NSW AAGPS 2018

[Black & White]

Marcus Blackburn (the orginal architect of Scots rugby resurgence) was a full time coach. He had a degree in PDHPE but taught two lessons a week. I know at Joeys the 1st XV coaches are both full time teachers (one Head of his department), who are are both Boarding Coordinators which means they have an overflowing plate. Their days start at 6am and finish at 11pm with some time for rugby in there somewhere. Which schools have these coaches? Scots has Brian Smith. Who are the others?

Although, somewhat controversial, Knox has Matt Williams, I heard he is really intense and passionate. But somewhat abrasive in his interactions with people.

 

[WLF]

The Issue lies in the first sentence for most parents - the recognised risk of serious injury.
Soccer is merely an affront to the senses. Aussie rules has a higher injury rate but for some reason is not seen in that light by parents.
I am learning for the first time parents’ risk of injury perception: parents attempting to dictate what position their pride and joy will play and what will and won’t be expected of him in that position.
Too much choice, too much molly coddling and too many helicopter parents.
And this at a school where parents are actively excluded from influencing any other aspect of school life.

Like many of you these other sports are for those who/who's parents want to side step a really good man up sport where you can't hide. Why choose rugby, aside from the joy, because it can seriously assist in later life when real knocks will ultimately happen and mummy may not be there to wipe your little botty.
Other things are much easier for little cherub.

Anyway. the way I view Aussie rules is the game where you get 1 point for missing, and whilst there is no doubt they are fit and run miles, it's so tough because the opposition hit you when you are not looking, ohhhhh tough.
Soccer, well, after you have painted your finger and toe nails, you may get a kick to the shins or a knee, pretty rough.
If so, you must automatically hit the ground roll 10 times and act as though you have been shot by a high powered gun.

Class over!!!

Jeeze. now can't wait to see what is coming my way!

 

[Quick Hands]

Although, somewhat controversial, Knox has Matt Williams, I heard he is really intense and passionate. But somewhat abrasive in his interactions with people.

I think Wiilliams has parted ways with Knox now. Even though he had a teaching degree, he wasn't/isn't currentlyqualified to teach in NSW

 

[Quick Hands]

Aussie rules gives me the shits: do they count that in their stats?
Aussie rules does have a history of catastrophic spinal injuries: http://www.afl.com.au/news/2018-01-08/player-suffers-spinal-injury-in-ntfl-match.
This is a bit out of date: https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2005/182/11/spinal-cord-injuries-australian-footballers-1997-2002
Doesn’t reflect the major change to scrum engagement but show that RU got its injury rate down to a similar level to AFL, at least as I read the tables.
There is little doubt in my mind that no parent who expresses a preference for Aussie rules over rugby on the basis of a lesser risk of injury has informed him or her self about the real relative risks.
As I once hard John yeo say of our game “ your at more risk of quadriplegia driving to the game than playing it” and he is/was by no means a supporter rugby.

As I was told after the Newington boy suffered spinal injury last year - if the surgery is performed in the first 4 hours there is a reasonable chance of recovery and the more time elapses the chance of recovery decreases. That lad was lucky that he arrived at Westmead and there was a spinal registrar/surgeon on duty at the time. Having to be flown from Darwin to Perth for the surgery would on that basis sigificantly reduce the possibility of recovery for the man in the first link.

 

[bring back rucking]

Although, somewhat controversial, Knox has Matt Williams, I heard he is really intense and passionate. But somewhat abrasive in his interactions with people.

Knox granted Williams a sabbatical to coach a saracens team in Asia for 2 years. They have former wallaby and tahs forwards coach Cameron blades as “head rugby coach” for pre-opens with Tai Glassie coaching the 1sts.

 

[Quick Hands]

Like many of you these other sports are for those who/who's parents want to side step a really good man up sport where you can't hide. Why choose rugby, aside from the joy, because it can seriously assist in later life when real knocks will ultimately happen and mummy may not be there to wipe your little botty.
Other things are much easier for little cherub.

Anyway. the way I view Aussie rules is the game where you get 1 point for missing, and whilst there is no doubt they are fit and run miles, it's so tough because the opposition hit you when you are not looking, ohhhhh tough.
Soccer, well, after you have painted your finger and toe nails, you may get a kick to the shins or a knee, pretty rough.
If so, you must automatically hit the ground roll 10 times and act as though you have been shot by a high powered gun.

Class over!!!

Jeeze. now can't wait to see what is coming my way!

You're in fairly safe surroundings here.

 

[Black & White]

You're in fairly safe surroundings here.

Agree,QH,to me the only discernible skill Aussies Rules has is kicking a ball between two skills upon which the umpire proceeds to dance like a drunken crab. They call us Bum Sniffers in Melbourne, but how many World Cups have they won, None. Because their game is Internationally Insignificant. WLF, I agree with your post and the comments about Aussie Rules and in particular about soccer.

 

[sidelineview]

Unfortunately, the cashed-up AFL marketing machine was/is head and shoulders above any other code.
How else could they have infiltrated traditional rugby playing schools. They came bearing gifts; with an offer that was obviously too good to refuse, and the rest is history.

It's very disappointing that the code was allowed into rugby playing private schools, but the damage was done/is being done at Club level where a bigger share of the little kids being introduced into winter sports sign up to play the game by the growing junior AFL Clubs in Sydney.

AFL took advantage of the Super League war to gain ground as well. They were on the ball.
Rugby League is losing numbers as well to the game that should only be played by Mexicans.
To a typical Mum who has no allegiance to rugby or rugby league it's probably just another sport where little Johnny can have fun with his friends, and then once it starts he continues to play the game along with his friends until he hits Year 7 where the game is established in the given High School.

Unfortunately, AFL are very good at what they do.

 

[WLF]

Agree,QH,to me the only discernible skill Aussies Rules has is kicking a ball between two skills upon which the umpire proceeds to dance like a drunken crab. They call us Bum Sniffers in Melbourne, but how many World Cups have they won, None. Because their game is Internationally Insignificant. WLF, I agree with your post and the comments about Aussie Rules and in particular about soccer.

Ha bloody funny. I will for ever more have a picture of a drunken crab in my mind should I see any AFL highlights on the news!
Pity there is no such emoji.

 

[Sparkle Motion]

Ha bloody funny. I will for ever more have a picture of a drunken crab in my mind should I see any AFL highlights on the news!
Pity there is no such emoji.

Careful... crabs can be quite admirable when dealing with some of life's challenges, such as injuries caused by predators!

 

[Sparkle Motion]

Unfortunately, the cashed-up AFL marketing machine was/is head and shoulders above any other code.
How else could they have infiltrated traditional rugby playing schools. They came bearing gifts; with an offer that was obviously too good to refuse, and the rest is history.

It's very disappointing that the code was allowed into rugby playing private schools, but the damage was done/is being done at Club level where a bigger share of the little kids being introduced into winter sports sign up to play the game by the growing junior AFL Clubs in Sydney.

AFL took advantage of the Super League war to gain ground as well. They were on the ball.
Rugby League is losing numbers as well to the game that should only be played by Mexicans.
To a typical Mum who has no allegiance to rugby or rugby league it's probably just another sport where little Johnny can have fun with his friends, and then once it starts he continues to play the game along with his friends until he hits Year 7 where the game is established in the given High School.

Unfortunately, AFL are very good at what they do.

That's a very important post. I think it's important to recognise the AFL's efforts and the strategies that underpin them. There's a sense of hubris in rugby circles when it comes to criticising them, even when we do it in jest.

They have created a reasonable club culture, in Sydney anyway, and invest heavily in promoting that aspect of the game. That has been a major driver of the demand in GPS schools. Excuse my frustration, but it beggars belief that the ARU don't make better efforts in their heartland.

 

[Hasbeen]

Like many of you these other sports are for those who/who's parents want to side step a really good man up sport where you can't hide. Why choose rugby, aside from the joy, because it can seriously assist in later life when real knocks will ultimately happen and mummy may not be there to wipe your little botty.
Other things are much easier for little cherub.

Anyway. the way I view Aussie rules is the game where you get 1 point for missing, and whilst there is no doubt they are fit and run miles, it's so tough because the opposition hit you when you are not looking, ohhhhh tough.
Soccer, well, after you have painted your finger and toe nails, you may get a kick to the shins or a knee, pretty rough.
If so, you must automatically hit the ground roll 10 times and act as though you have been shot by a high powered gun.

Class over!!!

Jeeze. now can't wait to see what is coming my way!

Inside the tent with you on that one WLF.

 

[WLF]

Inside the tent with you on that one WLF.

Common Hasbeen, You agree with me.

Barker looking very good for the CAS!

 

[Rich_E]

Unfortunately, the cashed-up AFL marketing machine was/is head and shoulders above any other code.
How else could they have infiltrated traditional rugby playing schools. They came bearing gifts; with an offer that was obviously too good to refuse, and the rest is history.

It's very disappointing that the code was allowed into rugby playing private schools, but the damage was done/is being done at Club level where a bigger share of the little kids being introduced into winter sports sign up to play the game by the growing junior AFL Clubs in Sydney.

AFL took advantage of the Super League war to gain ground as well. They were on the ball.
Rugby League is losing numbers as well to the game that should only be played by Mexicans.
To a typical Mum who has no allegiance to rugby or rugby league it's probably just another sport where little Johnny can have fun with his friends, and then once it starts he continues to play the game along with his friends until he hits Year 7 where the game is established in the given High School.

Unfortunately, AFL are very good at what they do.

Spot on SLV. Thing is, is it too late? Can rugby address this trend? Technically, I think yes. But practically, mmmm, I don't feel that confident.
.

 

[Quick Hands]

Spot on SLV. Thing is, is it too late? Can rugby address this trend? Technically, I think yes. But practically, mmmm, I don't feel that confident.
.

To give you an idea of what's happening at one school. AFL is in its second year at New - there are now two teams, a 9/10 team and an 11/12 team. The squads went on a tour to Perth in the last holidays and have formed some sort of link with Sydney Uni AFL club (who I presume play in the Sydney AFL competition - now on SU No 1 as rugby have moved to the new rectangular field).

Personally I don't know how and why the sport was introduced - there are already 2 codes of football on offer, plus a range of other winter activities so this impacts on established sports.

Very hard if not impossible to put the genie back in the bottle I suspect.

 

[Rich_E]

To give you an idea of what's happening at one school. AFL is in its second year at New - there are now two teams, a 9/10 team and an 11/12 team. The squads went on a tour to Perth in the last holidays and have formed some sort of link with Sydney Uni AFL club (who I presume play in the Sydney AFL competition - now on SU No 1 as rugby have moved to the new rectangular field).

Personally I don't know how and why the sport was introduced - there are already 2 codes of football on offer, plus a range of other winter activities so this impacts on established sports.

Very hard if not impossible to put the genie back in the bottle I suspect.

.
Who do they play QH? I don't think Scots has any AFL sides, yet. Probably in the pipeline though. Not happy if it is. I actually don't mind watching it, occasionally, at an elite level. But it should never have been allowed in GPS and similar schools. Just my personal preference.
.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

To give you an idea of what's happening at one school. AFL is in its second year at New - there are now two teams, a 9/10 team and an 11/12 team. The squads went on a tour to Perth in the last holidays and have formed some sort of link with Sydney Uni AFL club (who I presume play in the Sydney AFL competition - now on SU No 1 as rugby have moved to the new rectangular field).

Personally I don't know how and why the sport was introduced - there are already 2 codes of football on offer, plus a range of other winter activities so this impacts on established sports.

Very hard if not impossible to put the genie back in the bottle I suspect.

I suspect afl offered ground hire, coaches and equipment.
That’s how they got trinity into the tent.

That's a very important post. I think it's important to recognise the AFL's efforts and the strategies that underpin them. There's a sense of hubris in rugby circles when it comes to criticising them, even when we do it in jest.

They have created a reasonable club culture, in Sydney anyway, and invest heavily in promoting that aspect of the game. That has been a major driver of the demand in GPS schools. Excuse my frustration, but it beggars belief that the ARU don't make better efforts in their heartland.

They just assume that because everyone they know and the whole board is Anglo Celtic rusted on rugger followers no southerners could tempt the schools away from their traditional sports.
Also they couldn’t spend on development because that other old boy of a GPS school, JON, needed his $2m parachute.

 

[WLF]

Spot on SLV. Thing is, is it too late? Can rugby address this trend? Technically, I think yes. But practically, mmmm, I don't feel that confident.
.

Rich_E, If the ARU were real, then of course it can be reversed, if people don't believe that then the game is over.
In my mind it's the same as competing companies, market share can swap depending on what you do/how you market your product. The thing that no one has mentioned is the opinion, if there is one, of the ARU, does anyone know what their plan is/do they have one?

And if the ARU isn't the right body then who is, someone must be responsible.

 

[WLF]

Knox granted Williams a sabbatical to coach a saracens team in Asia for 2 years. They have former wallaby and tahs forwards coach Cameron blades as “head rugby coach” for pre-opens with Tai Glassie coaching the 1sts.

A "sabbatical" is an intellectual cover up name for what is most commonly referred to as long service leave or Holiday, and I suspect it is another way to let someone fly under the radar when needed.

 

[Rich_E]

Rich_E, If the ARU were real, then of course it can be reversed, if people don't believe that then the game is over.
In my mind it's the same as competing companies, market share can swap depending on what you do/how you market your product. The thing that no one has mentioned is the opinion, if there is one, of the ARU, does anyone know what their plan is/do they have one?

And if the ARU isn't the right body then who is, someone must be responsible.

WLF. Totally agree. Market share trend CAN be reversed but I honestly don't think RU has a clear plan, at least not one they have clearly articulated.
.