Footy mum in a league of her own

St Mary’s Gateshead PDHPE and sports co-ordinator Annette Morgan, the mother of Knights and former Melbourne and NSW winger Anthony Quinn, has coached her schoolboy teams for almost 15 years.

Her passion and perseverance paid off in July this year when St Mary’s shocked hot favourites Sarah Redfern High 10-8 in the 16years final at, appropriately, St Mary’s near Penrith.

Morgan first developed an interest in rugby league as a Parramatta schoolgirl during the Eels’ golden era in the early 1980s, then wanted to enhance her education as a young mum.

‘‘I just wanted to know more about it because my sons Michael and Anthony were playing at rep level at a young age, so I just wanted to get a handle on the game,’’ Morgan said.

‘‘My Dad used to go for Parramatta way back, and I knew Peter Sterling back in his early days because I went to school at OLMC [Our Lady of Mercy College] at Parramatta, so we knew the Marist Brothers boys, so it all started way back then.’’

Deflecting all accolades to the boys in her team, and their parents for supporting them, Morgan said the victory in the NSW final was the culmination of four years of hard work and a collective desire to succeed against all the odds.

‘‘These things have to be planned. You have to work towards something, and we did,’’ she said.

‘‘We were passionate but not over the top, and the boys really believed in each other. 

‘‘I knew in my heart when we went to Sydney, this was the best shot we were ever going to have, and we couldn’t have done anything more.’’

Some of the boys in her team are the sons of Brett Mullins, Adam Muir, Rick Stone and Mark Brokenshire, but she said the blue-chip bloodlines meant little against a bigger, stronger Sarah Redfern team that had not conceded a point in all of their lead-up games.

‘‘Our boys won the Knights Knock-out in Year 7, so we knew they had potential, especially when you look at the pool of dads that we have there,’’ she said.

‘‘The next year they lost the grand final to [St Joseph’s] Lochinvar, then in Year 9 we didn’t even get through the rounds because it’s at that age group where boys mature and develop at different rates, which is normal as they go through puberty.

‘‘Then at the beginning of Year 10 this year, we told them at the start of the year we were going to do it properly and really take it seriously, so at the beginning of term one, we started each lunch-time doing one drill, or one skill, getting that right, then progressing.’’

Morgan said St Mary’s principal Larry Keating and other teachers and staff members had all contributed to the success of the school’s rugby league program.

That will be bolstered in 2014 by the addition of former Knights, Northern Eagles and North Queensland prop Scott Asimus, formerly a teacher and coach at St Joseph’s Lochinvar.

‘‘For such a small school, I think we do very well with rugby league,’’ she said.

Quinn believed his mother knew more about rugby league than many men he knew.

‘‘Mum loves her footy and I don’t think she gets enough recognition as a woman in league. She can be sort of annoying sometimes, in a nice way, but it’s because she is right most of the time and puts some of the males in league to shame with her rugby league knowledge,’’ Quinn said.

‘‘With her school side winning this year, I feel all her hard work and commitment to helping the kids improve and achieve their goals within the game has finally been rewarded.’’

The successful St Mary’s team was: Aidan Bizzotto, Sam Broughton-Rouse, John Brokenshire, Riley Burgess, Alex Burke, Jace Cowan, Jordan Elms, Cal Guest, Darcy Lemmich, Hayden Mullins, Dom Murphy, Oskar Muir, Rex Muir, Zech Nissen, Angus Ruddy, Nick Shipman, Trent Spicer, Sam Stone, Brandon Wallis, Richard Walton, Pat Wilson and Blake Fitzsimmons.

They were acknowledged by walking a lap of honour before the last Knights home game of the season against Parramatta on September8, and before the Newcastle Rugby League grand final between Wests and Kurri Kurri at No.1 Sportsground a fortnight later.