My predictions for Shore 1st XV 2025. Year group listed is their 2025 year group, and the team listed is the team they played in during 2024.
1. Charlie Armarti - 2nd XV (multiple fill in appearances in 1st XV in 2024) - Year 12
2. Max Garner - 2nd XV - Year 12
3. Lawson Armstrong - 2nd XV, u16 Presidents A, also made NSW u16 Waratahs (multiple appearances in 1st XV in 2024 as a sub) - Year 11
4. Liam Sidwell - 16A's and 2nd XV, u16 Presidents A - year 11
5. Charlie Galligan - 2nd XV, and eventual GPS 3rds white replacement due to injury - Year 12
6. Anderton Stock - 2nd XV (numerous appearances in 1st XV) - Year 12
7. Henry Sherrington - Predominantly 3rd XV, but also played 2nd XV (and 4th XV for a very short period) - Year 12. Will be the first time Shore will have a different number 7 (other than Marshall Le'maitre) since 2021.
8. Bede Clout - 1st XV - Year 12
9. Olliver Greig - 2nd XV - Year 12
10. Rex Bassingthwaite - 1st XV, GPS 1sts/Australian u18 - Year 12
11. Charlie Francis - 1st XV - Year 12
12. Nick Wendt - 1st XV in preseason (although eventually excluded from pre-season due to injury) and 2nd XV for 1 game before tearing his ACL on his return game from previous injury - Year 11. I believe he was to play number 14 for Shore 1st XV in 2024 if he wasn't injured. He also played U15 Waratahs 2023
13. Gideon Kingal-Paia - 3rd XV (in '23 and '24) - year 12, OR Oscar D'Almeida - 3rd XV, 2nd XV - Year 12
14. Charlie Mott - 3rd XV (was vital to their 2024 3rd XV premiership) - Year 12
15. Jai Callaghan - 1st XV, GPS 1sts, Australian schoolboys - Year 12
My only concern for this team is that they only have 4 players who are returning to the 1st XV, whereas schools like Kings and Riverview will likely have 6 or 7 returning, and Joeys will be very strong next year, with I believe 10 players returning to 1st XV (even a predominant year 11 team almost took the premiership in 2024). Can someone please provide team lists informing the amount of returning 1st XV players.
My (unbiased) ladder predictions:
1. Joeys
2. Kings
3. Ignatius
4. Shore
5. Newington or Scots
6. Newington or Scots
Next season makes me concerned of the likelihood of another season where it will a theme of 'who can take down the juggernaut, the clear premiership frontrunners', like Kings in 2023, but in this case in 2025 it will be Joeys (like 2022, although to a lesser extent due to GPS competition that year being only 5 rounds). The thing I liked about the 2024 season is that you could not tell who will win the competition, it was really up for grabs for any team, evidently the team that came last place (ignatius) beat the team that won the comp (Shore). This season 'theme' of more equal across the competition and having no juggernaut, is much more exciting as it's unpredictable to who will take the premiership, and that uncertainty makes each game more coveted because likely there's more on the line because you never know when you could just end up at the top of the table when all the other games results are unpredictable too.
Anyone got any updates on school fixtures for preseason, summer holiday games like tours (like how Kings went to England last December), as well as fixtures for trials matches? I think for all GPS schools it will be the same CAS/ISA schools being played against in trials as previous years in the initial 2 week trial period before AAGPS competition starts, and so I assume it will just be the opposite venue to last year for those games?