CAS Rugby 2013

[Elfster]

None - but Matt knows his rugby that's for darn sure.

Knox fans should give it time. I'm sure his brief is for the whole school not just the Ones; so maybe we'll see a difference later on as younger players emerge having been coached well from a younger age.
.

An excellent report Lee, with good photos to boot. You got the feel of the game well. The Barker fullback did shine, a rugby player of undoubted quality (and not that the other Barker backs weren't lacking there either!). It will take a very good player to keep him out of the rep sides. I liked his combination with the Barker outside backs and thought it was good to see a game of rugby in which backs ran onto the ball at speed. I imagine Barker are very pleased to have him this year. And they are probably lucky he couldn't fit under the salary cap at Kings and that Barker must be one of the few schools not to have any waiting lists for year 12 this year. (But that last sentence from me may have been a cheeky digression).

The lingering question for me from Saturday, is not to do with the first CAS outing of the new coaching regime, which despite the previous success of the displaced coaching set-up, is required in my opinion, but whether the burgeoning talents of Knox music department are still previewing the upcoming musical.

Call me old fashioned, but I thought a 'preview' would be a brief affair. Over within minutes. But no, not in this case. It went on. It lingered. It endured. The preview wasn't of one or two songs, but of everything. Of songs that may have been in the musical (the name of which somehow escaped me. Was it King Lear? Camelot? Xanadu? The Horse Whisperer??) Or songs that select members of the cast thought should be in it. And when they seemed to have run out of cast members they got others to take part of the preview as well; family, wedding singers, the cast of My Kitchen Rules, neighbours, the drivers of the trains that drop the kids of at Warrawee. I was surprised that the Knox 1stXV didn't interrupt their warm-up schedule to break into a rousing rendition of "Always look on the bright side of life" as part of the 'preview' . If they have any further similar results to that on Saturday this season they may need to.

Perhaps the impact of the 'preview' passed me due to the sound quality present. It sounded like they had backed up a 'hotted' up ute in the car park and were using its speakers to pump out the music. With the resultant excess bass. And noise. But with a duration that made Blue Hills look as long lasting as Doug Mulray's Home Video show on CH9. And like the onset of a tooth abcess it gnawed away at your very soul with a omniprescent and eternal inevitability. The horror, the horror.

 

[Snort]

The lingering question for me from Saturday, is not to do with the first CAS outing of the new coaching regime, which despite the previous success of the displaced coaching set-up, is required in my opinion, but whether the burgeoning talents of Knox music department are still previewing the upcoming musical.

What you have to remember is that Knox is the alma mater not only to Ian Jackman (one 1st Grade match for Sydney University, 1983) but also his younger brother, Hugh..

 

[I like to watch]

Who did he play for?

 

[CAS Footy]

How'd the puberty blues boy go?

Dylan Goodearl was the standout for aloys. Very strong ball runner and beat the first up tackler most times. Defense was rock solid as well.

 

[Nat Jacobs]

Waverley 2nd's utility back playing at #11 went well on the weekend, saw him playing all over the park every were from 10-14. Great talent and playing his first season in a few years due to a broken leg. I hear there is lots of competition for the waverley back line especially through the centres with spinotis having a standout performance in the round 1 clash last weekend showing his smooth transition from 1sts basketball straight into 1sts rugby.
Any more news??

 

[dela]

Predicting aloys to make an amazing comeback against trinity this week end, the forwards will muscle up

 

[Snort]

Predicting aloys to make an amazing comeback against trinity this week end, the forwards will muscle up

Well, maybe. But it would be nice if once in a while, predictions like this (I don't mean only in relation to these schools - I also mean posts like "Knox to beat Barker 4 sure!") gave some insight into why the poster thinks what he or she thinks. In the dim past when I was at school I was taught that showing the working-out was as important as the answer. dela's view may be entirely valid, but I have no way of knowing, because I don't know how it was reached. For instance, will Williams be playing? Are there players returning from injury? Is there some other factor that makes you think Aloysius will lift its game from last week?

I've retired from tipping and I won't venture a guess at this result, but St Aloysius hasn't beaten Trinity since 2009. They will one day, but if it's going to be Saturday, why?

 

[YR!]

Just a few observations/comments from Saturday's game between Barker and Knox.

After recovering from the disappointment of my 'steak sambo' and the rude shock that was Knox number 10's head, I was able to compose myself and absorb the afternoon's events.

Enough has been said about the rugby. Knox were awful. Barker, supported by the red army were excellent. Barker's standout was their well built number 1, who put on the shot of the century on Knox's winger.

It has been previously mentioned, but must be said again. I came on Saturday for the rugby, not a 15 minute preview of a musical I have no intention of watching. Musicals and rugby do not mix, enough said.

Very impressed to see Knox has invested in a live scoreboard! Shame there were not too many highlights to display however.

Despite this, it must be said though that Knox does an excellent job in hosting the big games. As a player, there must be no greater honour than playing on the hallowed turf, against the black and blue. There was a huge crowd, primarily Barker, and the atmosphere created by the Gala day only added to the excitement.

Despite the outcome, I do believe Knox will be a force. They will have learnt a lot and definitely have the line up to produce. It must be mentioned they were missing players, some of whom would have to be representative certainties.

 

[rtd32]

brave man picking Knox over Waves at Death Valley

Yes I agree it is a bit bold. My main reasoning for this decision is that Waverley lost a fair few key players last year. Jack Johnson will be difficult to replace. Also, I understand their entire back 3 (which were where the bulk of their tries came from last year) have finished school? Please correct me if I'm wrong. The main point is that Death Valley favours a stronger forward pack. From what I've heard of Waverley this year they are lacking a bit in size in the forwards - something that Knox certainly isn't. Also, knox's forward pack were actually quite solid (all of barkers tries were scored by backs). Their line out and scrum were reasonable (line out was more impressive, scrum started strong but faded towards the end of the game).
My instinct says that it will certainly be close, but I've been wrong in the past... A week ago I would have assured you that Knox v barker would be a close game also

 

[casisbest]

Watched the Barker/Knox game on Saturday ... Barker were just too good but felt that the game was still (just) within Knox's reach at half time ... once Barker kicked a few penalties to lead by more than 14, it was all over ... but wouldn't write off Knox on that one game.

It is good to see that Cranbrook appear to have a very competitive team this year ... still believe that this competition will be closer than many expect ... but the Barker backs may just prove to be unstoppable this year.

 

[Benched '84]

An excellent report Lee, with good photos to boot. You got the feel of the game well. The Barker fullback did shine, a rugby player of undoubted quality (and not that the other Barker backs weren't lacking there either!). It will take a very good player to keep him out of the rep sides. I liked his combination with the Barker outside backs and thought it was good to see a game of rugby in which backs ran onto the ball at speed. I imagine Barker are very pleased to have him this year. And they are probably lucky he couldn't fit under the salary cap at Kings and that Barker must be one of the few schools not to have any waiting lists for year 12 this year. (But that last sentence from me may have been a cheeky digression).

Spoke to some of the Barker Dad's at the Knox afters on Saturday, the Barker back 3, Davis, Jones, Ellwood have all played together, at Newport for years, and are last years premiers of the Sunday comp, that team also included the Barker ''loosie'' prop, Slacksmith, may help explain why the outside backs run so well together and why Jones ended up at Barker.

 

[qwerty]

Any news on the 16A's sides for all schools. Results? feedback? standout players? predictions for CAS side?

 

[casrugby12]

stand outs or players you have to watch for in trinity ?

 

[JstWaiting4amate]

stand outs or players you have to watch for in trinity ?

The only Player from Trinity that stood out for me on Saturday was #15. Was probably the smallest player on field but proved to be the hardest to take down, definitely a player to watch out for.
Yes #7 scored 3 tries; however he did not do his job as an open side flanker, was never in the Ruck always standing out waiting for some reason.
Trinity have ALOT of work to do in ALL areas of their game.

 

[footylover101]

Any news on the 16A's sides for all schools. Results? feedback? standout players? predictions for CAS side?

Aloys and Knox are the strong sides in this age group. Waverley was best last year but has lost 3 key players to the first XV.

 

[double v 2]

anyone got early predictions for CAS teams?

 

[Elfster]

Much of the Scots "resurgence" is based on focusing on the rugby programme across the board not just the first XV. Lachlan Fear is trying to do similar at Grammar.

The challenge for the School and parents is can they hold their breath for long enough for these long term future investments to bear fruit.

And that is the test. The Firsts were the only 'A' side that Barker won against Knox. But Knox always had strong A sides, it was the 1st's that often didn't replicate the A sides results.

But for me, the main reason for the change of the Knox 1sts rugby side was that, though the previous incumbent had excellent results, was that he was also the head of the sporting program. And whether it was him or the headmaster, other sports gained prominence at the expense of the rugby. The number of soccer teams doubled, AFL was introduced and the number of rugby sides dropped significantly. Yet the head of sport was also the coach of the firsts. He had some great teams when he had great cattle; it would be interesting to have seen the Knox sides with the same players with the coaches of other sides: Aloys, Barker or Cranbrook.

But it may be the current headmaster. I don't think he sees sport, and in particular Rugby, as highly as previous headmasters. It is all about 'positivism' at Knox these days and not necessarily discipline, hard work or comittment. Which was displayed by a well dressed and enthusiastic crowd of Barker supporters as opposed to the self indulgent Knox rabble. And the result of the game showed that as well.

 

[casisbest]

Agree with Elfster that Knox always have strong A sides in the younger age groups, but Barker place real focus on all their Open teams (Knox only won 3rds and 7ths last Saturday). Given that Opens covers two age groups, having depth is crucial. It was interesting to see that only two of last year's Barker 16A's (a reasonable team who beat Knox) ran on for their 1sts on Saturday, with the rest playing in teams ranging from the 2nds to the 5ths.

 

[double v 2]

any trinity or aloys boys ?

anyone can make it, although i wont be surprised if the CAS I and II sides lack trinity and aloys players. Without knowing to much about aloys this year, just hearing about poor results im assuming this. Id imagine Williams will make it but dont know of any other stand outs. After watching Trinity v Waverley on saturday, with no stand out players from trinity and hearing about trinity's poor form in pre-season trials, im confident that there wont be a high number of trinity boys playing in the CAS sides this year

 

[JstWaiting4amate]

anyone can make it, although i wont be surprised if the CAS I and II sides lack trinity and aloys players. Without knowing to much about aloys this year, just hearing about poor results im assuming this. Id imagine Williams will make it but dont know of any other stand outs. After watching Trinity v Waverley on saturday, with no stand out players from trinity and hearing about trinity's poor form in pre-season trials, im confident that there wont be a high number of trinity boys playing in the CAS sides this year

Agree.