NSW AAGPS Rugby 2011

[Lee Grant]

obviously you didnt watch the trial game in which View absolutely dominated Scots wining by around 30 points. Unless its a new Scotts team riverview should get up with ease again

Or, it could be more or less the same Scots players who have improved, especially in teamwork.

 

[Burke's Boot]

Lee is Joeys worth watching this year?

 

[baldingwingforward]

Wow - with that sort of dominance View should have won by 50 - but they didn't. With 5 minutes to go there was only 5 points in it and the game could have gone either way. If Fin McDonald had played it would have been New by 10+.

Scots have been the most impressive team I've seen this season and based on the Scots and View games I've watched in the past two weeks, Scots should smash them.

Face it Blindy your beloved supposedly unbeatable Newington side got beaten by a team that was more disciplined, better coached, and played with more heart. Riverview won off of about 30% possession. Newington had all of that ball and couldn’t do anything with it – pretty dull game plan!

Ezra got smashed in about 90% of the scrums and he did little around the field. I said right at the start of the year that they would struggle without their stars of last year, as they were the blokes that made the team. And so i have been proved right.

Roods is a great player but he needs people to do the build up work for him – none of the inside backs can do that this year. They really miss Apo in that regard. Baldwin is a warrior in the pack but other than him there aren’t really any blokes who make things happen. Luani and Roach were able to get real go forward last year and then the rest of the forwards kept it going.

Newington clearly have no Plan B – this is the coaches fault. Playing one out forward runners off the ruck is very predictable. If you play a team who are well coached defensively and who are capable of putting the big blokes on the ground early, then this game plan becomes useless, because sooner or later one of the forwards will get turned over – as happened many times yesterday.

As to the result being different with McDonald playing – i don’t think so. All he does is drift sideways and pass the ball on. True he would have been more assured than Lussick who struggled but the Newington backline were shut down by an enthusiastic and effective View defence.

If the conditions had been drier View would have won by more. As it was the crappy conditions slowed the game down and allowed the New forwards to get continual rests. They were hanging on in the last 15 minutes of the 2nd half – on a dry day they would have been blown away.

Blindside – you will have plenty of time between now and the 5 or 6 weeks away until New play their second round game to wipe away your tears. Perhaps you might suggest to the coaches that they need a Plan B as well as the standard one of pass it to the big fellas. You might also suggest the school starts looking for some players in the 15s because they got pumped...

Lastly – as to Scots being the best team. Interesting that one. View beat them 44-12 in their trial. They have obviously improved significantly with the return of Stewart in the centres and the introduction of Kellaway, but their forwards will struggle. It looks like that match might decide the championship this year. But there is a helluva long way to go before then.
I doubt that any side will go through unbeaten – if they do good luck to them as they will deserve the title!

For now Riverview beat the favourites so they have a very slight lead but it is only round 1 for goodness sake.
Why not just give credit where credit is due blindy and admit that your all star side got done by a team of hardworkers!

 

[baldingwingforward]

Since New lost their No. 10 in the 2nd half against Joeys they have scored 19 points and conceded 60. Tells you something.

I don't think it's that neccesarily. Up until the Scots game New hadn't played anyone decent so they weren't aware of their weaknesses. As soon as they have played the better teams (Scots and View) they have struggled. The alarm bells should have been ringing when they limped past an average Kings side, and when they let Joeys score 4 tries against them!

 

[Lee Grant]

Lee is Joeys worth watching this year?

More for the progress they will make during the year than as valid contenders for the comp.

They faded a couple of times in the 2nd half in the trials as 9 or 10 of them, depending on who is playing, are in Yr. 10 or 11. They lack a bit of strength understandably and they can be found wanting in collisions, and I don't mean just in the forwards. They also lack the one or two years of rugby experience that their opponents on any given week already have. They have Yr.12 ticker though.

Fullback Le Lievre is good to watch though: a Matt Burke type of fullback. He will probably get the GPS Ones spot; not that I have seen all of the GPS 15s but few are claiming the gig for others and he plays with a big match kind of mentality that selectors favour.

I've seen a lot worse NSW fullbacks than him too. For that matter, though it's hard to compare until he plays at rep level, I haven't seen too many better from Oz Schools either. If that seems over the top I have seen only two top Oz Schools fullbacks since about 2000. IMO, of course.

 

[OppO]

obviously you didnt watch the trial game in which View absolutely dominated Scots wining by around 30 points. Unless its a new Scotts team riverview should get up with ease again

The Scots team that beat New and Kings is nothing like the team that got beaten by Joey's and View in the earlier trials. That being said View is definately the team to beat this season.

 

[Man on the hill]

Scots watchers - did Kellaway play 1s or 16As - how did he go?

 

[Lee Grant]

What about Dempsey for View? It's funny how you take a shine to some players. I saw him play a few times in U/16s last year and last week in a trial at Hunters Hill and he's the type of player I like to see in the backrow.

 

[TigersFan5]

Scots watchers - did Kellaway play 1s or 16As - how did he go?

1st's

 

[Man on the hill]

thanks for that - playing at 12? There's no question he would have handled it, but was he in the top half of the class or the bottom half?

 

[TigersFan5]

thanks for that - playing at 12? There's no question he would have handled it, but was he in the top half of the class or the bottom half?

No Kellaway played 11, got the kicking duties of the team to, kicking 3 cons and a penalty. Played a good game, defend his wing well and made some nice runs down the line, no tries to his name however he could of had 1 or 2 had he got a pass in open space a couple of times.

 

[Man on the hill]

Thanks for that - other than the kicking a quiet day in the office.

 

[Lee Grant]

Can't wait to see this young bloke Kellaway next weekend against Joeys. What are his best attributes - and weaknesses?

 

[TigersFan5]

Thanks for that - other than the kicking a quiet day in the office.

Wouldnt say quiet, made some solid tackles on his opposite number, and made some punishing runs, setting up 1 try.

 

[TigersFan5]

How is Kellaway coping with the lack of dominace? or is he dominating? i remember last years 15As game against Joeys he looked ineffective apart from 1 try and 1 bone crunching tackle on the Joeys winger, he seemed to get frustrated and give up i think similar thing happened in the View game and boths teams went on to run away with the game

I think Kellaway is handling the form of GPS opens rugby quite well. It looks (from a spectators view) like he has been playing this kind of footy all his life.
His pace fits in with everyone else, and his strength in the tackle situation is some what better than other 1st XV players, he is playing much better rugby from previous years and he isn't one to be thrown under the radar

 

[TigersFan5]

Can't wait to see this young bloke Kellaway next weekend against Joeys. What are his best attributes - and weaknesses?

Not many, but i think 2 weeks time we will see what he is really made of, cause, Joeys at Joeys is always a tough ask no matter if your winning games 50-0 and joeys dont have a strong side, you will get a run for your money out at Hunters Hill.

 

[Lee Grant]

I had better not front up next weekend then, when I thought it was on.

Would have got a good seat through.

 

[shut_up_meg]

Hard to draw conclusions from Scots in the 15's as half the year 9's are away and they often don't field a 15 A side at all. In all actuallity, what you were probably watching was the Joey's 15A's vs Scots 15B's - little wonder he was frustrated!

 

[International Badboy]

Thats what im saying, last year the side hinged so much on whether kellaway played a good game or not, playing in the 1s might give him an opportunity to let others do some work and him play his own game adding to others

 

[Joe Mac]

What about Dempsey for View? It's funny how you take a shine to some players. I saw him play a few times in U/16s last year and last week in a trial at Hunters Hill and he's the type of player I like to see in the backrow.

Dempsey played very well LG. He very much reminds me of Elsom in his Leinster days... However this time around, his standard bollocking runs were not as effective against a team of giants. His opposing number must have been at least 105kg's.