2025 Aaron Payne Cup live stream: Kirwan State High v St Patrick's College, Mackay
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The Aaron Payne Cup will kick off with a bang on Thursday with a rematch of the 2024 decider between the Kirwan Bears and St Patrick's, Mackay.
The grand final replay is the headline act from three enticing games of rugby league at Kirwan State High School as the Queensland Schoolgirls Cup and Cowboys Challenge both begin.
The Payne Cup clash will be free to watch live, but a full digital subscription will be needed to access the live streams of the Cowboys Challenge and Schoolgirls Cup.
Every match of the elite Queensland schools rugby league competitions will be exclusively streamed on KommunityTV in 2025.
WATCH PAYNE CUP ROUND 1 LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE
AARON PAYNE CUP
ROUND 1
Thursday, May 29
Kirwan State High v St Patrick's College
10.30am: Cowboys Challenge
11.30am: NRL Schoolgirls Cup
12.30pm: Aaron Payne Cup*
*Streamed LIVE and FREE
Kirwan State High will kick off its Payne Cup title defence in style in a grand final rematch with St Patrick's College. Picture: Michaela Harlow
Kirwan Bears head coach Todd Wilson said their season opener was about more than just the all-important two competition points.
'We haven't played a game yet, so (the players) have a lot to prove,' Wilson said.
'We've certainly got some high hopes for a number of players, but we'll just see what happens when we play St Pat's. We're expecting them to be a real quality opposition.
'We're expecting a tough game. That Capricornia side at the state champs had a lot of St Pat's kids and they pushed the best of those southern sides – they've done well through the Mal Meninga and Cyril Connell so we're certainly expecting a tough game.'
The Bears have every reason to be cautious about Thursday's blockbuster season-opener.
A number of St Patrick's stars – including dynamic five-eighth Adam McSherry, Mark Morrow and Ryan John – return for another season of Aaron Payne Cup after being among the competition's standout performers last year.
St Patrick's playmaker Adam McSherry will lead the school's charge toward the Aaron Payne Cup in 2025. Picture: Michaela Harlow
NRL SCHOOLBOYS & SCHOOLGIRLS ROUND 1
STORM CUP
Tuesday, April 29
12.45pm: Victoria University v Hallam - WATCH REPLAY
2.15pm: The Grange v Mt Ridley - WATCH REPLAY
PETER MULHOLLAND CUP
Tuesday, May 6
11am: Holy Cross Ryde v All Saints College - WATCH REPLAY
12.30pm: Endeavour SHS v Farrer MAHS - WATCH REPLAY
2pm: Hills SHS v Central Coast SC - WATCH REPLAY
Wednesday, May 7
10am: Patrician Brothers Blacktown v Matraville SHS - WATCH REPLAY
11.20am: St Dominic's College v Bass HS - WATCH REPLAY
12.40pm: Erindale College v Illawarra SHS - WATCH REPLAY
2pm: Westfields SHS v St Gregory's College - WATCH REPLAY
Tuesday, May 13
12.30pm: Patrician Brothers Fairfield v Hunter SHS - WATCH REPLAY
NSW SCHOOLGIRLS CUP
Wednesday, May 14
10.30am: Matraville SHS v Illawarra SHS - WATCH REPLAY
11.45am: Central Coast SC v Westfields SHS - WATCH REPLAY
1pm: Erindale College v Bass HS - WATCH REPLAY
QUEENSLAND SCHOOLGIRLS CUP
Thursday, May 29
12.30pm: Trinity Bay SHS v St Margaret Mary's
1.30pm: Kirwan SHS v St Patrick's College
Tuesday, June 3
2.30pm: Shalom College v North Rockhampton SHS
4.30pm: Emmaus College v The Cathedral College
Wednesday, June 4
Time TBC: St James College v Ipswich SHS
Time TBC: Mabel Park SHS v Palm Beach Currumbin SHS
Time TBC: Keebra Park SHS v Stretton State College
AARON PAYNE CUP
Wednesday, May 28
11.15am: St Augustine's College v Holy Spirit College
Thursday, May 29
12.30pm: Kirwan SHS v St Patrick's College
1.30pm: Trinity Bay SHS v Ignatius College
LANGER TROPHY
Tuesday, June 3
6.30pm: Wavell SHS v Ipswich SHS
Wednesday, June 4
3.50pm: Mabel Park SHS v Palm Beach Currumbin SHS
5.30pm: Keebra SHS v Qualifier #1
Time TBC: Qualifier #2 v Marsden SHS
DOLPHIN CUP
Tuesday, June 3
3.30pm: Shalom College v St Brendan's College
5.30pm: Emmaus College v The Cathedral College
*Fixtures are subject to change.
Read more
The terrific trio have only gotten bigger and better in the past 12 months and St Pat's coach Shane Mau said the team would enter the competition with a focus on defence.
Mau said his players would need to be switched on from the get-go to stop the Bears running rampant.
'They're always very tough. They're usually a very big side and very mobile,' Mau said.
'So we'll be concentrating on defence – that's probably going to be our main focus for this, and probably for our first couple of games: really big defensive efforts.
'We've probably got the strike power with our attack, but defence is going to win this one.'
The Cowboys Challenge fixture kicks off the day's action at 10.30am, followed by the schoolgirls at 11.30am and Aaron Payne Cup at 12.30pm.
Originally published as 2025 Aaron Payne Cup live stream: Kirwan State High v St Patrick's College, Mackay
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