MHS PDHPE

29/07/2026

A Fantastic First Season Comes to an End 🏉

Today marked Finals Day for the inaugural Sydney West Schools Rugby Championships.

After an outstanding regular season, our Under 14s finished in 2nd place, the Opens qualified in 5th, and our Under 16s finished 8th. With all three teams qualifying for Finals Day, there was plenty of optimism heading into the competition.

We knew the quality our Rugby Union program has when at full strength, and we were confident the Under 14s and Opens could challenge for a trophy. Unfortunately, injuries, incomplete school work, and school discipline meant none of our teams were able to field their strongest line-ups. Despite these setbacks, every player represented Mitchell High School with pride and gave their all throughout the day.

The Opens kicked off the day, stepping straight off the bus and into a 4th vs 5th elimination final against Rooty Hill High School. After a slow start, the boys found their rhythm and claimed a well-deserved victory to book a semi-final against the top-ranked Colo High School.

The boys pushed Colo all the way but were narrowly defeated in a hard-fought contest. They bounced back brilliantly in the 3rd-place playoff against Epping Boys High School, producing their best performance of the tournament to secure an impressive win and finish the season in 3rd place.

The Under 16s were next to take the field against a strong Chifley side. Although the result didn’t go their way, this team has shown remarkable growth throughout the season. With many players having never played a game of Rugby League or Rugby Union before this year, the improvement they displayed from Round 1 to Finals Day was outstanding. Every player should be proud of how far they have come.

The Under 14s then took on Epping Boys High School in a 2nd vs 3rd qualifying final, with a place in the Grand Final on the line. Having defeated Epping just a week earlier, the boys knew they were capable of causing another upset.

Unfortunately, Mitchell started slowly, conceding from the opening kick-off before Epping added two more unanswered tries to take control of the match. The challenge became even greater after an injury and a yellow card left Mitchell playing a man down for much of the first half.

To the boys’ credit, they refused to give in.

They came out after half-time with renewed energy and played some of their best Rugby Union of the season. Two unanswered tries reduced the margin to just five points before another yellow card halted the momentum. Although the comeback fell just short, the resilience, skill, and determination shown in the second half demonstrated just how much this team has grown throughout the season.

The Under 14s finished the season in 3rd place after Hawkesbury High School forfeited the third-place playoff.

This inaugural season has been a tremendous success for Mitchell High School Rugby Union. Across all three teams, the improvement in skill, teamwork, confidence, and understanding of the game has been incredible. Many of these boys had never played Rugby Union before this season, yet they embraced every challenge and represented the school with pride. The future of Rugby Union at Mitchell High School is certainly bright.

A huge thank you to the Mitchell High School Executive for providing our students with these opportunities. This competition has given so many boys something to look forward to each week and has helped create a fantastic culture around Rugby Union at our school.

A special thank you also goes to Simon, Noah, and everyone at NSW Rugby for organising and supporting this outstanding competition. It has been fantastic to see so many students across Sydney West playing and enjoying Rugby Union.

Congratulations to every player, coach, and supporter who contributed to such a successful first season.

See you all next season!

Final Placings
🏉 Under 14s – 3rd
🏉 Under 16s – 9th
🏉 Opens – 3rd

Photos vs Epping*

29/07/2026

01/07/2026

Back on Track for Mitchell! 💙🏉

It’s been an eventful couple of weeks for Mitchell High School Rugby Union.

Just one day after the high of winning the Sydney West Rugby 7s Gala Day, our Under 14s came back to earth with a tough 35-0 loss to competition favourites Hornsby High School. While the scoreboard wasn’t what we wanted, the boys took plenty away from the game. They reflected, learned, and spent the following weeks working hard on the areas that needed improvement.

A special mention also goes to Mr Skinner, who went to Penrith yesterday, to complete his Level 1 coaching course, further strengthening the support around the program.

Today, they had the opportunity to put those lessons into practice against Richmond High School.

Before the match had even kicked off, the boys showed what school sport is all about. With Richmond unable to field a full team, Mitchell volunteered Vance and Ethan to play for the opposition so both schools could enjoy a full 15-a-side match. A huge thank you to both boys for putting the game before themselves and ensuring everyone had the opportunity to play.

The team also took the field in their brand-new playing kit for the first time. The boys were incredibly grateful for the fresh jerseys and couldn’t wait to represent Mitchell in them.

Running out in front of another packed Mitchell High School hill, the boys made their intentions clear from the opening whistle. Mitchell exploded out of the blocks, piling on 35 unanswered points in the first half.

Despite the scoreboard, it wasn’t a perfect performance. Ill-discipline at times resulted in two yellow cards, while unnecessary penalties and turnovers could easily have allowed Richmond back into the contest. However, the defensive improvements made over the past fortnight were on full display. Time and again, the boys trusted each other, worked hard for one another, and won the ball back through determined defence—something Mr Cook was particularly proud of.

At half-time, the focus was simple: reduce the basic errors and continue building on the positive areas of the game.

The response was outstanding.

The boys took the feedback on board immediately and completely controlled the second half. Aside from one lapse in defence that resulted in Richmond’s only try, Mitchell played some of their best Rugby Union of the season. The team’s structure looked sharper, the forwards began running their pods with confidence, every ruck was fiercely contested, and the set-piece work practised at training was executed brilliantly. Most importantly, the boys played with confidence, composure, and enjoyment.

The final score of 62-5 was a fitting reward for the effort the boys have put into training over the past few weeks. While there are still areas to improve, today’s performance showed just how far this group has come in a short space of time.

Congratulations to everyone involved on a fantastic team performance. The challenge now is to continue building as we head into the final rounds of the competition with a tough match to decide 2nd place at the end of the regular season against Epping.

Stand out players today:
All of them

Other Results
Under 16s: Forfeit loss vs Richmond High School
Opens: Forfeit win vs Rooty Hill High School

Last Week
Under 16s: Loss vs Colo High School
Opens: Loss vs Colo High School

16/06/2026

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. 🏆

10/06/2026

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!

10/06/2026

03/06/2026

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

10/05/2026

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