Saint Stanislaus’ College have had their fantastic run in the Arrive alive Cup brought to an abrupt stop against Illawarra Sports High, losing 34-6 at Western Weekender Stadium at St Mary’s on Monday.

It was a great result for a school more noted for it’s rugby union and that has only been participating in league for 3 years.

Stannies coach Paul McDonald had said previously that to just be competitive with regional sides such as Redbend Catholic College in Forbes and Dubbo High School was a success for the school.

However the side exceded that, winning the regional tournament and progressing to tier B.

Stannies didn’t have a lot go their way in the first half of the match when they were overrun by Illawarra, conceding 28 points and spending time camped in their hlaf of the field.

“Illawarra were too good in the first half, they got a lot of offloads away and they were backing each other up,” McDonald said.

“They just played with a lot of skill.”

Stannies came out in the second half and stepped up, matching the illustrious rugby league school’s intensity and showing a lot of courage to not let the score blow out any further.

“In the second half we came out and we cut down on their offloads and started to get some momentum of out own. We spent a lot of time in their half,” the Stannies’ mentor said.

The side also managed to draw the second half with Illawarra 6-all after a try to Bathurst Panthers under 18s halfback James Toole and a conversion to Alex Grant.

“It was a hard game. Illawarra Sports High were very good,” McDonald said.

“We had an interupted preparation, with seven of the boys playing four games of rugby union the weekend before, when they represented ISA and they were in camp for a week leading up to it.”

“The boys really enjoyed playing at the Western Weekender Stadium, seeing what the Sydney teams are used to.

“They played above their weight at all times and they kept getting better as the tournament went on.”

Despite its rugby union heritage, league has made a strong impression at Saint Stanislaus’ and McDonald believes that it will continue

“League is here to stay and every year it gets stronger,” he said.

“It’s in it’s third year at the school and is well supported.

“We have our 13s through to 16s involved in the Country Cup Carnivals run by the Country Rugby League.”

Stannies under 13s side won the Bathurst section of the Andrew Ryan Cup and will travel to Dubbo on July 23 to take part in the finals of the tournament, where Andrew Ryan is expected to make a guest appearance.