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kerser2
Bob McCowan (2)
the nephew you are reffering to is liam finnane, however jake who currently is in year 10 at joeys is steve finnanes son
CTPE
Nev Cottrell (35)
Joeys were joint premiers with Shore in 1970.
High were GPS premiers in 1971,1972 (jointly with View) & 1973
Kings won in 1974, View won in 1975 and Joeys next won in 1976
In the 20 years between 1976 and 1995 they won 16 premierships (including joint premierships).
In the 16 years since they have won 6 premierships
CTPE
Nev Cottrell (35)
No need for apologies...how do you think they'll go this year?
CTPE
Nev Cottrell (35)
What about their forward depth?
CTPE
Nev Cottrell (35)
I tend to agree on both counts although I'm yet to see anyone put up a full strength Scots pack and I understand they've picked up a couple of country boys. Joeys are really going to benefit not only from their forward depth but their forwards experience given the number of U16s who played Opens last year. Joeys "take no prisoners" approach will see them dominate big time at the breakdown.
It will be interesting to see which forward pack dominates at the set pieces. New has a very big pack and King's !6As front row pretty much dominated at scrum time from U13s to U16s but it's going to be a different game for them now.
This technical analysis of Scots Firsts' strengths and weaknesses is all very well and good, Sarge, but there are some here who crave the real stuff: who's going to win the Spaghetti Cup? C'mon, don't let us down.
R
rugbyj
Guest
i agree Joeys will have a very strong year and by all acounts even better next year.
H
HarveyColon
Guest
very fair assessment, however the sheer size of newington may be enough to win it......despite the relative unfitness of their forwards. Shore will win a game somewhere- its inevitable and yes, grammar in their last year playing in firsts will get killed. might not even make it through the whole competition. IMO we may see a repeat of high's withdrawl a few years ago. there will only be six teams next year.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
I dont think there has been any formal decision made by anyone concerning grammar's participation in 2013: if there has could you post or direct me to the evidence?
CTPE
Nev Cottrell (35)
A great pity if this was to occur......but it would be all their own doing. Hopefully it will not happen but if it does it would pave the way for a ten round home and away GPS comp until the next school starts to wobble rugby wise.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
who do you think that school will be?
My tip is shore because they are not "pursuing" talent
Spewn
Alex Ross (28)
I agree. It was Newington a few years ago - heading the same way as their cricket - and then they 'recruited' some talent.
Grammar's demise is not entirely all its own doing. A large contingent of old boys did not like the way things were headed but their voice was lost in the wind - the great howling classicist wind.
Grammar's demise is not entirely all its own doing. A large contingent of old boys did not like the way things were headed but their voice was lost in the wind - the great howling classicist wind.
A
Ageing Parent
Guest
Referring to IS & CTPE’s recent posts, whilst there doesn’t seem to have been any formal move made to withdraw SGS from 1st XV Rugby (yet) , earlier this year there was a meeting of the AAAGPS Sportsmasters’ at which a home & away style competition – which had factored in matches & venues for the next 3 years for both Rugby AND Football - was to be presented for 1st & 2nd XV / XI teams This proposal was based on the premise that both Grammar and High would not participate in 1st XV Rugby – and the proposal had essentially been endorsed by ALL Sportsmasters’ present (including Grammar’s).
Unfortunately, (or fortunately ?) – at the last moment it appears that a request was put to the SGS Headmaster by some of the boys who believed that they would be in line for 1st XV representation in 2012, that they wanted “one last shot” at participating in the 1st XV competition. Despite the advice of possibly more knowledgeable personnel, the SGS Headmaster apparently vetoed the home & away competition proposal – and has endorsed the Grammar team’s participation in the 1st XV competition in 2012.
Now, depending upon your standpoint, this may be viewed as a positive - but consider the potential for injury to the SGS forwards this year, if their cattle, and preparation, leave them a tad short ? Based on last year’s performances, one would have to consider the risk of injury – at that level – a real possibility – and who is going to be the poor soul in the hot seat ?? You guessed it – the Ref.
Imagine the response from the spectators – let alone the players themselves – if this becomes a reality match after match this year. No one would suggest that the Referee’s would put anything before safety concerns - but it is adding a significant amount of pressure to the poor old whistleblower in what are already pretty highly charged affairs.
Grammar had some fantastic sporting teams back in the 70’s & 80’s – and their win last year at the HOR shows that with a little bit of a push – they can access the cattle to match it & indeed win. It is indeed a pity that there seems to have been a fundamental shift away from attempting to combine both sporting & academic prowess at that venerable institution.
Unfortunately, (or fortunately ?) – at the last moment it appears that a request was put to the SGS Headmaster by some of the boys who believed that they would be in line for 1st XV representation in 2012, that they wanted “one last shot” at participating in the 1st XV competition. Despite the advice of possibly more knowledgeable personnel, the SGS Headmaster apparently vetoed the home & away competition proposal – and has endorsed the Grammar team’s participation in the 1st XV competition in 2012.
Now, depending upon your standpoint, this may be viewed as a positive - but consider the potential for injury to the SGS forwards this year, if their cattle, and preparation, leave them a tad short ? Based on last year’s performances, one would have to consider the risk of injury – at that level – a real possibility – and who is going to be the poor soul in the hot seat ?? You guessed it – the Ref.
Imagine the response from the spectators – let alone the players themselves – if this becomes a reality match after match this year. No one would suggest that the Referee’s would put anything before safety concerns - but it is adding a significant amount of pressure to the poor old whistleblower in what are already pretty highly charged affairs.
Grammar had some fantastic sporting teams back in the 70’s & 80’s – and their win last year at the HOR shows that with a little bit of a push – they can access the cattle to match it & indeed win. It is indeed a pity that there seems to have been a fundamental shift away from attempting to combine both sporting & academic prowess at that venerable institution.
Inside Shoulder
Nathan Sharpe (72)
Not quite what i was told: the meeting was last year; the headmaster (who would welcome it) and the sportsmaster (ex Joeys - why would you take the job??) decided that SGS should not play 1st XV in 2012 because it had been thought 2011 was the last "decent year" of rugby for a while (at least) - and they were smashed. The decision was conveyed to the other schools and then the boys...the boys then asked to be allowed to play and the staff relented.
There is simply no way the grammar headmaster would veto a home and away comp. he has not interest in it - the sooner grammar is out of it the better as far as he's concerned.
I dont think that the risk of injury is all that much greater than generally. The U19 scrum laws offer a hefty amount of protection and the good schools seem to have a very finely tuned impression of how far the shove has gone. It could actually be argued that there is a greater risk of serious injury at a scrum where you have packs that are evenly matched and the game is competitive: i believe that the last serious spinal injury was suffered by a shore boy.
I can assure from personal experience that there was no attempt to combine sporting & academic prowess at the school in the 70's and 80's: the then headmaster hated rugby more than the current one; he restricted training in rowing.
I can also assure you that there was no "push" to win the HOR in either 78 or 2011 from anywhere but within the crew.
Until the onset of widespread recruitment for rugby there was always a chance that any school could produce a good year from time to time. Recruitment has taken the randomness out of that.
As i have observed elsewhere - rugby is the only sport in the GPS where it is possible to recruit kids from outside who are going to be better than the kids randomly thrown up. In cricket no kid with any aspiration to play at the highest level would bother with GPS 1st XI; rowing is not something which is done outside the GPS (much) and the 4 top crews this year were smaller than in the 70's - proof of the randomness I am speaking of. Basketball, tennis, soccer are in the same boat as cricket: the GPS is nowhere near the best comp available whereas in rugby it is near the best.
Spewn: because of the entirely academic selection of boys at grammar since the 70's (at least) old boys have no influence over decisions made by the school. They have been ignored since the 60's on all subjects.
F
Finland Fella
Guest
Luck will play it's usual, considerable part - mainly in the form of injuries - Newington were horribly handicapped last year when flyhalf McDonald went down a week before round 1. If any of the top five sides remain healthy then they're in it with a big shot. Can't see Grammar or Shore lifting silverware.
As for Newington's size, yeah Milne and Tepai are enormous athletes - but New will need structure, composure and discipline - not things they're normally associated with (two months during 2010 the obvious exception).
F
fernando
Guest
tim mccutcheon star 16s player for joeys to get a run in seconds?
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