NSW AAGPS Rugby 2014

[Rob hart]

For those interested, link attached to a few shots of what looked like a great South African Tour for TSC - looks like the off field stuff was the highlight ........

http://www.scotsrugbytour.blogspot.com.au/

 

[Whose That Guy]

Huge news just coming in, Stannies i believe have beaten Riverview 17-15, not sure of the full details

 

[aka_the_think]

That's true that many of their 16As played opens, my point being that being the case, Riverview aren't really going to be able to depend on players who were playing in the 16s age group to come through and bolster their 1st team or their depth, as those players are already in opens. Whereas, Scots, Joeys and Kings will have boys coming through to add to 1sts or 2nds from their 2013 16As.

The other side of this is that those 16s who played last year will benefit from a season against older boys at a higher level.

You are correct in saying that the chemistry of teams is important, and we will never know how this works until we see teams in action.

It's also correct to point out that teams can improve from one year to another, but it's just as true to say that sometimes the team which is favorite based on the previous year never live up to the hype. Which way Riverview goes, we won't know for a few months.

I like you're thinking, case closed!

Any prediction about GPS 1sts? I think Fifita, Fotukava, Hutchinson, Crichton, Woodhill, Freeman, Kane, Bowditch, and Porter will all be serious contenders.

 

[random2]

Joeys 31-15 over Pats. Wouldn't be happy with the performance all though Pats definitely stepped it up. Joeys 12 McDonnell had a blinder. Huge news from Bathurst with View beaten 17-15. I hear the MOTM from Stannies was an ex Joeys boy aswell

 

[fireball]

Interesting...did view have their athletes playing? Sounds as if joeys was pushed hard. Although the bulk of their starting backline was at the athletics track today. They will benefit from getting the quick outside backs returning after gps.

 

[Donotquestion]

Interesting.did view have their athletes playing? Sounds as if joeys was pushed hard. Although the bulk of their starting backline was at the athletics track today. They will benefit from getting the quick outside backs returning after gps.

Riverview were missing 8 or so players in their game today vs Stannies

 

[aka_the_think]

Interesting.did view have their athletes playing? Sounds as if joeys was pushed hard. Although the bulk of their starting backline was at the athletics track today. They will benefit from getting the quick outside backs returning after gps.

Incredible news, I'm very disappointed. Across the opens age group there were 18 players out for Aths, and there may have been more than 8 players out in the 1sts, but nothing justifies that result.

Any other results from the weekend?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Incredible news, I'm very disappointed. Across the opens age group there were 18 players out for Aths, and there may have been more than 8 players out in the 1sts, but nothing justifies that result.

Any other results from the weekend?

That's silly.
Pats have had completely undisrupted preparation for the season and my bet is they'll have some big players perhaps lacking in the subtle skills but willing to have a go.
Its the same for all the GPS school playing today:
This GPS athletics season timing is a bad joke.
What is the reason for being the only school system to have it now????

 

[aka_the_think]

That's silly.
Pats have had completely undisrupted preparation for the season and my bet is they'll have some big players perhaps lacking in the subtle skills but willing to have a go.
Its the same for all the GPS school playing today:
This GPS athletics season timing is a bad joke.
What is the reason for being the only school system to have it now????

Yes it's incredibly silly - I don't see why GPS Athletics isn't after the Rugby season, as it was for a long time. They attempted to bring this back a few years ago and I thought it was extremely successful. I understand it has too do with conflict with the HSC, but for the sake of convenience I won't go into any length about my arguments against that calculus.

Even considering the fact that GPS Aths is before the season, Riverview's policies have been poor, and I'm sure many other schools are experiencing the same futile and frustrating dilemma. This is result is what Riverview probably deserves for being arrogant in its allocation of players for this round, and moreover for caving in to the pressure of the athletics department.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Yes it's incredibly silly - I don't see why GPS Athletics isn't after the Rugby season, as it was for a long time. They attempted to bring this back a few years ago and I thought it was extremely successful. I understand it has too do with conflict with the HSC, but for the sake of convenience I won't go into any length about my arguments against that calculus.

Even considering the fact that GPS Aths is before the season, Riverview's policies have been poor, and I'm sure many other schools are experiencing the same futile and frustrating dilemma. This is result is what Riverview probably deserves for being arrogant in its allocation of players for this round, and moreover for caving in to the pressure of the athletics department.

What I was saying was that its silly to suggest SJC should be unhappy with the result.
It is also silly to have a go at SIC for their policies: in what way were they arrogant in their selections?
Both SJC and SIC have always taken athletics very seriously. I suspect all the school have the same policy which is that athletics has priority and to some extent if you are a proven athlete there's no dogging it.
CAS does the same HSC as GPS at the same time and they still have their athletics season after winter.
The other thing I don't like about the order of seasons is that it give the GPS schools an opportunity to take the excuse which is not good for the game.

 

[aka_the_think]

What I was saying was that its silly to suggest SJC should be unhappy with the result.
It is also silly to have a go at SIC for their policies: in what way were they arrogant in their selections?
Both SJC and SIC have always taken athletics very seriously. I suspect all the school have the same policy which is that athletics has priority and to some extent if you are a proven athlete there's no dogging it.
CAS does the same HSC as GPS at the same time and they still have their athletics season after winter.
The other thing I don't like about the order of seasons is that it give the GPS schools an opportunity to take the excuse which is not good for the game.

It's arrogant because they thought they could get away with sending at a team that wasn't full strength and come away with a win. Imo that's quite disrespectful, and a waste of everyone's time, either you send a full strength team or you don't send a team at all for exactly the reason you pointed out, now it will always be the case that Riverview will make the excuse that their best players weren't playing.

I agree entirely with your frustration at the order of the season, don't construe anything that I'm saying as disagreeing with what you're saying, it's just such a pointless endeavour, and my experiences have caused me to be annoyed specifically with Riverview's policies, hence why I have articulated my sentiments, though I am sure every other school goes through the same rubbish.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

It's arrogant because they thought they could get away with sending at a team that wasn't full strength and come away with a win. Imo that's quite disrespectful, and a waste of everyone's time, either you send a full strength team or you don't send a team at all for exactly the reason you pointed out, now it will always be the case that Riverview will make the excuse that their best players weren't playing.

Do you suggest they left out non-athletes?

 

[aka_the_think]

Do you suggest they left out non-athletes?

By no means, but they do leave out a lot of people who are merely parts of the "squad" who may not compete in the competition at all, and this was particularly the case between the 1sts and the 3rds, though I won't name people. Further, there are a number of kids who are rested for events like shot-put who, realistically, should be playing.

I just don't think they should be rested outright to tell you the truth, the prioritisation of athletics over rugby is flawed, and even if it was the case that they HAD to leave out the athletes because of this priority, they would have known that from the start and should never have organised this game, because regardless of the circumstances that created this relatively weak side it is arrogant.

 

[Freddo Frog]

Why don't the non-athletes deserve some pre-season matches? It gives them a focus for their training while they wait for the athletes to finish the aths program, and gives boys a chance to showcase what they have to offer. I don't think that's either arrogant or pointless. I totally disagree with your assertion that you should only send a team if its your full-strength team.

 

[aka_the_think]

Why don't the non-athletes deserve some pre-season matches? It gives them a focus for their training while they wait for the athletes to finish the aths program, and gives boys a chance to showcase what they have to offer. I don't think that's either arrogant or pointless. I totally disagree with your assertion that you should only send a team if its your full-strength team.

The non-athletes still get to play and engage in pre-season matches - the school sent 5 teams to Bathurst, and have played a number of games against opposition, but calling a team the 1st XV when they are not the 1st XV, and promising opposition that they're playing a 1st XV when they're in fact not playing a 1st XV is arrogant.

I'll amend this "assertion", a school should only seem a team they called the 1st XV if it's their full-strength team, otherwise the entire process is arrogant and doesn't help anyone.

This forum isn't about assessing the merits of various school's attitudes towards GPS Athletics though, just note that I am disappointed at this loss, and I hope (or perhaps pray as a good catholic boy ought to) that this isn't indicative of future results.

 

[Freddo Frog]

I see a 1st XV as being the best team a school can summons on any given day. This obviously happens all season due to injuries etc when key players might be out.
Anyway getting beyond our differing definitions, I very much doubt any of the opposition were in the dark about GPS athletes not participating in the trial games, and they still felt it was a worthwhile match to play.

 

[aka_the_think]

I see a 1st XV as being the best team a school can summons on any given day. This obviously happens all season due to injuries etc when key players might be out.
Anyway getting beyond our differing definitions, I very much doubt any of the opposition were in the dark about GPS athletes not participating in the trial games, and they still felt it was a worthwhile match to play.

I'm sure THEY thought it was a worthwhile game to play, but I don't see why Riverview would have thought it was, and this is evidenced by their specific decision to time this game a week before the GPS aths - Augustine's weren't given this backhand.

I don't want to discuss this any further, it isn't too pertinent, what is relevant though is how this contributes to the overall GPS title picture. I think it is somewhat important, but shouldn't derail too much of the momentum Riverview has. Any other thoughts?

 

[spirit of cupertino]

Of course you should only send your best team. Runners don't make rugby players and I doubt any of the 1st are out for that reason. Maybe View have already won the battle of the hype and are happy to wait till the season starts. Who do they play first up? Bye? Otherwise we could have Aths events as curtain raisers to the rugby matches. Imagine 4x100 relay with just props and secondrowers. Have each team run in a different direction so no one knows who's in the lead till the end. This means that we won't get bored 5.5 seconds into the 100m.

Is there a Tahs match on tonight? Can't see it listed in the TV guide. Can someone on GnG please please set up a petition to start up a Western Sydney Super franchise so I can get re-involved?

 

[Agent]

Riverview were missing 8 or so players in their game today vs Stannies

Boohoo View. Maybe we should be saying well done to Stannies - always good to see an 'underdog' get up!

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Runners don't make rugby players and I doubt any of the 1st are out for that reason.

This is not elite sport - at most schools the core of every team comes from the same small number of kids who feature in the top flight, summer, autumn or winter.