Melbourne Storm prop Christian Welch will play in his fourth NRL Grand Final for the club against current champions Penrith in Homebush this Sunday.
He’ll have the backing of old friends, teachers and his former school, Villanova College.
Last Friday Christian also came head-to-head with Sydney Roosters front rower and state companion Lindsay Collins, who graduated from the neighbouring Padua College in Kedron.
Christian will be up against a string of players from the Panthers who also came out of Catholic schools, where the values of service, mateship and community have helped them form close bonds in their last few years of success.
The 30-year-old rugby league enforcer graduated more than a decade ago from the Augustinian secondary school but remembers fondly how his time there helped shape who he is today.
Christian recalls Stephen Rouhliadeff, pastoral teacher Paul Schiavo, and deputy principal Steven Bremner (also his cricket coach), all “good people who want to see you really reach your potential as a person and have influenced me.”
Like so many Catholic sports stars, Christian’s profile on the field goes hand in hand with charitable work.
He supports children’s charities The Smith Family and Camp Quality, and travels with other footballers to Uganda to help struggling kids for The Mannah Foundation.
He was particularly influenced by mission work he undertook in the Philippines with Villanova College, during Year 10.
“That experience just opened my eyes to how privileged of a life we have in Australia and how blessed we are, and was important too for my development as a person,” Christian said.
“I was cognisant of it coming through since then and now becoming a professional footballer, I have an appreciation of the difference we can make now and the smiles we can put on young kids faces.”
Gary O’Brien has taught at Padua College Kedron for over 35 years and taught the Roosters’ Lindsay Collins Physical Education and Certificate III Fitness, while helping him make squads with the Norths Devils under 20s and Brisbane Broncos.
He says Lindsay’s caring and honest character haven’t changed in the years since moving from school fields to stadiums.
“If anything, if it’s changed, it’s grown even bigger,” he said.
Behind the “burly front rower you see on TV,” there’s a proud husband and recent father.
“Our motto is ‘the good young man of Padua,’ And he’s become one of the great elder men because of the Franciscan spirit that runs the college.
“That’s about brotherhood, about mateship and looking after your friends, particularly as old boys—he carries a lot of that Padua persona and we’re very proud of him.”
Patrician Brothers Blacktown can also boast of its success, with Jarome Luai, Sunia Turuva and Izack Tago playing for a fourth straight premiership for Penrith come Sunday night.
The same school also produced Canterbury’s Stephen Crichton, Manly’s Matt Lodge and Josh Aloiai, as well as Sydney Roosters forwards Spencer Leniu and Terrell May, who all featured in this year’s final’s series.
Their teacher Greg Beacroft is an alumnus of the college and returned to teach there in 2010 before starting to coach their rugby league sides in 2012
“These boys were just normal kids, very humble and very hard working in everything they did, just all nice polite guys,” Greg told The Catholic Weekly.
Jarome’s solo try against Endeavour Sports High, Sunia’s man of the match performance in their school grand final and Spencer’s distinct ball-running are all fond memories on the field, but Greg also remembers the off-field efforts that made these stars who they are today.
Stephen played drums in the school band, Jarome was involved in the choir and Spencer would attend Mass weekly at the school and excelled in English.
“You’ll notice too after their NRL games, the boys get down and pray. And they’re those boys from our school, religion was very big with us,” Greg said.
“Those small actions all speak to the morals and the values of a school that’s instilled in them all these years later—the first thing we want the boys to come here for is not to be rugby league players, we want them to be good people.”
“The reason we produce more NRL players than any other school is because we have those high values, so our boys find it easy to transfer those skills they’ve learned at school to their clubs.
“A number of those clubs have told us that if they get a student Patrician Brothers in their programme they find it easy for them to adapt.”
Much like Christian and Lindsay who return to Villanova and Padua when they can, the boys from Blacktown are often back at their old stomping ground to give back to their community and inspire the next generations.
Two weeks ago, Jarome, Izack and Sunia surprised the school’s grand finalists and presented them their jerseys ahead of their championship win. Stephen and Spencer also welcomed the incoming Year Seven students for their introduction.
Greg says the football factory isn’t slowing down, and neither is the line-up of good young men.
“I’m sure in the next 10 years’ time I’ll be seeing a whole new generation of boys from our schools giving back and living their sporting dream while doing it.”