twister29
Stan Wickham (3)
Yes. I graduated in 1962. Watched the game as an old boy.
NSW AAGPS 2024
- Thread starter Joker
- Start date
- Status
Professor62
Larry Dwyer (12)
I’m my opinion, James Warner is the most underrated on this great forum of ours. Week in week out, putting in the hard yards, never missing a throw, and never taking a step back in a tackle. His yr 12 season is one to remember.
-professor
-professor
Professor62
Larry Dwyer (12)
Another one, fan favorite, Jai Callaghan. Also known as ‘the man with the spiders on him’, because he breaks the line without even being touched. His footwork, and ability to change direction at pace is truly astonishing. A yr 11 with a bright future ahead, can’t wait to see him carve up again next year.
-professor
-professor
twister29
Stan Wickham (3)
Premiers in ‘69 & ‘70. Perhaps I got over myself, but it was certainly the last time I saw a consistent Shore side. I admit I began to not follow the sport over the years, but I recall thoroughly enjoying my time as an old boy spectator.
Reworded perhaps as ‘(my) golden age’
twister29
Stan Wickham (3)
In which representative teams did Callaghan qualify this year?
Well, I certainly wish I could've been there.
It is a very proud day to be a member of the Shore community. We couldn't have had a better game to watch. A hard-fought match from both teams, with Shore taking the choccies. From the start of the season, I knew that Shore had immense potential this year. After watching their first trial match against Oakhill, I became incredibly excited about this team and what they may be able to achieve.
They had a brilliant run of trial matches, but once the GPS season rolled around, things initially took a turn.
I made the journey to The Swamp in Round 1 when Shore took on Riverview. I had Shore as my favourites to win, as most people did. It was a brilliant game of Rugby with Shore doing what seemed like would be enough to secure the win, until Riverview marched upfield to score after the clock went red, with Grover nailing an insane conversion to win the game. I didn't make my emotions known on the forum, but I was incredibly disappointed. It was at this point that many started labelling Shore as pretenders. I would be lying in saying my confidence hadn't dwindled slightly after that match, but I knew there was always next week.
Round 2 saw me travel to Northbridge to watch the Shoreman take on Kings in a seemingly must-win match, despite it only being the second round of the season. Seeing the Cheer Captains in action along with the boys chanting in the Hawker Stand was a lovely sight that brought back memories of 2022 when I was in Year 12, doing the exact same thing that these boys were doing. Anyway, I digress, Shore looked good in this match. They managed to edge out Kings in front of a good crowd to get themselves back on track. It was at this match that I noticed Jai Callaghan, my new favourite player. My confidence was bolstered once again.
Unfortunately, Round 3 was the first match I was unable to attend, as would be the case for the rest of the season. Newington travelled to Northbridge in attempt to prove that Shore weren't all that. The weather was absolutely dismal that day and really affected Shore's ability to be threatening in attack. Newington made it look like Shore never really had a chance at winning this matchup. After this loss, I became concerned with the health of our season once again. A loss in the GPS can really hurt one's chances. Especially when the competition was as close as it was this year. However, I still believed immensely in this team as I still knew that winning was a possibility, only it would be a lot harder now. The people labelling Shore as pretenders had results to back up their opinions.
And then came Round 4. The task of travelling to Hunters Hill to take on the old foe, Joeys. I was on a plane to London when this match was being played. I remember wondering what the result was as I was 40,000 feet in the sky. When I landed, I watched the replay without knowing the result. Bitterly disappointing to have gone so close to upsetting Joeys at home, who were now officially premiership favourites before the match. Writing off Shore, at this point, was still never a thought that even came close to crossing my mind. The premiership was still there to be won for any team. It was just going to take a hell of a lot of work. Despite losing this match, I actually became more optimistic. We played well in the rain and really pushed Joeys for the win.
Round 5 was must win, though. Shore had to beat Scots at Northbridge. There was no other option. Shore ended up digging deep to earn a hard-fought win against the men from Bellevue Hill to keep their season alive. This was the first match where there was sun. Something I feel helped Shore, as the drier conditions suited their gameplay and also enticed a large amount of support to attend Northbridge on that Saturday afternoon. This was a massively confidence-boosting result for, yes myself, but for the team, more importantly. Many positives could be taken out of this match and the team were able to see, physically, how much support they had behind them.
Round 6 saw the much-anticipated rematch of Round 1, where Riverview famously clinched the win from the jaws of defeat. This time, the Bridge needed defending. Urgently. Shore kept Riverview out of the match for the entire game and didn't allow them to even look like winning. This was an incredibly confidence-boosting return of serve to the Lane Cove Lunatics. It was clear now that Shore were building something special for the home stretch of matches to be played.
After a few weeks of school holidays, Round 7 was now at our doorstep. Shore travelled to Castle Greyskull to take on their brothers in Christ, Kings. The competition was well and truly starting to open up and it was time for Shore to pounce on the opportunity. I don't think any of us expected Shore to beat Kings by as much as they did. If the rest of the competition weren't already on watch, they certainly were now. Shore had shown massive improvement from their less-than-favourable first few rounds.
The next week, Round 8 saw the Shoremen travel to Stanmore Int'l to get revenge against the Wyverns in their own backyard. Newington started strongly, being the first team in weeks to finally put Shore on the back foot. However, whatever was said at half time in Shore's camp clearly worked, as the team whittled down Newington's wall to steal the victory. Hard work in the second half was rewarded with a 4th consecutive win. Whoever initially labelled Shore as pretenders earlier in the season, were certainly quiet now. This win set up a monumental occasion at Northbridge against Joeys for a hand on the premiership. I was over the moon with how the boys had turned their season around.
Round 9 was the best day for Shore Rugby in years. Many of the team weren't even alive when Shore last tasted GPS glory, albeit shared 3 ways. While I am having the time of my life travelling, I was absolutely devastated not to have been able to be there. The entire Hawker Stand was completely filled with Shore boys, with the other side of the field packed with Old Boys on either side of the Joeys crowd. Shore put on a dominant performance to down Joeys for the first time since 2009. They simply looked like they wanted it more. It seemed as though they had more to play for. An incredibly proud day. I never stopped believing in this team. Half the job was now done. It was now time to let everyone know that we weren't sharing.
And then came today, Round 10. Shore needed to do the job against Scots at Bellevue Hill so that the premiership was ours, and only ours. After an incredibly even match, with either side deserving of the win, Shore prevailed and Marshall Le Maitre lifted the trophy. Good thing they won, too, as Riverview were put to the sword by Joeys at Leichhardt Oval (a controversial venue in many ways). A brilliant way to cap off an extraordinary season of GPS Rugby. When I say that, I don't mean just for Shore School. I literally mean, what a season of absolutely brilliant Rugby that we've had the pleasure to witness and talk about.
Bring on 2025.
Had to bring this with me on my travels in case something like this happened
It is a very proud day to be a member of the Shore community. We couldn't have had a better game to watch. A hard-fought match from both teams, with Shore taking the choccies. From the start of the season, I knew that Shore had immense potential this year. After watching their first trial match against Oakhill, I became incredibly excited about this team and what they may be able to achieve.
They had a brilliant run of trial matches, but once the GPS season rolled around, things initially took a turn.
I made the journey to The Swamp in Round 1 when Shore took on Riverview. I had Shore as my favourites to win, as most people did. It was a brilliant game of Rugby with Shore doing what seemed like would be enough to secure the win, until Riverview marched upfield to score after the clock went red, with Grover nailing an insane conversion to win the game. I didn't make my emotions known on the forum, but I was incredibly disappointed. It was at this point that many started labelling Shore as pretenders. I would be lying in saying my confidence hadn't dwindled slightly after that match, but I knew there was always next week.
Round 2 saw me travel to Northbridge to watch the Shoreman take on Kings in a seemingly must-win match, despite it only being the second round of the season. Seeing the Cheer Captains in action along with the boys chanting in the Hawker Stand was a lovely sight that brought back memories of 2022 when I was in Year 12, doing the exact same thing that these boys were doing. Anyway, I digress, Shore looked good in this match. They managed to edge out Kings in front of a good crowd to get themselves back on track. It was at this match that I noticed Jai Callaghan, my new favourite player. My confidence was bolstered once again.
Unfortunately, Round 3 was the first match I was unable to attend, as would be the case for the rest of the season. Newington travelled to Northbridge in attempt to prove that Shore weren't all that. The weather was absolutely dismal that day and really affected Shore's ability to be threatening in attack. Newington made it look like Shore never really had a chance at winning this matchup. After this loss, I became concerned with the health of our season once again. A loss in the GPS can really hurt one's chances. Especially when the competition was as close as it was this year. However, I still believed immensely in this team as I still knew that winning was a possibility, only it would be a lot harder now. The people labelling Shore as pretenders had results to back up their opinions.
And then came Round 4. The task of travelling to Hunters Hill to take on the old foe, Joeys. I was on a plane to London when this match was being played. I remember wondering what the result was as I was 40,000 feet in the sky. When I landed, I watched the replay without knowing the result. Bitterly disappointing to have gone so close to upsetting Joeys at home, who were now officially premiership favourites before the match. Writing off Shore, at this point, was still never a thought that even came close to crossing my mind. The premiership was still there to be won for any team. It was just going to take a hell of a lot of work. Despite losing this match, I actually became more optimistic. We played well in the rain and really pushed Joeys for the win.
Round 5 was must win, though. Shore had to beat Scots at Northbridge. There was no other option. Shore ended up digging deep to earn a hard-fought win against the men from Bellevue Hill to keep their season alive. This was the first match where there was sun. Something I feel helped Shore, as the drier conditions suited their gameplay and also enticed a large amount of support to attend Northbridge on that Saturday afternoon. This was a massively confidence-boosting result for, yes myself, but for the team, more importantly. Many positives could be taken out of this match and the team were able to see, physically, how much support they had behind them.
Round 6 saw the much-anticipated rematch of Round 1, where Riverview famously clinched the win from the jaws of defeat. This time, the Bridge needed defending. Urgently. Shore kept Riverview out of the match for the entire game and didn't allow them to even look like winning. This was an incredibly confidence-boosting return of serve to the Lane Cove Lunatics. It was clear now that Shore were building something special for the home stretch of matches to be played.
After a few weeks of school holidays, Round 7 was now at our doorstep. Shore travelled to Castle Greyskull to take on their brothers in Christ, Kings. The competition was well and truly starting to open up and it was time for Shore to pounce on the opportunity. I don't think any of us expected Shore to beat Kings by as much as they did. If the rest of the competition weren't already on watch, they certainly were now. Shore had shown massive improvement from their less-than-favourable first few rounds.
The next week, Round 8 saw the Shoremen travel to Stanmore Int'l to get revenge against the Wyverns in their own backyard. Newington started strongly, being the first team in weeks to finally put Shore on the back foot. However, whatever was said at half time in Shore's camp clearly worked, as the team whittled down Newington's wall to steal the victory. Hard work in the second half was rewarded with a 4th consecutive win. Whoever initially labelled Shore as pretenders earlier in the season, were certainly quiet now. This win set up a monumental occasion at Northbridge against Joeys for a hand on the premiership. I was over the moon with how the boys had turned their season around.
Round 9 was the best day for Shore Rugby in years. Many of the team weren't even alive when Shore last tasted GPS glory, albeit shared 3 ways. While I am having the time of my life travelling, I was absolutely devastated not to have been able to be there. The entire Hawker Stand was completely filled with Shore boys, with the other side of the field packed with Old Boys on either side of the Joeys crowd. Shore put on a dominant performance to down Joeys for the first time since 2009. They simply looked like they wanted it more. It seemed as though they had more to play for. An incredibly proud day. I never stopped believing in this team. Half the job was now done. It was now time to let everyone know that we weren't sharing.
And then came today, Round 10. Shore needed to do the job against Scots at Bellevue Hill so that the premiership was ours, and only ours. After an incredibly even match, with either side deserving of the win, Shore prevailed and Marshall Le Maitre lifted the trophy. Good thing they won, too, as Riverview were put to the sword by Joeys at Leichhardt Oval (a controversial venue in many ways). A brilliant way to cap off an extraordinary season of GPS Rugby. When I say that, I don't mean just for Shore School. I literally mean, what a season of absolutely brilliant Rugby that we've had the pleasure to witness and talk about.
Bring on 2025.
Had to bring this with me on my travels in case something like this happened
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GPS 1st XV
Here for the advice
Peter Burge (5)
Coaches or selectors….. did the schools with the best talent win or the schools who coached the talent present. To see some schools 1st struggle yet 2nd dominate or the 1st win 2s lose and 3a are strong - what does it say about selections vs coaching. Thank you to them all for an amazing season of twists and turns each round. Well done Shore 1,3’s well done Scots 2’s (undefeated wow)
Jamie Hunt
Bob McCowan (2)
Has to be NC second rower Cooper Habler (y12) has played 7 all his life coming up to this season and then is picked at 5 and has had a cracker of a season he does all the dirty work for NC and does not nearly get the recognition he deserves
2024 rugby AND FOOTBALL winners
2024/25 cricket will also be top3
Balmain Subbies
Billy Sheehan (19)
Alright, with the season closed and Scots with an Undefeated 2nd XV, I'll call it a decent year. Well done to Shore. @Joker now it is time to head over to the 2025 thread and hear all about how due to each school having the strongest 16s since they were in the 13s they are favourites for the shield. My favourite part of the next 6 months.
The Ghost of Raelene
Simon Poidevin (60)
Believe View got the Chocolates in the 15As. These two have had some great battles since starting. Other results in that age group?
The Grail
Larry Dwyer (12)
1969 I believe Rudderless, so a long drought..
Well done to Shore on taking out the 10 round GPS title for 2024, well fought and desrved.
I like the 10 round system, shows consistency and this year was so tight between the schools, wet weather thrown in and a 70% - 40% win rate the difference between top and bottom of the table. A very different season in '24 compared to a very dominant Kings side last year, and View as coming in runners up in the '23 (rugby), after View had won all of the GPS rowing races at the HOTR apart from one, that Kings took out.
rugbyAU
Bob Davidson (42)
@The Chairman How many Shore players in the 1sts and 2nds are Year 11
Caesar
Stan Wickham (3)
Shore came 2nd in the football this year behind premieres grammar.
Caesar
Stan Wickham (3)
Can someone please check the trueness of the whole average atar of 91.9 as my grandson graduated in 1974 and only received a calculated atar of 34??
-Caesar
ItsNotPink
Darby Loudon (17)
3rd XV Round 7 Report
Congratulations to Shore on winning the 3rd XV Premiership - they claim the Col Windon Shield for the first time and it is their first official premiership since 1951. It was an extremely close competition with three other teams finishing just one competition point behind Shore. But Shore prevailed in an incredibly close match against Grammar and deserve to be the premiers in 2024. The final points table looks like this:
Shore 11
Joeys 10
Grammar 10
Scots 10
Riverview 7
Kings 6
TAS 2
High 0
Shore 16 d Grammar 14
What a match for the premiership at Northbridge. I did not see the game but @Eyes and Ears kept us informed. Thanks! From that report, Shore led Grammar at half time 8-7and skipped away to a 16-7 lead in the second half. Grammar scored again late in the second half to make it 16-14. Grammar went "within an inch"of scoring on the last few minutes but Shore prevailed. What a great win by them under immense pressure and it just adds another level of achievement to their 1st XV win. Grammar have had a great season and demonstrated that rugby is well and truly alive at the school. If they can keep the player numbers up in the coming years, I can see them winning more premierships.
Joeys 24 d Riverview 5
A great win by the Cerise & Blue at Leichhardt. Joeys have won their last five matches in a row by significant margins including their 27-7 defeat of Grammar. But as I have always said, losing early matches in this competition is critical and you never get them back, and the early losses to Scots and Shore ultimately brought them undone and they lost the comp by a single point. Still a fantastic effort and they will be back again next year to have another crack at the premiership. Riverview had a mixed season, but a number of highlights including a 8-8 draw with premiers Shore and a good win over Kings.
Scots 31 d TAS 5
Its no surprise that Scots had their final win in Armidale. They were in the running for the premiership until their one-point loss to Shore last week. They also finish just one competition point behind the premiers and have had a great season. It's time however to hand the Col Windon Shield back and focus on winning it again next year. TAS have been competitive throughout the season with a lot of travel between Armidale and Sydney. It's great to have them in the competition and even though they only had one win, they will be pleased I am sure to be competitive and hopefully win more games next year.
Kings 52 d High 7
Its been disappointing year for both of these teams, but it should be noted that Kings were the only team to beat Shore during the regular season. They would therefore be wondering where the season went, with four losses leaving them towards the bottom of the table. Next year, perhaps. For High the entire season has been a struggle and I won't go into it all again here. Suffice to say that if you are losing every match by 50 points or more, you are probably in the wrong competition, no matter how hard you are trying. They were just outclassed this year but congratulations to them for turning up every week to play with such determination.
That's it for me in 2024. I hope you have enjoyed the previews and reports and I look forward to all of the forum activity as we look to 2025.
Cheers
INP
Congratulations to Shore on winning the 3rd XV Premiership - they claim the Col Windon Shield for the first time and it is their first official premiership since 1951. It was an extremely close competition with three other teams finishing just one competition point behind Shore. But Shore prevailed in an incredibly close match against Grammar and deserve to be the premiers in 2024. The final points table looks like this:
Shore 11
Joeys 10
Grammar 10
Scots 10
Riverview 7
Kings 6
TAS 2
High 0
Shore 16 d Grammar 14
What a match for the premiership at Northbridge. I did not see the game but @Eyes and Ears kept us informed. Thanks! From that report, Shore led Grammar at half time 8-7and skipped away to a 16-7 lead in the second half. Grammar scored again late in the second half to make it 16-14. Grammar went "within an inch"of scoring on the last few minutes but Shore prevailed. What a great win by them under immense pressure and it just adds another level of achievement to their 1st XV win. Grammar have had a great season and demonstrated that rugby is well and truly alive at the school. If they can keep the player numbers up in the coming years, I can see them winning more premierships.
Joeys 24 d Riverview 5
A great win by the Cerise & Blue at Leichhardt. Joeys have won their last five matches in a row by significant margins including their 27-7 defeat of Grammar. But as I have always said, losing early matches in this competition is critical and you never get them back, and the early losses to Scots and Shore ultimately brought them undone and they lost the comp by a single point. Still a fantastic effort and they will be back again next year to have another crack at the premiership. Riverview had a mixed season, but a number of highlights including a 8-8 draw with premiers Shore and a good win over Kings.
Scots 31 d TAS 5
Its no surprise that Scots had their final win in Armidale. They were in the running for the premiership until their one-point loss to Shore last week. They also finish just one competition point behind the premiers and have had a great season. It's time however to hand the Col Windon Shield back and focus on winning it again next year. TAS have been competitive throughout the season with a lot of travel between Armidale and Sydney. It's great to have them in the competition and even though they only had one win, they will be pleased I am sure to be competitive and hopefully win more games next year.
Kings 52 d High 7
Its been disappointing year for both of these teams, but it should be noted that Kings were the only team to beat Shore during the regular season. They would therefore be wondering where the season went, with four losses leaving them towards the bottom of the table. Next year, perhaps. For High the entire season has been a struggle and I won't go into it all again here. Suffice to say that if you are losing every match by 50 points or more, you are probably in the wrong competition, no matter how hard you are trying. They were just outclassed this year but congratulations to them for turning up every week to play with such determination.
That's it for me in 2024. I hope you have enjoyed the previews and reports and I look forward to all of the forum activity as we look to 2025.
Cheers
INP
Newitonga
Larry Dwyer (12)
rugbyAU
Bob Davidson (42)
2024 :
- Rugby 1st XV
- Rugby 3rd XV
- Tennis 1sts
- Tennis 2nds
- Rowing 2nd place
- Soccer 2nd place
2023:
- Waterpolo
- Cross Country Opens
2022:
- Cross Country Opens
- Rowing 2nd Place & 3rd at Nationals
- Rowing 2nd VIII, 1st IV and 2nd IV
- Rugby 1st XV =2nd place
2021:
- Basketball 1sts
- Cricket 1sts
- Cross Country Intermediates
- Rowing =2nd place, 2nd at Nationals and 1st at NSW Champs
- Rowing 1st, 2nd and 4th IV 1st
2020:
- Cricket 1sts
- Cross Country Opens
- Athletics Opens 2nd place
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- Status