From 10,000 to 30, Paul Kelly Cup winners decided this week!
It’s a massive week for football in NSW and the ACT.
There are community football junior and senior grand finals taking place all over, the AFLW kicks off with a Sydney Swans v GIANTS Derby, the Sydney Swans and GIANTS men’s teams have just been confirmed AND the Paul Kelly Cup Final is on Tuesday, 29 August.
The Paul Kelly Cup is the biggest school competition run by AFL NSW/ACT and has seen more than 10,000 competitors from across Canberra and NSW take the field. Now the regional competitions have wrapped and the best schools have progressed, it’s time to get serious, with schools headed to Sydney Olympic Park to play on Tom Wills Oval (GIANTS HQ) and GIANTS Stadium.
There will be a buzz in the air as these 12-a-side teams go head-to-head, as the GIANTS AFLW and AFL programs are kicking off their season and finals campaign.
The weather? Forecast at 21 and sunny. Perfect for the Paul Kelly Cup to be one of the great days in these young players’ lives.
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The schools
Twenty-four schools will take the field on Tuesday (12 girls and 12 boys), representing their regions.
The following girls and boys schools will play one another, spread out in three pool groups. The highest ranked will progress to semi-finals with the best progressing to the final.
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| Region | Boys | Girls |
| Albury/Murray | Albury Public School | Albury Public School |
| MIA/Riverina | Lake Albert Public School | Henschke Catholic Primary (Riverina) |
| ACT | Jerrabomberra Primary School | Aranda Primary School |
| Central West | St Mary’s Primary | – |
| Sydney Independent | Waverley College | – |
| Sydney Harbour | Mimosa Public School | Claremont College |
| Sydney West | Camden South Public School | St Gregory’s College, Gregory Hills |
| Central Coast | Copacabana Primary School | Terrigal Public School |
| Hunter | St Joseph’s Mereweather | St Catherine’s Singleton |
| South Coast | Milton Public School | St Peter & Paul Catholic Primary, Kiama |
| Northern NSW | Bishop Druitt | Nambucca Heads Public School |
| Illawarra | St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School | St Therese Catholic Primary School |
| ACT (2) | – | St Gregory’s Primary School, Queanbeyan |
| MIA | – | Griffith East Public School |
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Stream live!
All games will be streamed on Kommunity TV with anyone able to access the streaming if they are subscribed to the platform. See subscription options here.
Of course, spectators are welcome and encourage to attend the 2023 Paul Kelly Cup Final. As always, the footy will be high quality and win or lose, everyone will have a good time.
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Rewriting 2022
Albury Public School will be looking to make it three Paul Kelly Cup boys championships in a row (2022, 2019, with 20 and 21 cancelled due to pandemic). The school from the border will also hope their classmates can dominate the girls and make it a trip to remember!
In the girls, Griffith East Public will be hoping to go one better than the runner-up spot from 2022. The Griffith East girls were dominant last year until they came up against the talented MacKillop Catholic College, which defeated them in an arm wrestle. MacKillop Catholic College did not qualify for the final in 2023 so it’s over to Griffith to prove themselves.
Check out the results from the 2022 Paul Kelly Cup Final here.
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