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NSW AAGPS 2021

Muminator

Bob McCowan (2)
I'm not so sure about your analysis here. Certainly my observations of someone who had a son in Years 7 and 8 during the last 2 years of the previous DOR, was that he was interested in the whole age group. In those years we had the same number of teams as other schools so we matched up As to Fs all the way down, so there was no question about playing lower grade teams to achieve results and we won most games every week.

Obviously in the higher ages where Newington may have had less teams that the opposition then, it's not unusual that the lowest Newington team would play the lowest team from another school even though one might be C or D and the other might be F or G. It's a situation which continues, the purpose of which is to reduce mismatches which benefit neither the team which wins by 50 or the team which loses by 50.

Possibly you are also unaware of the situation regarding the current 5ths, where the DOR has allowed a group of Year 12 boys to select their own team (even though quite a few should be playing 3rds or 4ths). This weakens the 3rds and 4ths and will prove an issue later on I suspect when the GPS starts and when TAS combine with Newington, which means that the Newington 5ths often play the 8ths or 9ths of other schools.

Additionally, both of the Prep schools have their own Sportsmaster and rugby coaches, so any "involvement" of the current DOR would be largely PR and box ticking rather than having any real impact. My son went to one of the preps and there was no particular need for the DOR to do anything.


Yes, I’ve heard about the “silverbacks” - I only heard about them this year but apparently they’ve been around for a few years. Apparently that team is for the boys who still want a foot in the game but can’t be as competitive due to other commitments. For instance, this year’s team is made up of a few boys who excel and have prioritised their summer sports over their winter sport. But you’re right - it takes depth away from the other grades.

Yes, giving the other campuses attention is largely a PR exercise, but in my view a necessary one - particularly where Lindfield is concerned, and it’s been noted that he’s doing it - Manion didn’t do it, and neither did Rapp before him.

You and I appear to be singing from the same hymn sheet mostly - I’m just trying to be a little more balanced so the current DoR isn’t copping a complete bagging.

Today’s score line at Barker was woeful, and surely questions will start being asked soon. I think one of the big issues that needs to be addressed is fielding the right boys in the right positions in the right teams instead of giving the year 12 boys “a go” because it’s their last year.
 

Love2Scrum

Billy Sheehan (19)
Barker won the 2nds 17/0


Good Evening Rod Skillet,

I was at Barker watching the lower grades and decided to hang around to watch the 1st XV since missing out in 2020.

Congratulations to the Red Army from Hornsby on their well deserved win. They surely out played the Black and White Army from Stanmore.

My stand outs for Barker was Number 2 and no doubt the Number 10 who was a General on the field and wow does he have a boot on him.

Do you have any standout players for Newintgon?

Cheers
L2Scrum

P.S it was worth hanging around to watch school boy rugby again and all the best to Barker for the CAS Competition.
 

rod skellet

Desmond Connor (43)
News best were. 3 Tom Maclean. 14 Seluini Fakaosifolau who got no clean ball. The New scrum needs work. More often they were on roller skates on their own feed. Billy zdickens the 9 had a pretty decent game. His passes were direct and quick. Defence is a problem . Given they were a bigger team than Barker they just were not dominant at the tackle. I will say this they came up against a well coached and very fit Barker team who have some real class players. Let’s see how the season pans out for New. If they were missing some players from last weeks game against Waves that could be a factor.
 

Love2Scrum

Billy Sheehan (19)
News best were. 3 Tom Maclean. 14 Seluini Fakaosifolau who got no clean ball. The New scrum needs work. More often they were on roller skates on their own feed. Billy zdickens the 9 had a pretty decent game. His passes were direct and quick. Defence is a problem . Given they were a bigger team than Barker they just were not dominant at the tackle. I will say this they came up against a well coached and very fit Barker team who have some real class players. Let’s see how the season pans out for New. If they were missing some players from last weeks game against Waves that could be a factor.

Thanks for your feedback Rod. I totally agree with you regarding the New defence. In my opinion the miss tackles was atrocious especially for a 1st XV team. Newintgon weren’t only out played but out coached.

Cheers & All the Best for the season
L2Scrum
 

WLF

Arch Winning (36)
News best were. 3 Tom Maclean. 14 Seluini Fakaosifolau who got no clean ball. The New scrum needs work. More often they were on roller skates on their own feed. Billy zdickens the 9 had a pretty decent game. His passes were direct and quick. Defence is a problem . Given they were a bigger team than Barker they just were not dominant at the tackle. I will say this they came up against a well coached and very fit Barker team who have some real class players. Let’s see how the season pans out for New. If they were missing some players from last weeks game against Waves that could be a factor.


Hi Rod, hope you are well rugby comrade,

Very surprised that this Barker team have some real class players, apart from Ned Slack Smith, who is tremendous!
All through the A age groups absolutely not the case, so what has suddenly changed, it's an astonishing turn around, I remember in the 15as, so not that long ago, Barker losing to Waves 81-0 at Barker on no 1 !

Suspect we will see next week v Joeys and v Riverview.
 

WTF?

Tom Lawton (22)
Hi Rod, hope you are well rugby comrade,

Very surprised that this Barker team have some real class players, apart from Ned Slack Smith, who is tremendous!
All through the A age groups absolutely not the case, so what has suddenly changed, it's an astonishing turn around, I remember in the 15as, so not that long ago, Barker losing to Waves 81-0 at Barker on no 1 !

Suspect we will see next week v Joeys and v Riverview.

Plenty to understand WLF. Namely, boys mature, get bigger and change. Plenty in the team been there since Year 7, and lots have improved with good coaching. Yes, a couple of new boys this year (9 & 10), however the core of the team have been at Barker for a while. I remember the 81-0 score line too, we had a 60-0 against Trinity that year too, then beat them in the 15’s. Do you remember the score in the 16A’s mate, we weren’t far from knocking you off....
 

Where's the beef

Chris McKivat (8)
3 to go Joeys lead 50 to 12. Have seen enough.

Watched 2 and 1's at the park today. Really impressed with the Joeys 2nds 10. The 2nds were pretty close. Kings 2nds fullback who is very tall and lanky played really well with a lot of heart, and a note that was broken saving a certain try and he kept playing.

In ones The joeys front 3 around the park were very good. the 12 was very good, but, there was some sloppy play from both sides. The kings 15 was pretty handy too.

The 14 from joeys once he is moving is very very quick.

Kings were very structured through the grades and body height at the breakdown was excellent even in the U13 D and E's who played Joeys F and G's. Joeys looked fitter and just kept moving the ball. Very different approaches.
 

Muminator

Bob McCowan (2)
Yes, we're pretty much in agreement.

On Lindfield, the current Sportsmaster their is Mick Adams who has played a lot of 1st grade for both Manly and Warringah and I'd doubt that there's anything that LF could teach him about coaching or organisation.

Curiously Newington have allowed him to be assistant coach of St Augustine's 1st XV, which I find baffling in the extreme.

Bizarre indeed!
 

Muminator

Bob McCowan (2)
News best were. 3 Tom Maclean. 14 Seluini Fakaosifolau who got no clean ball. The New scrum needs work. More often they were on roller skates on their own feed. Billy zdickens the 9 had a pretty decent game. His passes were direct and quick. Defence is a problem . Given they were a bigger team than Barker they just were not dominant at the tackle. I will say this they came up against a well coached and very fit Barker team who have some real class players. Let’s see how the season pans out for New. If they were missing some players from last weeks game against Waves that could be a factor.

really? New was not bigger than the barker boys.

#3 for New scored an outstanding try, and is quick - he’s athletic boy. But the rest....hmmmm.....there’s a reason barker put on 9 tries.

Kicking a ball back to an attacking side isn’t the smartest of plays..

Barker severely outplayed New in the 9/10 combination, and New has struggled in this area for a number of years.

Defense was a big problem. Too many sitting duck missed tackles on New side.

Barker was great at first phase ball and New was very deficient in this regard.
 

WLF

Arch Winning (36)
Plenty to understand WLF. Namely, boys mature, get bigger and change. Plenty in the team been there since Year 7, and lots have improved with good coaching. Yes, a couple of new boys this year (9 & 10), however the core of the team have been at Barker for a while. I remember the 81-0 score line too, we had a 60-0 against Trinity that year too, then beat them in the 15’s. Do you remember the score in the 16A’s mate, we weren’t far from knocking you off..


Thanks WTF, I am very pleased that it's the core of boys who have been there so long, much too much talk about newcomers from other people, and yes I agree boys change and get coached better.

I do remember that 16as game very vividly as you do, the game never got going! History now.

You will get a good feeling as to how Barker are going next week v Joeys. By some accounts Knox could have won their game v Joeys, only a try in it, so Knox are unexpectedly the real deal this year!
 

Ace Ventura

Ted Fahey (11)
Thanks WTF, I am very pleased that it's the core of boys who have been there so long, much too much talk about newcomers from other people, and yes I agree boys change and get coached better.

I do remember that 16as game very vividly as you do, the game never got going! History now.

You will get a good feeling as to how Barker are going next week v Joeys. By some accounts Knox could have won their game v Joeys, only a try in it, so Knox are unexpectedly the real deal this year!

I wouldn't be putting too much store on the Joeys-Knox game as a pointer to either side's prospects. It was a scrappy patchy affair with lots of dropped ball and pushed passes - not unexpected for the first trial game of the season, and different combinations being tried. IMO the score was not a real reflection - Joeys backs were clearly superior notwithstanding the sloppiness of finishing - two held-ups and a knock-on over the line could have pushed the score out. Knox pack were very good in defence - Joeys spent the last 15-20 mins camped inside their 40m but couldn't crack the D.

It'll be interesting to see how both sides push on. Joeys performance yesterday was a big step up but Kings looked out of sorts - perhaps lack of training due to the cadet camp had an effect. Their 10 and 12 were both big guys but didn't look fit. Knox beating Shore convincingly (31-12) was impressive, but not sure about Shore's strength this year, notwithstanding the pre-season hype from some commentators. They beat Kinross about 5 tries to 2, IIRC, but Joeys 3rds smashed Kinross 1sts 76-5 yesterday.

Next week's Joeys-Barker game should be a cracker.
 
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Muminator

Bob McCowan (2)
To which I would add that there has been zero attempt to develop any players outside A teams all the way through. Potential late developers aren't even on the radar as boys are pigeon-holed in 13s. The HOR probably has no idea how good some of the boys playing 5ths are (and how good some of them could have been if he had paid them any attention or provided any form of individual development) because he would barely have noticed them let alone thought that it might be a good idea to develop more than 15-20 boys in each age group.

The proof of this is surely that between the start of Year 7 and the start of Year 10 about 40-50% of players stop playing rugby at the school. That's some achievement.


spot on, my friend!

itll be interesting to see if the internal trials this coming weekend yield any changes to the teams moving forward, otherwise I fear we’ll be in for a very sad season
 

Big Papi

Herbert Moran (7)
Noticed kings got smashed by joeys, was wondering if this was because of the cadet camp? If not how are they shaping up this year?
 

KOB1987

John Eales (66)
Noticed kings got smashed by joeys, was wondering if this was because of the cadet camp? If not how are they shaping up this year?

No doubt the cadet camp had a bit to do with it as they couldn't train and got straight off the bus from Singleton and into the warm up.

As for the second part of your question they are a young team, not many year 12s in the mix. That didn't seem to bother them in the rowing though, the next few 'trials' will probably be a bit more revealing than the first two.
 

rockstar

Herbert Moran (7)
No doubt the cadet camp had a bit to do with it as they couldn't train and got straight off the bus from Singleton and into the warm up.

As for the second part of your question they are a young team, not many year 12s in the mix. That didn't seem to bother them in the rowing though, the next few 'trials' will probably be a bit more revealing than the first two.

Rebuilding year at TKS

A number of year 10s in the side

They will be a competitive threat in a couple of years time but this season likely to be challenging
 
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