GSMC Celebrates 30th anniversary Confraternity Tour

Confro Team and staff. Photo supplied

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Gilroy Santa Maria College (GSMC) is celebrating 30 years of QISSRL Confraternity Carnival competition, as the Herbert River school prepares to take on Queensland's biggest schoolboy rugby league tournament once again.

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Led by experienced coach Peter Groundwater, the boys from the canefields entered their first carnival in 1996 as underdogs going down in a semi final to St Brendan's College, Yeppoon in Mackay.  

Nowadays not much has changed, with the GSMC boys travelling to Marist Ashgrove this year as underdogs from one of the smallest schools in the competition, with players of all experience levels.

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“Our school community embraces the annual Confro and QISSN carnivals and this year being our 30th anniversary of involvement the entire region has gotten behind us. We have reimagined our 1996 playing kit, with a touch of our 1940s-1990's history factored into it, like butcher stripe sleeves and our sponsorship packages sold out in a day and it was great to see so many Old Boys back at our inaugural Old Boys event last week,” said GSMC Sports Coordinator & Rugby League Manager Annan Whittington.

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The Ingham based college has a proud rugby league and sporting history dating back to 1949 and has proudly developed NRL, Queensland Cup, Rugby League World Cup and hundreds of RLTD A-Graders for the Herbert River Crushers.  

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Inaugural North Queensland Cowboys Captain Laurie Spina (Cowboy 1) and son Ben Spina (Cowboy 249) have both proudly pulled on the blue and gold of GSMC and many players have gone on to higher honours after wearing the GSMC jersey and helping their less experienced teammates enjoy the game.  

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The 2026 coaching staff will be led by RLTD A-grader/GSMC Confro Old Boy Matthew Spina, Manager Annan Whittington (who has returned home after winning the Confraternity Cup & NRL Schoolboy Trophy with Ryan Catholic College), assistant coach Jack Dixon who himself is a Confro Old Boy of Columba Catholic College, GSMC Old Boy Jaidyn Spina and former North Queensland Cowboys hooker Paul Dezolt, who mentors many of the younger players and coaches.

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“We have an exceptional coaching staff across rugby league at the college and many other sports for that matter, but to have experienced Confro players and former Cowboys on our coaching staff gives our students the best possible development from our u13s all the way through to pulling on the 1st XIII jersey at the College,” Annan Whittington said.  

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“We have some bold plans for 2027 to really take our sports program to the next level and really offer the students of our region a program that develops excellence both on and off the field,”  

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The Confraternity Carnival is the largest schoolboy rugby league carnival in Queensland, which plays host to over 60 schools from around the state and the action kicked off on Monday 29th  June with Gilroy Santa Maria College taking on Chanel College from Gladstone.

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