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So you're just dismissing the work done by the various development officers who work with the public schools etc in some (not sure how many) Shute Shield areas and who are financed by the clubs?

You probably have a few more choices though. There are only 5 "employers" of rugby players in Australia. No question, having S15 quality players playing in the Dent Cup is good for the Brumbies, but I still feel for the Sydney clubs who spend a lot of time and money developing players and then...

Good to see someone with a bit of mongrel in them at last! Seriously, what Higginbotham did was dumb as Australia already had the penalty and it could have been reversed and he could have been red carded, let alone yellow. But have a close look at what McCaw was doing in that RUCK (and I stress...

Yes, I understand that. The question is whether it's for the good of Australian rugby to force players away from their clubs. Sure they have a choice, but if that's the only contract on the table it's not much of a choice.

Gregan's last game for Randwick was in the 1996 Grand Final. My point is that both came to Sydney before there was any comparable competition in the ACT to the Shute Shield. But we're talking ancient history. The point now is that for clubs to remain viable in both Sydney and ACT they need to be...

I think you're overlooking the fact that Campese and Gregan (and others) came to Sydney before the Brumbies came into existence and just as well they did otherwise they wouldn't have developed into the great Australian players they became. Now that the ACT has a Super 15 team and a flourishing...

I understand your position, but it doesn't seem very fair to the clubs who have developed these players through juniors, colts and grade to suddenly have them arbitrarily allocated to another club in another competition without receiving any compensation. I fear we are spreading the talent far...

It's interesting how often in these pages someone with inside knowledge comes along with the facts to debunk the popular opinion about various issues. The die hard supporters of club rugby really have no idea what the ARU, NSWRU, SRU are doing as regards funding of the Shute Shield and a whole...

Ryan, what's the story with Iese Leota? In my opinion he's been one of the best backs in the Shute Shield for several years: solid defender, can be brilliant in attack. Any interest from the S15 teams?

I hope the latter in the case of Colts and school leavers as I firmly believe that players should spend time in the Shute Shield (or equivalent) before being thrown in the deep end in S15. For example, I don't believe that Kurtley Beale going straight from school to playing no.10 for the...

A couple of interesting quotes from Michael Cheika in the Waratah Rugby newsletter today: "But what we can do is make sure we create opportunities for some of the young and talented players coming up through the subbies and country club ranks to play for NSW and create something here that they...

No, I think they were all mentioned:)

Note that his list of "achievements" doesn't contain any mention of club rugby and even though the "ARU has strengthened its financial position the clubs have received reduced funding: “Under his leadership, a Governance review into the game has been initiated; planning for the 2013 Lions Tour...

Does anyone from the ARU participate in this forum? If so, please put your hand up and explain the logic (?) behind this grant "system".

Is this another case (as with Randwick) of confusing the licenced club with the football club? Is it the licenced club which is struggling financially or the football club? Are they seprate entities at Easts?

Dave, I'm not disagreeing with you about whether they should stay in the Shute Shield, but I think the original idea of including them in the comp made sense ie to tap the talent in the outer west of Sydney. I'm just suggesting that although Penrith haven't developed as a force I suspect they...

I was actually reminding everyone (tongue-in-cheek!) that it was Warren Livingstone (Balmain's president) who rekindled the fire about having a third tier. I take your point about Penrith, but I'd like to suggest that their problem has not been finding and developing talent; rather it's been...

You forgot Balmain :-)

Are you referring to Easts licenced club?

Here's Randwick's Best and Fairest Awards: First Grade: Patricio Noriega Second Grade: Jack Tovey Third Grade: Brady Engert Fourth Grade: Cam Kesby Colts 1: Mark Baldwin Colts 2: Jock Armstrong Colts 3: Sam Kenny Randwick Rugby Trophy For Best And Fairest In The Club Patricio Noriega...