CAS Rugby 2013

[rtd32]

It's true that there are no easy wins over Waverley. I had a feeling that Waverley's Rugby had dropped its standards a little in recent times, but the truth is that it has won three premierships in the last ten years, and probably finished second another three or four times - so not too shabby. And Queen's Park remains, I think, the toughest venue for any visiting team.

Indeed, Waverley have finished 2nd the last 4 years running! And that's after a joint premiership in 2009. Look out for them next year. They'll be hungrier than ever for a win having just fallen short so many times in a row

 

[The Oracle]

Obviously a Trinity supporter. Trinity got away with murder at the breakdown.
Congratulations to Trinity they were stronger than Waverley today, to little too late! What went on for the rest of their season?

In my humble opinion what went wrong with Trinity for the rest of the season, is more a question of how a Rugby program is viewed and implemented by the powers that be , and the trickle down effect that has for all those involved. As an example- Barker won the Seconds and by my understanding that team would have competed well in the Firsts! Their 16s on the other hand were not as competitive ,(but please correct me if I am wrong?), but will no doubt feed many capable players into an alreadt strong Open Rugby program. Trinity had a strong top 15 , but the Seconds were far from competitive although I believe they improved as the season progressed and the 16s were in the race with Cranbrook for the premiership. Following injury Storey and Sitiene from the 16s played Firsts all year. If Malaki , Moala and Fish had remained fit the season may have panned out differently for both the Firsts and the 16s . My point is without depth no program can flourish , and depth is created by sheer numbers . Until it is treated as an honour to play for the Seconds or the 16c's or the 13d's (as it appears to be at some schools)boys will happily turn out for Yr 7 g Soccer team rather than giving Rugby a go and in this process boys with great potential will be missed. When players are pressured for their spot in a team the train harder , they play harder and the bring a more positive attitude to every aspect of the game regardless of the grade they are playing . Trinity generally does not have this depth and will suffer until the Seconds 10 or 2 or 15 or whatever is pressuring the player above and so on down the grades . The simple solution is ban all other sport, but so far no one is listening to that!

 

[Keen observer]

And this year the pool was deleted even further at the grass roots through the introduction of AFL as a choice for boys in yrs 7 and 8 with only about 300 boys in the school playing rugby at Trinity there will never be the depth to stay competitive. the last two years are clear examples of that.

 

[Fred87]

There is a cyclical element too - Barker fielded only 3 teams in the 16's this year.

Soccer is certainly gaining ground at Barker. It used to be that in the junior school a boy had to play rugby his first 2 years - there was no choice. Unfortunately that has gone by the wayside. I heard on the sideline that Barker is the only CAS school not offering AFL (but pressure is mounting).

Knox seem to have some very large year groups coming through (300 boys in year 7) so expect there retooled rugby program to bear fruit in the years to come.

For next year Barker have returning from the 1sts: 9, 10 and 6. The 4 was only a yr 11 boy but not eligible next year because he is too old. The 7 position was played by 3 boys during the year - 1 yr12 and 2 yr11's.

When that age group went through the u13's was won by Trinity, 14's Knox, 15's Barker, 16's Cranbrook. Has always been a very close age group, next year should be interesting.

 

[Snort]

In my humble opinion what went wrong with Trinity for the rest of the season, is more a question of how a Rugby program is viewed and implemented by the powers that be , and the trickle down effect that has for all those involved. My point is without depth no program can flourish, and depth is created by sheer numbers . Until it is treated as an honour to play for the Seconds or the 16c's or the 13d's (as it appears to be at some schools) boys will happily turn out for Yr 7 g Soccer team rather than giving Rugby a go and in this process boys with great potential will be missed. When players are pressured for their spot in a team the train harder , they play harder and the bring a more positive attitude to every aspect of the game regardless of the grade they are playing . Trinity generally does not have this depth and will suffer until the Seconds 10 or 2 or 15 or whatever is pressuring the player above and so on down the grades . The simple solution is ban all other sport, but so far no one is listening to that!

There's a lot of truth in this, although I don't agree entirely. It's certainly true that depth and playing numbers are closely related, and that the larger schools have an inbuilt advantage as a result. It's also true that the availability of other sports will dilute the pool of players available to play Rugby. But it seems to me the only solution to that is to make the Rugby programme as attractive as possible so that boys want to play. A boy who is forced to play Rugby when he'd rather play something else may not be a very valuable contributor in a sport that demands that commitment almost as much as ability.

If you look at the history of Trinity's Rugby (and I recommend the Centernary history, published this year) you'll see that this is not a new issue for Trinity. Trinity has (postwar) always had smaller numbers than Knox, Barker and Waverley. Since 1975, when soccer was introduced at the school, soccer has always been seen as an attractive alternative to Rugby. At the risk of generalising, Trinity's inner-west demographic includes large numbers from migrant families (Greek, Italian, Lebanese) for whom soccer is a culturally familiar choice. And there is the undoubted fact that many parents push their boys towards soccer to avoid the collisions that occur in Rugby. All this limits the pool of players in the Rugby programme.

I have always said (and almost believe) that if you spend six years in the senior school at Trinity, you will see one 1st XV win the premiership (or come very close), a couple of very competitive teams, and a couple of teams that get pounded. That pattern tends to hold true over the years. The challenge for the Rugby staff at Trinity is to make more boys want to be a part of the Rugby programme. Certainly, the rewards that are available to the elite level players - overseas tours, and so on - are very attractive. But what about the guy in the 15Cs?

Well, I guess the ultimate motivation is to convince everyone that, with hard work, they too can join the top tier. That Trinity Rugby history has a couple of interesting stories in it that are relevant to this. One concerns the undefeated 13Es from 1980. Five members of that team went on to play in the 1985 1st XV premiership-winning team. One played for Australian Schools, and he and one other player played First Grade in the Shute Shield. A couple of years earlier, there was a stocky centre running around in the 16Bs in 1976. The next year he played in the forwards in the 1st XV - and a couple of years after leaving school, he played half a dozen games in the front row for the Waratahs. I know this doesn't happen a lot. But if I were at Trinity, I would be weaving these stories into the school's folklore, to try to inspire the guys who get picked in the 13Es or 16Bs that they can still hope to succeed in the game. When I played, my motivation was always to do well for the team but also, on a personal level, to get picked at the next level (or to hold onto my place). Instilling that personal motivation at all levels is important, I think.

 

[Keen observer]

Good memory Fred87.. yes trinity won the U13's in 2008. almost undefeated - except for a loss 14 short arms to 5 at death valley in the last round. Made Saturdays win mean so much more!

 

[Benched '84]

Worth highlighting, that in the Barker vs Knox game, Dave Smerdon (B10) snuck a field goal over, and looking at the results table, that seems to be the one and only F/G of the year!!
Why is this easy 3 points not utilised more often at this level of rugby??

 

[Spieber]

A couple of years earlier, there was a stocky centre running around in the 16Bs in 1976. The next year he played in the forwards in the 1st XV - and a couple of years after leaving school, he played half a dozen games in the front row for the Waratahs.

The Whale?

 

[Elfster]

Worth highlighting, that in the Barker vs Knox game, Dave Smerdon (B10) snuck a field goal over, and looking at the results table, that seems to be the one and only F/G of the year!!
Why is this easy 3 points not utilised more often at this level of rugby??

Smart play. Take the points when available.

I think that at this level tries are easier to score and thus they go for that. When I was looking at doing a review I looked at the tries scored by each team and found that 70% of the points scored were by tries.

 

[Benched '84]

Defence, as it is nowdays the attacking teams can spend a lot of time in the oppositions 1/2, therefore, if they are not getting anywhere, a perfect opportunity to slot 3 points.

 

[Snort]

The Whale?

The very same.

 

[Benched '84]

Worth noting, that at the Barker rugby presentation dinner last week, Tyson Davis was singled-out for having played 50 games for the school 1st XV (no repeating, no pathways)
A great achievement in any school competition

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The Season is all done and dusted.

Any hints on what clubs the 2013 graduates will pop up at next year for Colts?

Who have we lost to the Mungos?.


Thread has been started to discuss where this years graduates will be in 2014

http://www.greenandgoldrugby.com/community/threads/which-clubs-are-the-class-of-2013-going-to.13458/

 

[Benched '84]

Not the best quality, it was done by remote, but gives you an idea of how quick and relentless Barker were at the breakdowns.

 

[Lee Grant]

Thanks for posting that Benched.

I saw Barker in that opening game of the season and the Harry Jones-Tyson Davis combo was deadly—but that was frequently after the forwards had sucked in defenders and made their job easier.

They were good forwards: not that big but hard workers, like drovers' dogs.

I reckon that a Barker team last year (based on a sample of one game) would have done well in the 2013 GPS; not, maybe, against the top two teams Scots and Newington—but against the others, they would have caused all kinds of problems.
.

 

[Spieber]

The very same.

Coincidentally, a bloke from my school opposed him in the backs in the 16B's and 2 years later joined him in the CAS 1sts tight five.