League: Schools title rivals ready for battle

League will be back in the curriculum when the national schools tournament kicks off at Mt Smart Stadium on Monday.

The six colleges competing for the national title include three from league's South Auckland stronghold (Otahuhu, Manurewa and Southern Cross), reigning champions St Paul's of Auckland City, plus traditional foes Wainuiomata and Aranui High, representing the Wellington and Canterbury regions.

As in any sport, rivalries are expected to bring out the best in the players and their bands of passionate supporters.

Warriors and NZRL coaching and development staff will closely monitor the event, as this tier of football has previously been the launching pad for the likes of Simon Mannering, who first came to the attention of selectors while playing for Nelson College in the 2003 tournament.

He was selected that year for the NZ secondary schools' team that lost narrowly to Australia.

By 2004 he had earned Junior Kiwis and NZ Residents jerseys on the back of solid national junior competition and Bartercard Cup performances for Wellington before making his first-grade debut for the Warriors in 2005.

His Warriors teammate Jerome Ropati was part of the historic raid that St Paul's launched on the cream of Australia's schools talent after making it all the way to the quarter-finals of the iconic national knockout competition in 2002, the Nutri-Grain Cup.