2025 Langer Trophy live stream: Marsden SHS v Keebra Park SHS, Round 4

News.com.au

a day ago

Unbeaten Keebra Park will ignore Marsden State High School's 1-2 record this Langer Trophy season when two of Queensland's blue-chip schoolboy rugby league teams clash in Brisbane on Wednesday.
Spearheaded by a pair of Burleigh Bears Mal Meninga Cup champions in halfback Hayden Watson and middle forward Tupou Francis, Marsden's Makos possess plenty of bite but are running out of time to prove it.
The Keebra v Marsden clash will be streamed LIVE and FREE as the match of the round on KommunityTV and News.com.au from 4.30pm.
The cutthroat Langer Trophy will see five of eight teams progress to the NRL Schoolboys Trophy playoff system and only one team, Stretton State College, is a minnow.
Re-qualifying for the 2026 Langer Trophy is an ignominious fate that could befall Marsden, Ipswich or Wavell unless those teams can find their attacking firepower, defensive resolve or both.
That is why Keebra Park coach Peter Norman is urging his players to give nothing to Watson and Francis as they attempt to kickstart Marsden's season in front of the Cameron Smith grandstand.
'I'm not reading too much into where they're sitting on the ladder currently because if you look at the strikepower in that team they still have a couple of really quality players,' Norman said.
'Hayden Watson, Tupou Francis and Taylan To'a are three Queensland Schoolboys players that are playing really well so we're not reading into their latest results.
'We're preparing ourselves for a finals match intensity.'
Middle forward Francis, the younger brother of former Marsden centre/five-eighth Tony who is now with the Titans, was the man of the hour in the Bears' Mal Meninga Cup grand final.
His last minute charge in golden point sealed state glory for Burleigh and underlined why Keebra can never lose track of the under-17 Brisbane Broncos forward prospect.
'We highlighted a couple of his clips on Monday and they showed the classy player he is,' Norman said.
'It just reiterated the fact that we can't have any plays off in defence or else he'll pull our pants down, basically. Our job will be to control the ruck speed and that will allow us to put a bit more pressure on him. If we're having a lazy moment and he can get on the back of a quick play-the-ball the alarm bells are going to be ringing for us.'
Queensland under-19 State of Origin half Watson, who is contracted to the Melbourne Storm, is a known quantity that Keebra Park will also keep front of mind.