The Confraternity Carnival, commonly referred to as Confro, is the premier rugby league competition for Catholic and independent secondary schools in Queensland, Australia, held annually since 1980.
[1] Administered by the Queensland Rugby League and run by the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League, the competition is a week-long carnival that features over 1200 students from up to 54 schools in July each year.
The carnival has featured a number of current and former Australian and Queensland representatives, including Johnathan Thurston, Matthew Scott, Matthew Bowen, Bob Lindner, Xavier Coates, Wendell Sailor, Daly Cherry-Evans, Michael Morgan and Cameron Munster.
Prior to this, Christian Brothers schools from Bundaberg and Ipswich competed against each other for the Bunswich Shield.
From 1988 to 1992, St Patrick's College, Mackay won the shield five times in a row, a record as of 2020.
[6] In 2018, St Mary's Catholic College, Casino became the first New South Wales-based school to compete at the carnival.
First awarded in 1982, past winners included future Australian and Queensland representatives Julian O'Neill, Wendell Sailor, Matthew Bowen and David Taylor.