Again, sorry. I'm procrastinating like crazy.
My initial reaction was "of course, BSHS would wipe the floor with them", but I was too young to really understand what was going on watching that 2009 team.
I think if you looked at results, I feel would have BSHS won their games by a larger margin than Churchie in 2014, which further skews my gut feeling towards State High.
If you look at star players from BSHS, Curtis Browning, Sautia and Paul Alo'Emile went on to make names for themselves, so there was a talented core of players there.
Then I put on my devils advocate hat.
BSHS dominated in an era where TSS and NC were the only teams handing out sports scholarships. The rest of the competition was far weaker than what it is today.
Churchie won their premiership only playing against one non-sorting scholarship school (BGS, whose imports to build the team around were literally all hurt).
In terms of star power, it took Browning until 2016 to be a legit starter for the Reds. Sautia's injuries kept him out of contention for years. Alo'Emile wasn't considered good enough for Queensland to try keep. Rohan Saifoloi (flyhalf) is a Shute shield starter who looks like will never go pro. Matt Ika was an occasional starter at Norths last year. Jordan Tuapou I think has retired completely after the birth of his baby. Joey Lalagavesi played Reserve Grade for Souths last year. Joel Faulkner was a standard Premier Grade winger at Easts.
Compare that to Churchie's 2014 class.
The Broncos youngest ever forward to play in the NRL. The Cowboys 17 year old who started a bidding war accross every NRL team and Super Rugby team in the country, and who has already trained with the NZ National league team. The lock who Brad Thorn told me "would be the next Rob Simmons, with none of the injuries holding him back". The 5'9 winger who the Reds signed after just two NRC games. Three other Australian U20 representatives just one year out of school.
Ultimately it comes down to a yard stick for me. The one game I saw both teams play.
BSHS 103-0. ACGS 93-0.
State High received the kickoff, spread it through the hands and scored, almost every single phase. Much like Nudgee v BGS in 2015, they didn't need to create anything in attack because the defence was so bad.
ACGS, under the leadership of Mason at 10, were calling moves in general play that were literally unstoppable. Attacking threats like Izaia Perese, Ponga, Su'a and Croft were just too dynamic for BGS to lay hands on - through sheer skill and athleticism, not shameful defending.
I think I'd take Churchie by four points. It would be a fantastic game.
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