Local apprentices build reputations at WorldSkills bricklaying competition
By Greg Chapman
Central Queensland’s best bricklayers battled it out at CQUniversity’s Rockhampton City campus this week to kick off the official start of the WorldSkills Regional competitions.
Seven apprentices from around the CQ region converged on the bricklaying work sheds, tasked with crafting a custom brick wall.
The apprentices, Dylan Belleville, Kade Marsden, Thomas McNeill, Rhylee Murtagh, Lochlan Stowe, Coope Zahra, and Jarron Dowson, represented companies including Nathan Hagenbach Bricklaying, MIGAS Apprentices and Trainees, Shane Marsden Bricklaying, Boyne Smelters Ltd, Brick and Trowel Company Pty Ltd and Golden Trowel Brick and Blocklaying.
Kade Marsden, of Shane Marsden Bricklaying was announced as the gold medallist, with Jarron Dowson of MIGAS Apprentices and Trainees awarded silver, and Lochlan Stowe, of Boyne Smelters Ltd, receiving bronze.
Kade will now wait to see if he’ll proceed to the WorldSkills Nationals to be held in 2025.
“It’s good to have a win, I really didn’t expect it to be honest,” he said.
“It was my first time competing in WorldSkills and it was good fun.”
CQU Bricklaying Teacher and WorldSkills co-judge Peter Carr said it was great seeing many of the apprentices who received their training at CQU TAFE taking the step of competing in WorldSkills.
“WorldSkills is a great way for these apprentices to put their skills to the test with this unique challenge,” he said.
WorldSkills CQ Coordinator and Campus for the School of Trades at CQU Mackay Ooralea Jackie Campbell congratulated the medallists on their achievements.
“This was a great way to kick off the WorldSkills competitions in Central Queensland and CQU is very excited to host further competitions in Plumbing, Hairdressing, Heavy Vehicle and other trades areas between August and October this year,” she said.
The bricks used in the competition were donated by Jake Chopping from Austral Masonry.
Visit the CQU WorldSkills page for more information on the upcoming competitions.
Explore CQUniversity's wide range vocational training at the CQU TAFE page.
Transcript
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CQU Head of Construction Peter Carr: CQU are hosting a World skills Regional competition in Brick Laying and it's one of probably maybe up to 20 or more that are hosted across different parts of Australia; ours is one of the first being hosted in bricklaying in Queensland.
Seven actually participated and they were from Gladstone, Mackay, Rockampton and Yeppoon. They had to construct a wall based on a plan that they were given prior to the day and it's tough because I'm not sure that many Tradesmen could complete this job in the time frame they have and yeah and most of these are beginners in a sense in the sense that they haven't been laying bricks for that long and we asked a lot of them in the plan and so I was just pleased that they actually had a go.
I hope they felt like it was a special day because we tried to create the atmosphere of of a special day having guest judges come along um being asked to do the job without any assistance from me uh having a little bit of a prize and the presentation so I hope it just they think that it improves their concept of what they should be striving for as a brick player and if I can get that level a little bit higher that'd be good so yeah.
First Place Winner Kade Marsden: It was pretty hard especially versing against other good people and that, pretty good comp to do and that yeah.
Take your time don't rush it get things sweet before you start going ahead and then yeah go from there.
Uh definitely cutting in all the cuts and making sure everything's on gauge and everything's straight and level, keeping an eye on it the whole time and that yeah.
Second Place Winner Jarron Dowson: I'm Jarron and a few of us here we work for um MIGAS which they send us to like a different employer and we pretty much have just been working at the smelter, Boyne Smelter and um yeah we never touch these bricks we have only built brick like brick furnaces and all that we never get to touch house bricks so um yeah I wasn't expecting to go as good as I did.
Yeah I think it was a bit of luck I just went slow and I guess got points where probably mattered the the like technicalities to like the cuts and stuff like you know working out the math and doing all the cuts is pretty new still so yeah.
Yeah it's just hands-on practice mainly I reckon like it was it was good like I feel like we learned a lot just 'cause we're chucked into it you know so you only learn by doing it.
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