The APS Head of the River is always a fantastic contest between Melbourne’s APS schools. Held at Nagambie Lakes Regatta Centre, this event is always hotly contended and followed closely by many in Victoria.
The Schools
The APS Schools comprise of Scotch College, St. Kevins College, Haileybury College, Wesley College, Brighton Grammar, Xaver College, Geelong Grammar School, Geelong College, Melbourne Grammar School, Caulfield Grammar School, and Carey Grammar School. Since the inception of the APS, each of these schools has won the Head of the River, with reigning champions Brighton Grammar returning and a strong Scotch College winning a bulk of contests this year. But which crews could come out on top this year?
Scotch College
The strong favourite for this season’s APS Head of the River is Scotch College. The crew of Moloney, Burney, Marro, Collingwood, Pernell, Temple, Douglas, Lawson and Pagnin have dominated Victorian school eights rowing this year, including a decisive win at the Scotch-Mercantile Regatta on March 15th and a close second place to St. Ignatius at the recent NSW Rowing Championships, held in Sydney at the former Olympic course in February. In the 21st century, Scotch College has not lost a Head of the River two seasons in a row. With Brighton Grammar winning in 2024, will Scotch reclaim the Fairbairn Cup on Saturday?
Brighton Grammar
Reigning champions Brighton Grammar will be looking to retain their title as Head of the River champions this year. The crew of Carson, Smith, Church, Haycox, Goodger-McGrath, Farrand, Pels, Hogan, and Brougham finished sixth at the Scotch-Mercantile regatta and collected a commendable bronze medal at the Rowing Victoria State Championships in early March; they will be racing Scotch hard down the track.
Xavier College
With a change of head coach in recent years, Xavier College has enjoyed a set of excellent campaigns and remained close to the front of the pack at various Victorian regattas. This season, the crew of Reynolds, Burley, Costa, Vuna, Somerville, Glass, Spralja, Punt, and Murphy have finished in decent positions throughout the year: second at the Rowing Victoria State Championships, third at the Scotch-Mercantile Regatta, and fourth at the NSW State Championships, with two of these finishes being within a length of the ever-dominant Scotch college. This crew will be racing hard for the Fairbairn Cup, having last won the trophy in 1999.
Melbourne Grammar School
The main challenger to Scotch this season has been Melbourne Grammar School. Coached by Noel Donaldson, the crew of Willee, Carter, Adkins, Foreman, Caillard, Sallabank, Mayo, MacLennan, and Bogdan have been within two seconds of Scotch all season, and finished within half a length of them at the Scotch-Mercantile Regatta. Having finished third last year, this crew will be looking to upset the favourites and win the APS Head of the River for the first time since 2016.
Prediction
Scotch College has stood out as the crew to beat all season, with Melbourne Grammar and Xavier College working hard to unseat Tom Woodruff’s programme. I expect the order to remain unchanged come Saturday.
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