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Mr Hands, I hope fairness comes into it too. I remain unconvinced about Cronan as a selector, I ask again, has he ever coached a 1st XV or rep team in any competition of note?? I was working in Sydney in 2006 when Q2 won the competition the first time and found an excuse to get out to...

NSW1 v NSW2 and Q1 v Q2 - interesting! I wonder at the way the selectors view this. Does a dominant display by a 2's player, esp a NSW2s player erase the previous selection opinion about the NSW1 player? What bearing does the presence of an all NSW final have on the good performances of Q1...

Lee/ Dark Shark ( later post). Thanks for the mature opinion here. I think you are both correct and maybe I needed to express myself better. Steve Philpotts is a thoroughly decent man and a coach with an excellent record at test level, after a long stint at BBC 1st XV and Q schools level. He...

FH29 - you are right I have not seen him in 2013 so apologies for the comment based on the old version of the player. If what you said is true then he sounds like someone has got in his ear and pointed out what can happen if big blokes get involved. Good luck to him.

Roar, Australian Schools is ALL politics. NSW will get more players in no matter what the outcome of their games v Qld. Check the stats back to the start of the Schools championships in the 70's. NSW get picked over Q at a ratio of at least 2:1. I can't say I am across all of the players...

Dark Shark, some interesting analysis here. A rambling response follows. Yes, GPS 1 tends to provide the bulk of the Q teams. Dare I say it, in years past when the seasons were aligned the GPS sides were even more dominant. Only amazing talent like Heenan and Elphinstone from Ashgrove ( the...

Dark Shark- Mason isn't injured and he has been trialling comepetently from what I have seen at 10 with his Churchie side after 2 years in Q16 - I know enough to know that those sorts of investments do not just get left alone. So where is he - Combined States?? Rugby League?? There's...

Dear Digby, I'm sure they were there. They'd be mad not to be - all this talent, most of it unaligned to RL, on a platter in front of them. Team managers would be advised of NRL scout protocols but these NRL guys care little for these things. Most of their best they've already signed up -...

Sorry FH29, the score indicates more early season dysfunction in the GPS ranks and perhaps a lack of focus after GPS2 defeated AIC 1. Well done to AIC 1 for snatching a draw. I agree, the UN would rule on humanitarian grounds against a AIC-GPS Premiers match, the GPS side would massacre them...

Digby, I'm not sure of the stats for this year's tour but the sad thing about the tour on offer is that the ARFU hosts maybe half the squad to a European trip and promptly has them walk off into NRL/Toyota Cup programs on their return. Return on investment to the ARFU? Nada, nix, zero...

Taipan, there is a lot to commend about the Downlands rugby program. Best of all they do wonderful steak burgers but they also embrace the touring and hosting culture of rugby very well - probably an even better touring school than IGS. GPS teams use them as a bye round for junior sides but no...

Picked up a nephew from Tennyson on Saturday arvo and saw the last parts of the ACGS-GT trial. This said, I can't comment on what kickbackkid saw earlier on in the battle of the backs. All I'll say is that it will need to be a very interesting defensive pattern that shuts down Tanuvasa and...

Well said. in the period before the GT stink in the papers about 4 years ago, there was a distinct 2 tier competition. There was IGS, ACGS, NC and TSS actively recruiting and there was BBC embracing a bit, BGS and GT philosophically opposed and BSHS with it as part of their charter as the...

Just back from NC - ACGS trial. Again numerous players out from both sides due to injury or GPS trials. Churchie very dominant early but structures fell away as game wore on and the trial squad got rotated. NC ended up about 6 tries to 3 winners and indicated their Sanix match experience and...

My mail is that Schafer ( 2012 1st XV) is out with an ACL injury from the trials and so is Warriner (2012 1st XV) with the same injury from the Xmas holidays. Tanuvasa is on his way back the same sort of injury suffered in game 2 of 2012 season. My tip is respect ACGS this season but their...

The selector's attitude at these things is to find the "other" guys. Whether anyone likes it or not, certain players are "in" because of what they are proven to have done at higher levels in the past and this drives selections because of the nonsensical state of having to pick rep sides before...

Ask any boy playing GPS 1st XI soccer and he'll say his allegiance is to his club in the first instance because that is the pathway to Jnr Rep teams and the professional franchises for him if he choose to go that way. The rugby pathway is via 1st XVs to state and beyond to franchises. 1st X1...

Sea Eagles and Willreason - Happy to keep it to rugby, you might see that was my contention for picking up GSP in the first place. Interesting that he had to go away for a week and swallow a dictionary in attempt to add some pseudo intellectual clout to his post. I actually wonder whether he...

Thanks GSP, no the comment didn't get much humming - my bad - but it did draw your response. (1) You can have knowledge about schools rugby by being associated with schools but this does not necessarily mean one is a teacher. I did like "sagacious". Compared to some of the peurile stuff here...

I saw the Ashgrove match. Don't over read the Ashgrove performance. Ashgrove "constructed" few of these tries and SPC was without Junior. SPC seemed overawed to begin the match and were assisted by woeful and pedantic refereeing by a ref who has built a career of turning Schools 1st XV...