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NSW AAGPS 2024

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Albi

Allen Oxlade (6)
In the late 2010's, Shore was dominant in rowing and that was the success the school prided itself on. During that time, rowing prevailed, while Rugby was struggling, in which it prompted a rebuild of the rugby program in 2018.

This program rebuild began the development of junior players (in the younger years) within a stronger program so that when they reach the opens they would be far better than the opens teams at the time who were developed in a weaker program. 2019 and 2020 was a struggle. 2021 was an improvement, and 2022 was the catalyst for Shore's turn around.

The 2022 cohort had a very strong group of players, and when that year group was U15's, the Shore 15A's of 2019 went undefeated, indicative that there was to brighter days in the future.

The new strength and conditioning facilities at the school that were completed in 2020, enabled a greater amount of players to build some physical size in comparison to the previous gym that couldn't fit no where near as many students. During the years plagued by struggle in the late 2010's, one of the main reasons why they were a struggle was because players simply lacked aggression. The new strength and conditioning facilities enables more boys to put on more size, which gives the stronger and bigger players confidence on the field, which often translates to more aggression. I don't think the problem of the more difficult years in the rugby program (e.g. 2018 and 2019) was a lack of talent amongst the players, but rather a lack of aggression and desire to win.

The culture of the school has shifted in the past couple of years from rowing more towards rugby, and there has been quite a correlation in which ever sport receives more focus and prioritisation from the students will have more success. However, this comes at the cost of the less prioritised sport not doing as good, hence Shore not being as dominant at rowing in recent years (while rugby improved). This is not a case of jumping on the bandwagon of which ever sport is the having the most success and the students focusing on/supporting that the most (Shore just won the 1sts and 2nds tennis premiership but the culture of the school did not change), it is just whichever sport seems to be more engaged in will have greater success - pretty simple concept.

But why have the students focused on rugby more? Past students felt an obligation to maintain the dominance in rowing which is why there was such a prolonged period at the top (from 1999 to 2019 Shore won the 1stVIII Head of The River 14 times). The rowers simply wanted to retain the top spot and build/remain a juggernaut. Considering Shore had proven they could succeed in rowing, the recent years of coming 2nd and 3rd at the Head of the River must have been received as a sign that now may be the time to shift the focus and prove that Shore can succeed in Rugy. It seems like students now feel a sense of accountability to end the dry spell of 1stXV premierships and improve the reputation of Shore rugby, which now is an ample time do so as the talent at Shore is abundant and the Rugby program is strong. Furthermore, the GPS Rugby premiership is simply the most coveted silverware in the AAGPS, and who doesn't want to get their hands on that.
Yeah, that probably had a positive impact but come on, we all know it’s about recruiting the best players in a variety of ways. Shore recently had a change in policy, or one that started to work. Also, winning a close game at home round 2 after a loss round 1, isn’t something to get too excited about just yet. A very close comp with probably joeys being a small step ahead atm.
 

Where's the beef

Chris McKivat (8)
Was at the Joeys Scots game at the park. Congrats to scots on a well deserved win in 2nds. It was earnt and all respect goes to that team. Joeys has some work to do to reverse that at the hill. A number of the scots 2nds I thought played with for heart than there counterparts in the 1sts. On 1sts, This joeys side is lean and mean. They were dwarfed yesterday by the scots boys but from the first tackle the big bodies got hammered. The scoreline was reflective of the result. For scots the standout was their 13. The battle of the number 8's was clearly won by Joeys as was the 7's. The heart and guts award goes to the joeys prop who had something go wrong in the shoulder, stumbled back to the line with Scotts pressing for the before half time try and then made 2 crucial takles and a steal to shut it down. when he went up to the sheds to be assessed the joe boys showed their appreciation. The scots team individually had talent, but joeys matched that particularly in the backs. Both teams have some gas to burn there. Bring on the next round.
 

The Chairman

Phil Hardcastle (33)
Dr Wright, Headmaster of Shore from 2003 to 2019, didn't agree with (and I will choose my words VERY carefully here) the direction that other GPS schools were taking in regard to their rugby programs, leaving Shore with less skilled players, inferior coaching staff and inferior facilities.

This, in turn, put Shore at a severe disadvantage in the competition. It was quite embarrassing being at GPS functions and being the laughingstock of the GPS.

However, Dr Wright's tenure as Shore Headmaster ended and Dr Petterson took over in 2020. Immediate changes saw Masters in Charge of Rugby resigning, along with the opening of the R A I Grant Centre (which are the best facilities in the GPS), new professional coaching staff, a different approach to how players were trained, and the following of other GPS schools in their approach towards the rugby program. Shore have also made Rugby not only a sporting priority but the main sport of the school. The main sport has typically been rowing.

These changes, along with strong younger age groups at the time of which the changes occurred, continue even after the sacking of Dr Petterson in 2022. They have allowed Shore to become competitive once more. They are no longer just free competition points.

Also, the school's belief in their team has helped drastically. In 2022, Shore beat Riverview at Northbridge. Their first win in 6 years at that point in time. For myself, that was the day that Shore Rugby truly changed.

Though, I didn't believe this until two weeks later, when Shore took on Scots at Bellevue Hill. I will say that I was in my final year at Shore in 2022 and so I made it a mission to go and support my school at every Rugby match that season. I knew that Shore COULD beat Scots on that day, having beaten Newington the week before, but I had an inkling of a feeling that it was too big of an ask.

It was one of the great schoolboy rugby matches. Shore played a brilliant second half that ended with Daimon Pin, the flyhalf, nailing an insane drop goal from close to the touchline. I remember all of us rushed onto the field to jump on all the boys, thinking the match was over. Turns out the match was, in fact, not over (we got a stern talking to the week after and I believe an apology was issued to The Scots College), but Shore still managed to hold onto the win.

That season was the catalyst for the school now believing in their rugby team and their chances of finally tasting GPS glory.
There are a number of factors I think most people have layed them out already but:
1. Appointment of David Mason-Jones as Master in Charge
2. Focusing on improving the younger years (15, 16A 2019, 13A 2023, 14A 2021)
3. Win over SIC
4. Improved culture at games (Credit to the Cheer Captains)
5. Building of a proper off-season program
6. Departure of Dr Wright
7. Development of the new facilities
8. Improved training schedule and game tactics.
 

The Chairman

Phil Hardcastle (33)
Results from Shore A Ground yesterday.

Shore 16B 19-7 King’s 16B
Shore 16A 29-5 King’s 16A
Shore 7ths 10-15 King’s 7ths
Shore 6ths 19-10 King’s 6ths
Shore 5ths 17-0 King’s 5ths
Shore 4ths 17-15 King’s 4ths
Shore 3rds 21-0 King’s 3rds
Shore 2nds 15-19 King’s 2nds
Shore 1sts 31-24 King’s 1sts
 

ItsNotPink

Darby Loudon (17)
3rd XV Trial 4 Report
The final trial has been completed and we are ready to launch into the 3rd XV competition next week.

Scots 3rd XV 24 d Joeys 4th XV 12
A very competitive match at Hunters Hill where Joeys 4ths put on a good show against a confident Scots 3rds team. The score was 7-7 just before half time but Scots skipped away with three excellent tries. They have their patient pick and drive working well again this year and will be tough to beat as they endeavour to keep the Col Windon Shield at Bellevue Hill. Joeys scored an excellent final try to bridge the gap but made too many mistakes at key times in the match. Scots are definitely ready to start the competition.

Joeys 3rd XV 79 d High 1st XV 0
The following game on Joeys #1 field was unfortunately an absolute walkover. A bigger, stronger, faster Joeys team scored at will in the first half and High did not even touch the ball. It was 55-0 at half time. High came out better in the 2nd half and showed that they can actually play if they get the ball, but even then were severely overpowered by the Joeys defence. The ref ended the match with 8 minutes remaining on the clock, otherwise a score over 100 would have been possible, and I note that it's only 25 minutes halves and Joeys missed most of their conversions.
I want to say that the High 1st XV showed great determination, courage and commitment - they tackled all day and did not give up. Good on them, they should be proud of their efforts. But they were just massively outclassed and it does raise the question of the sustainability of their position in the 3rd XV competition. With Newington 3rd XV knocking on the door, the AAGPS has some thinking to do going forward.

Riverview 3rd XV 26 d Newington 3rd XV 7
It was almost exactly the same winning score for Riverview over Newington as the previous week by Joeys over Newington at Stanmore. Riverview are clearly ready to fire and Newington have put down a couple of solid performances that would indicate they are at the right level for this competition.

Shore 3rd XV 21 d Kings 3rd XV 0
A great result for Shore after their very close loss to Riverview last week. They would be very happy to knock Kings off in this last trial. Kings on the other hand have some work to do without a trial win before the main competition. Kings will be taking on Grammar next week so that will give us a better indication of where both teams are at.

St Patricks 1st XV 29 d Grammar 1st XV 0
I thought that Grammar would fare better here, but the Ghost of Raelene reminded me on this forum that St Pats are a very strong ISA team who would trouble Grammar. And they did. This is not to say that Grammar are down and out for the competition, but they will need to reverse losses against Pius and St Pats starting next week when they face Kings at Gowan Brae. I will be interested to see how they go.

Very exciting now as we look forward to the first competition round next Saturday June 1:
Scots v Joeys
Riverview v High
Kings v Grammar
Shore v TAS

INP
 

shaquille_oatmeal

Frank Nicholson (4)
There are a number of factors I think most people have layed them out already but:
1. Appointment of David Mason-Jones as Master in Charge
2. Focusing on improving the younger years (15, 16A 2019, 13A 2023, 14A 2021)
3. Win over SIC
4. Improved culture at games (Credit to the Cheer Captains)
5. Building of a proper off-season program
6. Departure of Dr Wright
7. Development of the new facilities
8. Improved training schedule and game tactics.
To be honest most of these factors can come down to the improvement in younger years, it's far harder to materialise a title winning team in year 11/12 than it is to build them up properly, you can see this even with the teams who import lacking strong team synergy as they haven't played together for years. The younger teams comprise your future 1sts, it's crucial to give them that attention and development to have a competitive side.
 

Newitonga

Larry Dwyer (12)
Way too early Updated Prem prediction and ladder for end of season 1st XV shield 2024

1st Joeys (Premiers)
2nd View
3rd Kings
4th Shore
5th New
6th Scots

Shore could end the season in the 3rd spot but I predict everything else to match this
Never know because its a two round season teams tend to improve more after 1st round because they can predict the next game


Scots looks incredibly overhyped this year lol.
Might just be my opinion but does no one else think Riverview are doing so well purely due to the home ground advantage. I think they are playing great footy but honestly I don’t think that they won’t be able to pull it off against the better teams especially at away games. I don’t know but the trail matches are still in the back of my mind. Hope they prove me wrong but it has to play a major factor in their early season success.

Interested to hear others thoughts.
 

Rookie21

Jimmy Flynn (14)
There are a number of factors I think most people have layed them out already but:
1. Appointment of David Mason-Jones as Master in Charge
2. Focusing on improving the younger years (15, 16A 2019, 13A 2023, 14A 2021)
3. Win over SIC
4. Improved culture at games (Credit to the Cheer Captains)
5. Building of a proper off-season program
6. Departure of Dr Wright
7. Development of the new facilities
8. Improved training schedule and game tactics.
Fully agree. Mason-Jones is brilliant.
 

Rookie21

Jimmy Flynn (14)
Might just be my opinion but does no one else think Riverview are doing so well purely due to the home ground advantage. I think they are playing great footy but honestly I don’t think that they won’t be able to pull it off against the better teams especially at away games. I don’t know but the trail matches are still in the back of my mind. Hope they prove me wrong but it has to play a major factor in their early season success.

Interested to hear others thoughts.
Will be interesting to see. Certainly hard to say at this point. But it goes without saying that playing at home with enormous support from the boys definitely helps.
 

rugbyAU

Bob Davidson (42)
There are a number of factors I think most people have layed them out already but:
1. Appointment of David Mason-Jones as Master in Charge
2. Focusing on improving the younger years (15, 16A 2019, 13A 2023, 14A 2021)
3. Win over SIC
4. Improved culture at games (Credit to the Cheer Captains)
5. Building of a proper off-season program
6. Departure of Dr Wright
7. Development of the new facilities
8. Improved training schedule and game tactics.
Might also add with Dr Wright that under him sport was just referred to as 'games' (emphasis wasn't on winning just participating) and they didn't have a year round training and proper pre-season program until a few years back
 

WeloveFooty.com

Frank Row (1)
Might just be my opinion but does no one else think Riverview are doing so well purely due to the home ground advantage. I think they are playing great footy but honestly I don’t think that they won’t be able to pull it off against the better teams especially at away games. I don’t know but the trail matches are still in the back of my mind. Hope they prove me wrong but it has to play a major factor in their early season success.

Interested to hear others thoughts.
I completely agree, especially against Newington who have no culture, can barely get people to come to home games, let alone at away games. People are underestimating how big of an advantage the home ground advantage holds. Riverview come the end of the season will be down the bottom of the ladder.
 

Aagpsglory

Herbert Moran (7)
Riverview 3rd XV 26 d Newington 3rd XV 7
It was almost exactly the same winning score for Riverview over Newington as the previous week by Joeys over Newington at Stanmore. Riverview are clearly ready to fire and Newington have put down a couple of solid performances that would indicate they are at the right level for this competition.
I was lucky enough to watch this game on the weekend. A few standout performers from View were: #10 and #4. Number 4 scored a great try breaking through a tackle on the Newington's 22 to score. He's one to look out for in the 3s comp for sure (as long as he doesn't get poached by the twos)

Cheers

AG
 

saladsdon'twinscrums

Bob McCowan (2)
I completely agree, especially against Newington who have no culture, can barely get people to come to home games, let alone at away games. People are underestimating how big of an advantage the home ground advantage holds. Riverview come the end of the season will be down the bottom of the ladder.
I agree with parts of this. Although View is great at home with all their supporters, View have great away turnouts and always have. So although it is definitely a factor I think View will be fine away and will do very well.

SDWS
 

Rookie21

Jimmy Flynn (14)
Power Rankings Round 2.png


Another brilliant round of GPS Rugby goes by. Here are my power rankings after round 2. Please feel free to disagree as this is just my opinion.

Joeys: I think it's safe to assume that, once again, Joeys are the team to beat this season (how many times has that been said before?). Joeys will be more than pleased with their dominant performance against Scots. One may argue that the score could've looked a lot better for Joeys had they taken more of the chances that were offered. There is certainly a lot to like about this team. They remain as sole contenders for GPS glory.

Riverview: The surprise packets of the competition. Riverview never really looked like losing against Newington, despite still having to work for the win. View certainly look classy, though I will say their left-edge attack seems to fall flat a lot of the time. Consistently looked good against Newington and is certainly a force to be reckoned with. I look forward to when they play Joeys. They remain in "thereabouts".

Shore: A great win against Kings at Northbridge has certainly boosted the confidence of Shore after last week's heartbreak at Riverview. There is so much individual talent in this team but, more importantly, they look like a team. They played to their strengths and didn't panic when they were put under pressure. Shore could beat anyone on their day. Shore struggled to contain Kings when play became more unstructured but were able to keep the game structured to their taste for the most part. Shore could beat anyone on their day. They move up to "thereabouts".

Kings: While performing better than most predicted, Kings do have weaknesses in certain areas that other teams will easily exploit. They thrive in broken play and will do their best to disrupt the patterns of the opposition in order to play to their strengths. They have some great individuals and if they can gel as a team just a little bit more then they could be quite good. They remain as outsiders.

Scots: Well where do Scots go from here? They were preseason favourites and were totally outclassed by Joeys yesterday. They have some brilliant individuals, but they seem to be playing like a team of individuals. They don't entirely look like a team. When teamwork was required, players would try and do too much themselves. Passes wouldn't stick, players overrunning the ball, etc. In my opinion, they may have been lucky the score didn't reflect more poorly on them. We know how much potential this Scots outfit possesses and I hope they are able find their feet as a team. They move down to "slim chance".

Newington: While Newington defended their line brilliantly for a lot of the game, they never really looked like they were causing Riverview too many issues. They didn't look entirely threatening. Unless their attack improves drastically, I don't really see them being an enormous threat. I will also say that I wish Newington had better culture around supporting their teams. I find that the atmosphere is severely lacking at every Newington game that I watch. They remain as "slim chance".

Bring on next week!

Kings vs Joeys @ Castle Greyskull

Scots vs Riverview @ The Death Star

Shore vs Newington @ Stirling Bridge
 
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