NSW AAGPS Rugby 2010

[Joe Mac]

"Just heard from a mate that View won well...

Puzzling then that Scots are better represented then in the GPS teams than View"...[/QUOTE]

The selectors must have been spending too much time on the Sportal forums!

 

[observer]

The GPS teams look strong. We knew Kings would dominate the forward pack and they have got 5 in. Most people had different selections for 10,11 and 14. I have seen Matthew Hulme at the Scots Sevens when he played for the NTS team and he seems to have plenty of toe and powerfully built lad. What do the GPS experts on here think of the teams?

 

[Nanai]

The GPS teams look strong. We knew Kings would dominate the forward pack and they have got 5 in. Most people had different selections for 10,11 and 14. I have seen Matthew Hulme at the Scots Sevens when he played for the NTS team and he seems to have plenty of toe and powerfully built lad. What do the GPS experts on here think of the teams?

Well, there are some odd selections around the shop and there are better boys that have definitely missed out on selection at all I feel, as is usually the case.

The selection of 9s just proves how much of a pathway system Schoolboy rugby is, rather than a merit system. I didn't think either Jeong or Merriman were close to being in it, but they have considerable CVs. Merriman was shown up comprehensively by Stenberg in the Scots v Shore trial, but he was Vice-Captain of the NSW u16s last year and they look to be pathwaying him towards GPS 1s and probably NSW next year. He's a solid scrumhalf, without being special. Jeong was outplayed by Koeber from Sydney Boys High School, despite High's losing effort, and I feel that it's mainly school-based bias on this front. Jeong rode the pine for GPS 3s last year, when Duncan Boyd-Jones from Kings was ruled out with injury.

The flyhalf selections is further evidence of this, with 5 being selected across 3 teams. The simple reason for this is that F MacDonald from Newington played 10 for the NSW 16s last year and, like Merriman, has just been handed a complementary jersey it would seem, at the expense of the very good Corey Ashby from Joeys.

As even further evidence of this - R Dicembre from Joeys was selected as a 5th hooker. He was a GPS-selected player last year.

Considering the lack of depth on the wings, I'm very surprised R Streeter from Shore and J Attard from SGS were not included. Streeter is a fast, hard running, Lachy Turner-style winger and has had a good opening to his season... Attard is small but has jet shoes and great feat and is a super defender. J Reardon from Scots is slow, lumbering, awkward positionally but strong in the tackle and I find it hard to think selectors genuinely found him in the top 6 wingers.

The 2 Scots flanks in the GPS 2s - Goode from Scots has earned his position at 6, but 7 Walters has been hot and cold when I've seen him -- Graham from SGS is incredibly unlucky.

The second row in all 3 teams is iffy. But I won't bother going into it.
---

I attended the Scots v Riverview game (which was spoilt by foul play by both teams; red card each, yellow to Scots). 10 Dunbar has touches of utter class at times, and showed a great ability to accelerate through the gap, but he played a big part in losing the game for Scots, with a terrible decision to grubber-and-chase through the middle in his own 22, which led to a try. Most of View's points were scored against the run of play, and Scots were much more dangerous with ball in hand. The Riverview 9 Donlan and 10 O'Connor spent the first 10 minutes of the game working out the Scots defense, and eventually worked out how to clock it by exposing the gun-shy positional play at the back and rush defense through chipping ahead and continuous offloading. Scots played the high-risk rugby that's characterised their season, and it didn't pay off. They were unable to build phases as players continuously tried the magic pass, and too much short kicking happened -- the one area of the game they won was with the ball, and they kept gifting it back to Riverview. The Riverview back 3 played superbly, especially the left winger, Freeman, and their back row outplayed their Scots opponents, who have all been selected in GPS 2s and 3s. The 9 contest, which I watched closely, was mostly even between Stenberg and Donlan. However, Donlan clearly plays the captain's role well, and he was incorporated into alot more in the way of backline and scrum moves, which gave him a few more opportunities with the ball in hand. TSC 9 and 13 were the only two Scots backs who held it together for the full 70, kept pushing, and didn't make mistakes.

13 Jim Stewart from Scots fell badly to injury with about 5 to go, and I expect that's why he hasn't been included in the sides.

 

[qwerty51]

Cannot believe Brogan Roods in the GPS 2nds. I watched the Newington Shore game and I heard he just came back from a serious injury. He was outstanding, best on the park and was too big, strong and fast for the smaller Shore centres. His combo with Apo Latunipulu is devastating for the opposition. Wouldn't be surprised to see them as the NSW Schools centres. Luani was also very strong, haven't seen George Kent but he'd have to be very good to get over him.

 

[Thismybrotha]

Cannot believe Brogan Roods in the GPS 2nds. I watched the Newington Shore game and I heard he just came back from a serious injury. He was outstanding, best on the park and was too big, strong and fast for the smaller Shore centres. His combo with Apo Latunipulu is devastating for the opposition. Wouldn't be surprised to see them as the NSW Schools centres. Luani was also very strong, haven't seen George Kent but he'd have to be very good to get over him.

Are Roods and Luani in year 11 or 12? I know the year 11 body at New are extremely talented, and next year I think New will be premiership favourites, edging out View and Kings. If they're both returning next year then that sure would be something for New.

 

[pitbull]

Are Roods and Luani in year 11 or 12? I know the year 11 body at New are extremely talented, and next year I think New will be premiership favourites, edging out View and Kings. If they're both returning next year then that sure would be something for New.

Luani yr 12, roods yr 11. George kent was dominated by luani in the kings vs new game. No one yet has topped the roods/latunipulu combo, possibly the scots duo?
And to Nanai, isnt corey ashby is joeys 2nds? Fin McDonald played astoundingly against shore,joeys and scots. I completely agree with your comments on the 2nd row, aswell as graham/walters over baldwin. Clarrie moore overated, hes a great loose forward, but doesnt fulfill the role of a hooker well, and dicembre was unfortunate to miss out.

 

[thecow]

I attended the Scots v Riverview game (which was spoilt by foul play by both teams; red card each, yellow to Scots). 10 Dunbar has touches of utter class at times, and showed a great ability to accelerate through the gap, but he played a big part in losing the game for Scots, with a terrible decision to grubber-and-chase through the middle in his own 22, which led to a try. Most of View's points were scored against the run of play, and Scots were much more dangerous with ball in hand. The Riverview 9 Donlan and 10 O'Connor spent the first 10 minutes of the game working out the Scots defense, and eventually worked out how to clock it by exposing the gun-shy positional play at the back and rush defense through chipping ahead and continuous offloading. Scots played the high-risk rugby that's characterised their season, and it didn't pay off. They were unable to build phases as players continuously tried the magic pass, and too much short kicking happened -- the one area of the game they won was with the ball, and they kept gifting it back to Riverview. The Riverview back 3 played superbly, especially the left winger, Freeman, and their back row outplayed their Scots opponents, who have all been selected in GPS 2s and 3s. The 9 contest, which I watched closely, was mostly even between Stenberg and Donlan. However, Donlan clearly plays the captain's role well, and he was incorporated into alot more in the way of backline and scrum moves, which gave him a few more opportunities with the ball in hand. TSC 9 and 13 were the only two Scots backs who held it together for the full 70, kept pushing, and didn't make mistakes.

13 Jim Stewart from Scots fell badly to injury with about 5 to go, and I expect that's why he hasn't been included in the sides.[/QUOTE]

Who were the two players who were sent off? Were they players who could have been selected for GPS?

 

[Nanai]

Red Cards:
Miller (Scots) was selected in the GPS 3rds for a bench spot.
Weeks (View) was selecetd in the GPS 3rds for a bench spot.

Yellows:
Stewart (Scots) was injured with about 5 to go, and obviously wasn't considered.


Clarrie Moore certainly isn't overrated. He's the most devastating ball-running forward in GPS.
2 tries against Riverview goes to show you that. I agree he won't stay a hooker forever though.

And Finlay MacDonald is a great player, but I don't think he's been performing so well as to warrant that selectors pick 5 fly halves and leave a centre out. But he's in the academy fold, and will have a big year next year, like Merriman, regardless of if there are people outplaying him. I'd put money on it.

 

[Nusadan]

Heard last night that View's 5/8 from last year is repeating this year yet is not allowed to play for them due to age restrictions(?) and is playing for Gordon instead...O'Connor the current 5/8 is the school captain by the way...

 

[Thismybrotha]

yupp i go the kings... well looking back at last season, riverview certainly dominated the comp and i have to say kings were pretty lucky to get the co-premiership. i dont know much about the other schools but in kings we are not importing any new players for our 1st xv side. in saying that, we have a lot of players now in year 12 that played in the 1st xv last year. so kings look pretty promising. but im sure riverview will be the favorites this year, but we will be the underdogs again :lmao:

Yeah, Kings were lucky to get the joint premiership last year. But Riverview were lucky to get it the year before.

 

[Joe Mac]

Great report Nanai,
from what you have seen, will it be View/Newington vying for second place? Do either teams have the ability to upset Kings? Thirdly, of these three teams, who is lucky enough to have home games against the other this year?

 

[rugby_man]

The GPS 1st XV is a very good side. They have the bulk of players I would have picked but also some bolters as is always expected each year. I definitely didn't expect to see Nathan Roye make the side, along with Hosegood but I'm sure the selectors have seen more games than myself. I'm guessing the selectors did not select Dane Atkinson due to his league committments so it's good to see them pick players who will be playing rugby next year, especially with many class centres coming through. Having McCormack in the 2nds was due to happen as Latunipulu has been outstanding for Newington and Brogan Roods made a successful return to rugby which was good to see. I expect a few GPS 2nds players to make NSW sides, such as McCormack, Roods, Moore, Luani and Bannon.

 

[Lee Grant]

NSW will be well served by centres this year. 12. Purcell and 13 Hingano, both of St Augustines were dynamite for ISA against CHS today and are better in their position than anybody in the GPS IMO.

 

[Nanai]

Great report Nanai,
from what you have seen, will it be View/Newington vying for second place? Do either teams have the ability to upset Kings? Thirdly, of these three teams, who is lucky enough to have home games against the other this year?

I actually think it's going to be an interesting premiership finale.
I don't think Riverview have the firepower to beat Kings this year. I also think Newington will clean Riverview up if they play smart rugby (unlike Scots).
For mine, Scots and Newington are still the best two chances to beat Kings. When Scots have been good they've looked like the best team in the competition, but they're very erratic. Newington on the other hand have forwards to at least stand up to Kings, and devastating backs... But, unfortunately, I don't rate Bannon as a half. He'll kill it against weak teams, especially teams like the CAS 2s, with unstructured rugby commonplace in combined events. He's amazing to watch with ball in hand. Lacks the core skills necessary to clinch the tight games. Should be playing Wing/Fullback.

Depending on whether or not Scots get it together and beat Kings in the last round (which I think is probable) I'd say things will either end up like this:

=1. Kings (Loss to Scots) | Newington (Losses to Kings)
=3. Riverview (Losses to Kings, Newington) | Scots (Losses to Riverview, Newington)
5. Joeys (Wins against Shore and SGS)
6. Shore (Win against SGS)
7. SGS (All losses)

Or this:
1. Kings (Undefeated)
2. Newington (Loss to Kings)
3. Riverview (Losses to Kings, Newington)
4. Scots (Losses to Kings, Newington, Riverview)
5. Joeys (Wins against SGS, Shore)
6. Shore (Losses, win against SGS)
7. Grammar (Losses)

Wonder if I'll pull off a Nostradamus on this one... probably not, but that's my angle. Scots are the wild card in this year's comp. They could now go undefeated, or they could pull off a shock loss to Grammar. I've a good feeling they'll be playing Kingmaker in the final week.

EDIT: I've just noticed how badly I've underrated Shore. They could pull off a few surprise upsets. Same goes for the under-seige Joeys team.

EDIT2: Lee, I think you could be right there. But between NSW1s and 2s, the ISA and GPS centres should all feature. Chris Ingate is a real talent. I also agree with rugby_man, the GPS 1s do look strong... but they could've, IMHO, been much stronger. The likes of 4/5/6 J Williams, 9 A Stenberg, 11/14 R Streeter, 11/14/15 H Tegart and 6/7 J Graham were all players I'd picked out on the quiet as possible NSW selections (picked out of either GPS 1s or 2s), and that group have either not made the cut, or been selected in GPS 3s (who are very unlikely to get a look into the NSW sides). The way this state's bogus rugby system goes, this could mean the making or breaking of their rugby careers. It's a shame, but hopefully club rugby will be kind to them, and they find some bloody good agents, and we'll see their names again. (Though, let's face it, they'll probably all end up skipping their Sydney Uni classes, dogging training and getting drunk at Manning Bar instead all next year! Private schoolboys...)

 

[qwerty51]

In the Newington Shores game, the penalty count was seriously something like 20-1 to Shore. You can hardly say that Newington were that undisciplined, I found a lot of the penalties weren't warranted, mostly came from breakdown infringements when Newington hit the ruck and looked dominant. It really killed the game and had the referee been fairer imo the scoreline could've been very embarrassing for Shore.

 

[Lee Grant]

Lee, I think you could be right there. But between NSW1s and 2s, the ISA and GPS centres should all feature. Chris Ingate is a real talent.

Actually I thought I had made that remark in the NSW trials thread; so I was remiss in putting it here. Yes, I've seen Ingate a couple of times this year for Kings and made the remark that he looked like Cameron Shepherd when he was at school, but this fellow Hingano seems to made breaks and half breaks when there's apparently none there, and value is added working with 12. Purcell.

Ingate will probably get the NSW Ones 13 jersey despite that, but let's talk about it on the NSW thread.

12. Latunipulu is a another talented midfielder but I thought that there may have been a case for keeping the Kings pairing together in the Ones.

I thought Williams from SJC may have got a spot in the Ones as I think that he is a better player than team mate Deans who made it and also better than Melrose in the Twos. I'm also a bit surprised that winger Hulme of SJC got picked as high as the Ones.

I don't think that GPS are strong at wing and fullback this year but that probably has more to do with my ordinary assessment than ordinary play. The 2nd row has no Peterson this year, that's for sure, and the LHPs are nothing to write home about. I watched Gillespie the Ones LHP, walk around the park for Kings against Grammar and the coach had to rev him up from the sideline.

I don't think it's a great GPS Ones team but it could still beat CAS which is no great shakes either and as for CHS: IAS put 70 points on them today.

PS - what is the programme for GPS? Is it v CAS at Newington on Tuesday 22nd and v CHS on Fri 25th at Knox? Anybody know times?

 

[rugbywhisperer]

Lee, what about that Newington ctr from last year's Aussie schools? He performed very well at Armidale earlier in the year and certainly showed why is is in that class.

 

[catchpole]

Lee.

Tuesday, 22nd June: Fixture v CHS and CAS at Newington College.



3rd XV v CHS 3rd XV – 12.25pm

2nd XV v CAS 2nd XV – 1.40pm

1st XV v CAS 1st XV – 3.00pm

I have cut and paste these details from the AAGPS site this morning. I hope this helps.

 

[catchpole]

Aplogies, I forgot to add the following details:

Ø Friday 25th June: Fixture v CHS & ISA at Knox Grammar School


GPS II v ISA II - 3:40 pm

GPS 1 v CHS I - 6:30pm

 

[Lee Grant]

catchpole - thanks for that. Geez I would have loved to have seen ISA Ones against GPS Ones on Friday, instead of the Twos against the Twos.

Lee, what about that Newington ctr from last year's Aussie schools? He performed very well at Armidale earlier in the year and certainly showed why is is in that class.

If you're thinking about their star back, 12. Apolosi Latunipuli: he wasn't in Oz Schools last year; in fact the only state player Newington had in either NSW team was 2. Roach, who ended up as Oz Schools hooker and may do so again in 2010. Apolosi was in the GPS IIIs last year and has been picked for GPS Is for their game tomorrow against CAS.

He's a good player but is not a shoo-in for NSW Is as we have some good mid-fielders this year. I wish I could say that for other sectors of the likely NSW teams.