Galloping Greens

[the coach]

^^ Would most likely be against the Emus wouldn't it.

Unfortunately this sad fact is probably on the records at every club, and at every grade at said club across Sydney bar one.

Bloody good effort from young Goddard. There was some talk (or fear) that the Bunnies had signed him up for this years U20 competition. Well done by the Wix recruiters to save him from the dark side. I reckon the young bloke has a very very bright future ahead of him if he continues to apply himself to the art of Rugby.

Another kid who's bypassed Colts and gone straight to grade from school and has already started in 1sts a couple of times. With Harry Boileau now recovered from injury and Mitch Short going well it will be interesting to see where Goddard gets selected. Can he drop back to Colts?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

^^^ Pretty sure the blokes in charge of things at Galloper HQ can read, and they will make sure that Goddsie doesn't fall foul of rule 33.3 (finals eligibility):

A player shall not be eligible to play in a Finals Series fixture in any grade lower than the grade in which he has played the majority of his last seven matches in the minor premiership.

If they want him to play Colts 1 Finals,then 4 of the last 7 games (the majority) he plays must be in Colts 1 or lower or 3rd or 4th Grade. 3rd Grade is deemed to be the equivalent of playing Colts 1 - rule 33.7).

A player can only play in the Final Series of the Colts Competition if he has played the majority of his last seven matches (or 60% of his season) in 1st, 2nd or 3rd Grade Colts and/or third grade or lower. Except under open selection.

Round 16 is coming up. The last 7 games is usually Round 12 onwards (if he plays all rounds). 4 of his games from Round 12 must be 3rd Grade or Colts fixtures. Not too hard to achieve if you know what you are doing and can read, but if he hasn't played at least one of the games from R12-R15 in Colts or 3rd Grade then his Colts Finals goose has been cooked regardless of where he plays Rounds 16-18.

 

[the coach]

Boileau has been selected at 10 in 2nds so Goddard remains at 9.

 

[AussieDominance]

What about the adjacent teams rule HJ? If Randwick qualify in every grade (3rd grade are borderline) wouldn't they be able to pick him in whatever grade they wanted?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

That is a cunning little loophole. From what I believe if a player qualifies under "open selection" or adjacent teams rules for a lower grade for week 1 of the finals, then they are deemed qualified for that grade for the rest of finals, even if they lose the open selection status for weeks 2 and 3 of finals.

Kind of opens things up for "successful" clubs and shafts the less successful clubs that only manage one team in the finals from their club.

 

[Eyes and Ears]

Arguably a club who makes the semis in a lower grade only has probably parachuted a number of higher grade players down already.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Never underestimate the lengths some folk will go to win a trinket.

 

[AussieDominance]

That is a cunning little loophole. From what I believe if a player qualifies under "open selection" or adjacent teams rules for a lower grade for week 1 of the finals, then they are deemed qualified for that grade for the rest of finals, even if they lose the open selection status for weeks 2 and 3 of finals.

Kind of opens things up for "successful" clubs and shafts the less successful clubs that only manage one team in the finals from their club.

I would have thought week 1 of finals would count as a qualification game like a normal round and if they lost adjacent teams status they would go back to normal qualifying laws with week 1 of finals counting as one of those rounds.

 

[Eyes and Ears]

I believe the rationale for this ruling is the following - 1st and 2nd Grade qualify for Week 1 of the finals. A player has qualified for 1st Grade but not 2nd Grade. He is selected in 2nd Grade under the adjacent teams rule. Effectively at that time at that Club, he is a genuine 2nd Grade player as he was not selected in First Grade. It is highly unlikely that the Club has stacked 2nd Grade and are throwing 1st Grade at the same time.
1st Grade lose and are eliminated and 2nd Grade win through to Week 2. Given that the club can genuinely prove that the player is no longer in their best XV, he therefore should be eligible for 2nd Grade.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

<snip> It is highly unlikely that the Club has stacked 2nd Grade and are throwing 1st Grade at the same time.<snip>

Great explanation, E&E.

Unless they did so to get around the (now excluded) provision that non-fresh reserves were worth 0 PP. Back in them days, you could potentially run a high point player on for 10 minutes (5 min each side of 1/2 time) in 2nd grade, and then they could come off the bench 10 minutes into 1st Grade as a 0 PP player. If First Grade were knocked out, then your Paratrooper is good for starting 2nd Grade the following week.

 

[I like to watch]

No first grade coach gives 2 fucks as to what's best for 2's in the event that 1's are eliminated.
Tunnel vision.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

My example above was primarily of benefit to 1st Grade: a high PP player for 0 points under a loophole that is no longer available.

The unintended consequence of that was the Paratrooper suddenly became 2nd Grade "qualified" if the ones were eliminated.

 

[sidelinesid]

Wicks being hosted by the southern districts on a beautiful sunny day being quite the contrast to the last time they met.
Fourth grade had the ire of the ref all day and received a number of yellow cards. to be fair, the ref had an off day but the lack of tackling was evident again after their efforts last week. They need to take the last games seriously if they want to keep up the rest of the clubs good work.
Souths went uncontested scrums and then only packed 6 into a scrum on a number of occasions
This is a disgrace and a blot on their otherwise good character. Wicks lost 25-19
Third grade need to win from now on and this they did today taking the game 34-12. Good to see Jesse Harris back and in good form which certainly helped the thirds today.
Seconds had a very tough half before finally coming over the top to win 40-17.
This is a good team and has coped all year with player disruption. Special mention to Dave Parsons who gives 100 percent every game and has had two blinders this week and last
First grade and a top of the table clash plus the Sir Roden Cutler shield saw the points go back and forth for the full game. Wicks looked to be getting the upper hand but sths came back at them then sths seemed to get the upper hand before wicks took control.
An entertaining game to watch and some of the off load skills were magnificent.
The two 15s were the danger men and provided the excitement all day.
Wicks 28 - 24 win was a fair result.

 

[the coach]

The scrum situation in 4s was weird. Souths started the game with unconstested scrums (not sure why as they seemed to have enough front rowers) but throughout the 2nd half Souths packed only 6 or 7 in the scrum. The ref called them twice to pack 8 in the scrum but missed many scrums with fewer than 8 packed. At one stage Souths packed a scrum on the Randwick line with only 6 in the scrum and 9 backs --- not surprisingly they scored a try. I've never seen this before and although law 20.1 (e) allows for this where the opposition has fewer than 15 players on the field (Wicks had a player in the bin) it is only allowable when the team with fewer than 15 packs less than 8 in the scrum. Not the case today. Can't help thinking it was all a plan by the Souths coach ie call uncontested scrums and then see if they could con the ref into stacking the backline knowing that Wicks could not push them off the ball in the scrum. Hope someone from the SRU investigates this as it's definitely not in the spirit of the game IMO.

 

[sidelinesid]

Hosts Eastwood have their back to Eastwood day and a large crowd to enjoy their club giving a lesson in rugby to the visiting wicks.
Fourth grade lost 30-12 but showed a much better attitude in tackling than last week. They were outplayed for the most part by east woods clever use of a bus to create havoc. The wicks ten did a manful job getting in the spokes of the bus but ultimately they did not have an answer to the Eastwood backing up and running lines.
third grade lost 40-3 and never looked to be in the game. The woods defence was superior and they had overlaps a plenty so it is a credit to the wicks that the score was not greater. The line out was off as were the normally slick backs.
Second grade fared marginally better than thirds to lose 51-17. Again, the woods positional game was excellent and their backing up of the ball carrier was never going to let the wicks off the hook.Wicks looked good in patches but they will need to find their mojo again.
First grade lost 29-14 but really they did not start to play until the final 20 minutes so the score flatters them.
Woods had some very big men running hard in the centres which got them over the advantage line and if they didn't they recycled four or five phases and then went at it. The woods ten looked better when he didn't kick and the wicks ten had a bad set of boots on as all he could do was kick back to the opposition.
The wicks had the ire of the ref and received a number of yellow cards being down to 13 men at one stage which made a fight back difficult.the woods had much the better of the scrum and this will worry the coaches going into the final games. wicks had a good period in the final twenty minutes when they got two tries of their own but they were no match for a woods side today.

 

[sidelinesid]

The Wicks put on a spectacular day hosting the Rats at Coogee.
This being the last round of the competition a hint of desperation was to be expected.
Fourths had a good day against a tenacious rats team that refused to give in without a fight. The Wicks were good when they went wide and the rats were superior at the breakdown. In the end a good win to Wicks 23-15
Thirds went down to the rats 24-36 in a spirited display. The rats breakdown coach must be very good as they had the better of the breakdown in all grades. The wicks centre put on some very solid hits for a man with very short arms as they were seldom seen.
Seconds was a good display of disciplined rugby with the Wicks making the most of their opportunities but gain the rats had the better of the breakdown getting multiple turnovers. The game was much closer than the scoreline suggests with a Wicks intercept try at the end. A good win 34-17
First Grade and a terrific crowd to cheer both sides and the Sir RC Shield up for grabs as well.
Wicks started well with some enterprising running and backing up to score a good try under the posts. Rats returned fire and at half time you would have thought the Wicks would have been up such was the weight of their possession. The rats were terrific at the breakdown and received a number of turnovers just as wicks were applying pressure - a draw going to the break had the crowd engrossed .
The second half and the roles were reversed with the Rats having the weight of possession and the wicks hanging on. The rats scrum started to get some dominance and their breakdown work had them on the front foot. Pressure told and the rats scored twice to have them out to a decent lead but the wicks were not done and their customary fightback had them getting some points of their own. Wicks had a number of opportunities to build pressure but the kicks up the line went a stray.
Both teams had very good defence lines but the rats breakdown work and scrum were superior. Wicks lost -20- 34.

All you can say about the Sir RC Shield is that its a slippery customer - very hard to hang on to.

In balance, the Wicks have had a good season as a club and we hope they continue to do well through the finals.

Hope to see them all back next year

 

[2bluesfan]

some very solid hits for a man with very short arms as they were seldom seen.

Good report Sid, appreciate your work throughout the season.
I shall shamelessly steal the quoted phrase and use it at any opportunity

 

[the coach]

Good report Sid, appreciate your work throughout the season.
I shall shamelessly steal the quoted phrase and use it at any opportunity

I think I can guess who Sid's talking about

 

[MACCA]

Very disappointing to see the Wicks get diddled yesterday. Hats off to Shannon Fraser for the job he did with firsts this year.

 

[Social Bill]

Very disappointing to see the Wicks get diddled yesterday. Hats off to Shannon Fraser for the job he did with firsts this year.

Very disappointing result.YES we squandered about 3-4 opportunities to score but I feel that the officials need to have a very good look at themselves! The interpretation of the rules of this great game are NOT consistent throughout Games.
Just a Question out to Green and Gold land, can a Club Question the constant poor adjudication from officials on field or is it best to just put up with this !