REVIEW IN ORDER OF PLACEMENT
CHAMPIONS: KNOX
Stellar season from the boys in black and blue an absolute mile above the rest of the competition bar Barker. Set the tone in every single game they played in running away with most games upward of 20 points even up in the GPS hybrid competition were tested and adapted beautifully to the rise in opposition and came back better then ever to regain the premiership. Standout players were: Cheal, Breden, S Rechner, Constable and Evans
SURPRISE PACKET: BARKER
With the hype going on Before the season for Barker its hard to classify them as underdogs but they were still behind, in most peoples opinion, Brook and Alloys. This seemed the case after losing to Alloys in the trials but boy did they hit back. A heroic win against brook really got the attention of the other teams in the competition and they backed up with drummings of trinity and alloys before a draw with Waverley and a loss to Knox, but bounced back to secure second place in the comp well done to the boys an a massive improvement to last year and combining with the year above them could be dominant in the years to come. Standout Players: Ovenden, Vass, Turner, Cameron, Kirwan
THE UNLUCKY ONES: CRANBROOK
This team was good enough to win it but couldn't get over the final hurdles of barker and Knox to get a maiden premiership. A real Professional attitude has a lot of people In bellevue hills reminiscent of the 2014 opens team who secured the premiership and look to this team as a bright light of Cranbrook rugby. They're Good enough to win the competition outright seen in their demolition jobs of the lower ranked teams. Expect big things from this team in the future. Standout Players: Pakutoa, O'Reilly, J Taylor, Lamens, Carroll
UNDERDOGS: WAVERLEY
Everyone in this forum had written them off at the start of the season but the Wavo Lads had an impressive run of Form in the trial games and opened with an enthralling game against Alloys where they one in the Death Valley. A loss then to Brook was met with a surprise draw with Barker off the break and a pummelling of Trinity to bring the season to an end with an unfortunate thrashing by Knox. The boys should hold their heads high however they did more then anyone expected them to accomplish and with as much attention being payed to the opens team as is it brings hopes forward for the future of the Waverley rugby the school is known for. Standout Players: Rice, Jensen, Howell, Arabi, Moretti
UNDERACHEIVERS: TRINITY
Trinity capped off an immense preseason with a win over Brook gathering some attention to Summer hill but a loss to Alloys on the eve of the CAS season must have mystified the team going on a string of losses to end up in the wooden spoon contention. This has got to be very disappointing for the boys as you could tell from the size and speed of some of the lads in the team that an impressive amount of offseason preparation had been put in. However the thrashing they gave alloys in the last round would have lifted the spirits of the boys going in to opens next year and expect to see a large amount of this 16s outfit in the 1s in the coming season: Standout Players: Vuki, Layton, Hawkes, Leremia, Buchanan
DISSAPOINTMENTS: ALOYSIUS
This time last year the boys from milsons point were at the top of this Comp. Wins in the trials against Barker looked to place them in the top 3 especially after a close loss to cranbrook in the following weeks. But come the CAS season they fell into shambles. Not able to win a game put them back to the bottom of the table. From what I understand from the team that played against Knox in the final round last year only 6 boys remained in the last round against Trinity, with Pollack and F Spalding playing firsts and the rest injured in the first round. It would seem that Alloys definitely does not have the depth to cover a large amount of injuries to the team nor a sufficient rugby program to develop the skills of the players. In fact it looked like all structure and their immense skill from last year had completely gone amiss, often the team was unable to string phases together. Hopefully they can find that Spark again next year and receive some real quality coaching. One thing I will Say is that the boys should commend themselves on the effort they put in each and every game never giving up. Standout Players: Spalding, Partington, Allen, Mcneil, Weber
With that I would Like to congratulate all the boys who competed this season through highs and lows. You all did yourselves and your schools proud and if one thing can be taken from this season it is that the CAS opens of 2018 could be the most Competitive in Recent History.
