Brumby Jack
Steve Williams (59)
To kick it off - Welcome to the comp Penrith Emus.
John I Dent Cup 2022
- Thread starter Brumby Jack
- Start date
(Especially a Canberra thread as I'm in NSW lol)
Pfitzy
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Firstly, I'm looking at the logistics of a bus trip for 4 teams every 2 weeks and scratching my head.
I am very keen to see the Emus do well and we need the presence of rugby in Western Sydney, but to make this statement:
Questionable.
Penrith and Two Blues have some of the strongest junior rep sides - from much smaller bases than other districts in Sydney - but most of their talent goes to league or gets pillaged by other clubs in Sydney.
Penrith were down to 1 Grade and 1 Colts last year. They haven't fielded a women's side in years (Shemus were 2014??). Short of bringing Penrith RSL Rugby Union into the fold, I'm not sure what happens here.
I am very keen to see the Emus do well and we need the presence of rugby in Western Sydney, but to make this statement:
Questionable.
Penrith and Two Blues have some of the strongest junior rep sides - from much smaller bases than other districts in Sydney - but most of their talent goes to league or gets pillaged by other clubs in Sydney.
Penrith were down to 1 Grade and 1 Colts last year. They haven't fielded a women's side in years (Shemus were 2014??). Short of bringing Penrith RSL Rugby Union into the fold, I'm not sure what happens here.
DaSchmooze
Jim Clark (26)
Questionable? You're too kind - this is laughable!
Two things baffle me with Penrith Rugby:
1) Who says Penrith (or any suburb/region for that matter) has an inherent right to have a SS club? This line of thinking keeps getting trotted out but I'm yet to hear anyone say why its a necessity to have SS club there? To have a Rugby presence? Nope - plenty of subbies clubs in western sydney. To provide a pathway for emerging players? No way - who wants to get flogged each week. For junior development? Not required - Penrith juniors have always been strong any many if not most of them get picked up by financially viable SS clubs. What's the problem with that? RA/NSW cops a bollocking from all and sundry about not financially supporting the club. Why should they (over and above any other support they offer any other SS club)? What's stopping one of the numerous and vocal critics of NSW/RA management from sinking their own money into the place like other sponsors do at other clubs? For all the shellacking of "the system" that goes on I guarantee none of those people would part with their hard-earned to support them.
2) Why OH WHY dont Penrith return to subbies and start to offer a positive Rugby experience to their community? They would be no doubt competitive, would not need to travel 6-8 hours every second week, could service their local community by offering a product that doesnt involve getting belted each week. They would grow numbers and community.
Let their better players be picked up by those who want to pay for their services and let the Penrith Rugby community grow around fun, community based Rugby
WoodyWoodsman
Sydney Middleton (9)
2. There is no pathway or pipeline to be readmitted to top tier rugby through Subbies. Also, with Subbies being amateur, the payments would not be allowed.
DaSchmooze
Jim Clark (26)
Yes agreed to that. But why is being readmitted to top tier Rugby important? Nobody goes to Penrith with the hope that they will then be selected to play for the Tahs do they? It's not a pipeline or pathway now - how does playing subbies affect that. And are match payments the only driver for participation in Penrith? If so, doesn't it make more sense to go to a club that can afford them?
Ref_Ted
Ward Prentice (10)
A few games prior to the first time they were expelled the biggest problem with Emus appeared to be travel. Playing grade at Forshaw Park (Souths), the teams were to meet at Liverpool station to catch the train. I don't know how they got to the ground from the local station (Caringbah) which is a 40min walk. Of course many players simply did not show. Boot swapping and taping (for split boots) was also rife.
I always thought chartering a bus for Penrith may have gone someway to address the attendance issues. Brumbies Rugby is a well run organisation, I assume transport has been taken into account otherwise this is doomed to fail.
I always thought chartering a bus for Penrith may have gone someway to address the attendance issues. Brumbies Rugby is a well run organisation, I assume transport has been taken into account otherwise this is doomed to fail.
