A few adjustments and a reminder of our processes at halftime sparked the lads into action and they almost sent the game into drop off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be with Nelson winning 5-4.

A third/fourth playoff loomed against Southland Boys’, who had lost to Christchurch Boys’ in the other semifinal.  A classy performance by the Bedeans resulted in a triumphant 9-5 win over Southland.

Results from Day 2:

Win vs Shirley Boys’ 8-6 (Try scorers: LaDanian x2, Jacob x2, George K x2, Dylan, Reuben)

Win vs Marlborough Boys’ 7-6 (Try scorers: Jacob x2, Ethan x2, Reuben x2, George W)

Semi final loss vs Loss vs Nelson College 4-5 (Try scorers: Dylan, Ethan, Angus, Cody)

3rd/4th playoff win vs Southland Boys’ 9-5 (Try scorers: Kaden x3, Ethan x2, Charlie, Jacob, James, Monty)

Finishing third in the South Island Championships was an outstanding performance and showed just how much growth and trust in the processes had taken place in the matter of a few weeks. 

Whānau, friends, coaches and management were incredibly proud of what the team managed to achieve with so many positive learnings and a wonderful platform to launch off come Nationals at the end of the year.

Back, from left: Dylan Ollsson, LaDanian Davis (c), George Kneebone, Charlie Applegarth, Monty Fosita, Angus Patrick, George Wilson, Cody Donaldson, Reuben McIntyre, Maddox Wright (Assistant Coach)

Front, from left: Cooper McDowall, Kaden Roberts, James Setter, Manu Carey, Ethan O'Donovan, Lachie Bartram, Kiki Davis (Assistant Manager), Jacob Taylor