📷 Masanori Udagawa / Photowellington.com

Story courtesy of College Sport Media.

St Mary’s College remain the undisputed queens of college netball in Wellington.

St Mary’s won their 10th straight College Sport Wellington RSSL Division 1 title on Monday night with a clinical 41-22 win over Queen Margaret College in the final.

The previous two meetings between these two sides this year were each won by St Mary’s by a point, while last year’s final saw St Mary’s keep their crown with a comeback extra time win over Tawa College.

This wasn’t necessary in this year’s decider, as they pulled out to an early 10-5 lead, which became 12-5 at quarter-time.

St Mary’s did so with a strong defensive effort, harrying and suffocating QMC into errors and turnovers and strangling their connections to the point where QMC simply couldn’t get their game going.

Their dominance increased in the second quarter as they went into halftime leading 23-9 and then led by 32-14 after 30 minutes, silencing the band of QMC courtside supporters.

Both teams made changes to their line-ups and QMC grew more competitive heading into the final quarter but they were chasing the game and St Mary’s kept their confidence up to the end.

Not since 2015 has another school’s name been engraved on the silverware, a remarkable record by the Thorndon school.

For QMC, this was their fourth straight top four finish in their second finals appearance, also missing out to St Mary’s in the 2022 decider (39-27 that night).

St Mary’s College Road to the 2025 Title: beat Samuel Marsden 26-23; beat WEGC 46-13; beat St Ora’'s 37-24; beat Tawa College 36-15; beat Sacred Heart College 27-19; beat Wellington Girls’ College 35-32; beat QMC 27-26

The winning St Mary’s College team was:  Fo’i Lemana (captain), Indi Perez, Te Arani Vulu, Leti Auva’a, Pippa Cairns, Serenity Neru, Ella Aaifou-Olive, Lynda Rabeni-Vatuloka, Jersey Perrot-Lealamanua, Dayne, Fogavaa, Adi Pelenise, Teiva Maui-Kea.

The secondary school sport netball season now turns its focus to the Lower North Island title over Winter Tournament Week. The tournament is from 24-28 August this year in Palmerston North.

St Mary’s have won each of the past two LNISS titles for the Leilani Read Memorial Trophy. 

​​​​​Schools that finish inside the top five at LINISS qualify for NZSS Nationals in October.

In other finals and playoff matches on the night, the Division 1 3 v 4 game saw Sacred Heart College finish third by beating Samuel Marsden Collegiate 26-21. Sacred Heart won the game by making a fast start and leaping to an 8-1 lead inside the first 10 minutes. They led 16-8 at halftime and Marsden stayed in touch throughout the remainder of the game but never threatened a comeback.

Wellington East Girls’ College timed their run home well to beat St Oran’s College 46-42 in the Division 1 5 v 6 game. St Oran’s had their noses in front by no more than three goals through much of this game and three times WEGC drew level. On this third occasion at 41-41, WEGC pulled ahead by two goals and then added another two-goal buffer in the dying moments.

Wellington Girls’ College saw off last year’s beaten finalists Tawa College 36-20 in the Division 1 7 v 8 game.

Scots College’s 12-goal win over Hutt Valley High School in the Division 2 final was comfortable in the end, but it was 9-9 at quarter time. Scots upped their ante and established a seven-goal advantage by halftime and stayed ahead for the rest of the game.

Whitby Collegiate only made sure of their 36-30 victory over Upper Hutt College late to finish third in Division 2. They had their noses in front throughout most of the game but it was always close.

Mana College won the Division 2 5 v 6 game with a 37-31 win over Kapiti College. This was a competitive match from start to finish, with Mana ahead 18-16 by halftime but Kapiti drawing level during the third quarter. Mana won the fourth quarter 10-5 to pull clear late.

Naenae College won the Division 3 title with a 35-30 win over Wainuiomata High School – but not without surviving a fourth quarter scare.

Naenae got off to a fast start and led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. They extended this lead to 24-15 at halftime and then 30-20 at three quarter time, before Wainuiomata roared back to within striking distance with a seven-goal blitz. Naenae rallied again and held on to win.

The Division 3 3 v 4 game between Onslow College and Chilton St James saw the Johnsonville school win 27-24 in a contest that saw the lead change hands a few times and scores all locked up at 18-18 late in the third quarter. Chilton led 20-19 at threequarter time but Onslow edged ahead in a tight final stanza.

The Division 3 5 v 6 encounter was also nail-biter from start to finish. Winners Heretaunga College and Wellington High School fought goal for goal through the first 20 minutes and it was 12-12 at halftime. Heretaunga pulled ahead 21-17 by three quarter time, but WHS came back with a four-goal spree to lock it up again. WHS grabbed a 25-24 lead but Heretaunga came home late to win 26-25.

RSSL Finals Results at a glance

Division 1

Division 1 Final: St Mary’s College 41 – Queen Margaret College 22

Division 1 3 v 4: Sacred Heart College 26 -Samuel Marsden Collegiate 21

Division 1 5 v 6: Wellington East Girls’ College 46 – St Oran’s College 42

Division 1 7 v 8: Wellington Girls’ College 36 – Tawa College 20

Division 2

Division 2 Final: Scots College 33 – Hutt Valley High School 21

Division 2 3 v 4: Whitby Collegiate 36 – Upper Hutt College 30

Division 2 5 v 6: Mana College 37 – Kapiti College 31

Division 2 7 v 8: Paraparaumu College 29 – Newlands College 20

Division 3

Division 3 Final: Naenae College 35 – Wainuiomata High School 30

Division 3 3 x 4: Onslow College 27 – Chilton St James 24

Division 3 5 v 6: Heretaunga College 26 – Wellington High School 25

Article added: Tuesday 19 August 2025