Secret strategy pays off for this Gympie school touch team

Touch: Fourteen talented St Patrick's College touch players made the region proud at the state championships in Brisbane last month.

Kobe Verrills, Isaac Mamet, Zeke O'Neill, Darcy Cartwright, Matt Pearce, George Finger, Jona Verrills, Tully McLellan, Allie Salter, Casey Dobson, Taylah Jordan, Lizzy Waters, Lilli Finger and Tia McLellan played for the Wide Bay teams in open boys, open girls, under-15 girls and under-15 boys.

The open boys and girls now prepare for the Queensland All Schools Challenge in October.

Gympie Touch and St Patrick's coach Michelle Tappin said the All Schools Challenge was the pinnacle of school touch.

"It is a four-day carnival in Brisbane against schools throughout Queensland, New South Wales, New Zealand and Singapore,” she said.

"That is becoming a world all-schools next year and expanding.”

Tappin said this was the first time Gympie had 14 players from St Patrick's College in the Wide Bay team.

"They all play together in the Gympie touch competition and the quality coaching of Gympie touch is what has gotten them into these representative teams,” she said. "Just put them together and they jell and know each other.

The Challenge is seen as a grand finale for the touch season. "It is four days of quality touch against teams they don't know,” Tappin said.