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NSW AAGPS 2025 (banter and commentary)

fortheloveofthegame

Chris McKivat (8)
Slight correction Joker, Riverview 1st XV are Outright Premiers in 2025, there will be no sharing.

Well done to Riverview for taking out the 1st VIII HOTR, State and National titles and AAGPS 1st XV Rugby as Outright Premiers, with one spare match remaining.
a touch pedantic my friend. Outright Premiers and Premiers are one in the same, otherwise they’d be…. joint premiers. Nice to see View chalk one up, it often surprises me they haven’t won more often.
 

twister29

Bill Watson (15)
I think what would be great is a champions league style fixture at end of GPS and CAS season. Winners of GPS play winners of CAS in 1st, 2nds and 16As. Play it at Leichhardt Oval. Get it on Stan. Would get a great crowd and would be compelling viewing.
Only available on a Stan Sport subscription please or at the gate tickets priced like a lions game. Can’t have any plebs watching our superior rugby.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

John Eales (66)
Only available on a Stan Sport subscription please or at the gate tickets priced like a lions game. Can’t have any plebs watching our superior rugby.
I know your'e having a laugh but I genuinely think Rugby would get more from the general sport loving public in Aus seeing the product at the Schools and Club level more often. The professional game is over officiated and slow and just shows it's chin to all the people who love to bash Rugby.

The Schools and a lot of Shute Shield games offer far more of the traditional roots of the sport in terms flow and play off the back of a turnover in the other direction.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

John Eales (66)
Like i mentioned, that was a weakened New team. When New were at full strength, New won. And as i stated were the only team to do so.
How will we ever know with New. After a promising start they have again dropped the plan and play for games and then seemingly picked it up again. This is a programmatic issue at this point. Why do they lapse? Can't just blame injury. They didn't have 10 guys out and not having guys ready to plug in is also a program problem.
 

Joker

Moderator
Staff member
How will we ever know with New. After a promising start they have again dropped the plan and play for games and then seemingly picked it up again. This is a programmatic issue at this point. Why do they lapse? Can't just blame injury. They didn't have 10 guys out and not having guys ready to plug in is also a program problem.
This is another "rinse and repeat" season from Newington.
 

shaquille_oatmeal

Peter Burge (5)
How will we ever know with New. After a promising start they have again dropped the plan and play for games and then seemingly picked it up again. This is a programmatic issue at this point. Why do they lapse? Can't just blame injury. They didn't have 10 guys out and not having guys ready to plug in is also a program problem.
My take is that New has a small contingent of very strong players, but lacks the same depth as some of the other sides. It's an issue they have through the younger age groups too. If you lack depth in your 2nd XV or substitutes, then when you see key players injured, there is a much larger skill gap between those who are injured and those replacing them.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

John Eales (66)
SIC v Shore - Rae Rae's recap
(feel free to disagree, it's just an opinion on it)

Having been there on Saturday and more enjoyed the moment rather then critically watch too hard I thought I'd make comment after re watching the game.

First of all, you could feel a level of tension. Would a side rise to it? Or, would a side be twitchy and error filled on a day when the conditions do level out the competition to a degree? They rose like a great side would. They didn't look behind them and worry about what-ifs, they got on with their plan and took control of their own destiny.

Shore started hard. Eager to play party-pooper and were direct and leveraged penalties to march down field and score of some nice hard running and well put together maul. Two thoughts in this moment ah shit & that's fine party-pooper motivation is fleeting. I don't think it has more than a few minutes in it in reality if you have no genuine prize to be attained. You could see how quickly View moved on from the try with no heads drop that they have belief that the plan will come through over the course of 70 mins.

After a tight arm wrestle for about 15 mins with multiple charge downs and bollocking runs from the Shore 8 (outstanding game) you could see the puff run out of the Shoreman and the View boys continued to hold a pace and dare you to go with them. As you get tired you start to make errors, it's a tale as old as time in sport and View pounced and before you knew it they had a double digit lead and it felt like the elastic band was about to snap which it did right after HT.

From HT you saw the hunger push the players to maintain the rage and the accumulation of points occurred and the isolation play from Shore got worse which was easy pickings for a View side that for all the fun tries they have scored have the best defence in the competition.

The game plan from Shore resembled that of Scots v View which was to kick it back and play field position. Seems smart in the wet and maybe an admission that we can't break the defence, but the execution was poor. Kicks were finding the View back three on the full to return them and there seemed to be no adjustment to the plan which then forced the Shore 10 to start crabbing across the field and often back into the ruck and essentially shortening the back line for the next play. I honestly thought re watching this game there is an argument to move the 10 to 12 or 13 and get someone in who can just pass and let him run wider and in tandem with the 15 who is very handy. View were able to rush up and did we see the 11,12,13,14 do anything in comparison to how the View Wingers are constantly handling the ball. He may be the best 10 available but his skills may be more useful in another position for the team as a whole.

Two plays summed up the tenacity of the wolf pack:

1. View 2s chase down tackle on the Shore player who looked certain to score but he came from the clouds and dragged him down.
2. View 7s try. This looked like a standard in goal place for the Shore 13 who would have had a 10m start on him at first but you saw him tearing down the First Field scorching the earth and in an all effort dive got there first in front of a very nonchalant effort it must be said. You knew it was a try by the disappointing head throw back of the Shore boy when he realised.

The View coaching team and Rugby admins deserve a huge amount of credit for what they have developed over the past few years. View were a side that would burst out the gates and fade and that has all turned around. These are teams willing to grind and maintain a pace of play. There has been a shift in the physical look and play of the players.

I've been someone whose indifferent on the relevancy of the 16s and what it means to win that comp rather than push players up early but maybe there is something to having a true cohort move en masse into the Opens over a couple here and there and then they have to learn from almost scratch when they all arrive back in the 1sts.

Best on Ground: Shore 8. Kid played himself to a standstill and hit the line like a man possessed. Hats off for that effort when the season is gone.

View: 2, 7, (11,14,15) collective back three effort was fantastic.
Shore: 8, 10, 15
 

Ace Ventura

Alfred Walker (16)
Tables - updated

[Only caveat is the 16As where no result was reported for the Round 8 game between View and Scots (therefore counted as 0-0 draw). If View won this, they are outright premiers - if they lost, then they would share the premiership with Joeys if Joeys win on Saturday.]

15As and 13As premierships will be decided this Saturday.

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War Chest

Stan Wickham (3)
Notwithstanding that in a year that CAS beat GPS and IAS was very competitive would have loved to have seen a Barker v Riverview game.

Barker went undefeated in Australia (including pre-season against Canberra, Joeys and Shore) and today's Barker v St. Augustines game (effectively the CAS/ISA decider) was a great watch (on replay on NSW RugbyTV)

(I say in Australia as Barker did lose games at the Japanese Sanix tournament in the holidays)
They actually lost to Marist Canberra in an early trial at Barker
 
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