The Nudgee College Senior A defeated Brisbane State High school on Friday night in the opening round of the GPS. It was the perfect start anyone could have envisioned; defeating one of the powerhouses of GPS debating on their home soil. This victory will send a clear message to the GPS, that Nudgee College is a force to be reckoned with. The most pleasing aspect of this triumph is that this result was a culmination of a month of thorough preparation and dedication. Through the tireless efforts and dedication from our coaches Dom Carroll and Mx James Makiol, and the friendly debate against St Rita’s College, we were meticulously prepared.

In the latter part of the summer holidays, we were fortunate enough to endure a two-day camp where we devised tactics, prepared for round one and set our team values. This camp served us an excellent opportunity to improve our skills moving into round one. The topic for the first round was a very difficult notion; That the COVID-19 pandemic has proven that the WHO is ineffective as a global forum. As such, we decided to debate St Rita’s College with the same notion to see what works and what doesn’t. After a toughly contested debate, we received feedback from our coaching staff as well as Rita’s coaching staff. At the conclusion of the debate, I was fortunate enough to have a genuine chat with the opposition’s third speaker to gain further insight into what we could expect the following day. We then spent the next hour and a half scrutinising our performance with Dom and Mx Makiol, where we devised new strategies to break down State High’s argument.

After a long day of school and many chats with members of staff surrounding the topic, we embarked to State High full of confidence, excitement and nervousness. As expected BSHS’s arguments were sound; however, our intensive research enabled us to debunk their argument one at a time, slowly but surely. Oliver Kele, Nikhil Lalwani and I were able to deliver a strong case of our own as well. Oliver – the youngest in the room – impressed with his strong argumentative material, his charisma, and fiery POIs. Nikhil was outstanding as always and shifted the debate in our favour, tearing their premises apart whilst building our team case. I was fortunate enough to have a sound platform I could build upon to deconstruct BSHS’s substantive arguments. Despite our strong case and taking their case apart, State High never seemed to disappear; fighting till the end and making life very hard for us. The debate, in the end, was decided by the closest of margins. Nudgee taking the debate on a split panel decision (2-1) and by a mere one point. The hard work and persistence paid off, showing us that anything is possible this season.

I would like to thank Basil Nolan and Chad Oehlman – the other members of the Senior A for their selfless nature in helping Oliver, Nikhil and myself. A big thanks to Mx Makiol, Dom, and all members of staff involved in the first round of the season against State High. The Senior A look forward to carrying their form and momentum into our first home debate against Brisbane Boys College this coming Friday. I wish all debaters the best of luck against BBC.

Shannen Gerard Solker – 2021 Debating Captain