NSW club rugby thread

[Ash]

Nah...5 grades.

Also if your club can't attract players then it ain't a bigger club's problem I reckon.

Spoken like someone who's a fan of the unholy trinity and sees nothing wrong with the poaching of players from the weaker teams.

The poaching of players from the outer clubs prevents the growth of the clubs in those areas which are most in need of rugby development and participation.

 

[fatprop]

Nah...5 grades.

Also if your club can't attract players then it ain't a bigger club's problem I reckon.

Spoken like someone who's a fan of the unholy trinity and sees nothing wrong with the poaching of players from the weaker teams.

The poaching of players from the outer clubs prevents the growth of the clubs in those areas which are most in need of rugby development and participation.

Agreed

Poido is just annoyed that the Brumbie runners/Randwick would be affected

Rat

Have you ever heard of development? The best thing about the ARC was warehoused players were spread out.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Spoken like true westies that don't appreciate why people actually would rather live in places like Randwick.

Eastern suburbs FTW.

We do however actually accomodate a few CUB's ( Cashed up bogans) in the Eastern Suburbs. They are the one's with the rusty HQ sitting in the driveway. Probably lotto winners or something. ;D

In all honesty tho, jokes aside...

Why wouldn't a young lad want to live in beachside Sydney. Leave the choice to the players thankyou.
Penriff's probably a great spot but it ain't exactly on the coast...

 

[fatprop]

Spoken like true westies that don't appreciate why people actually would rather live in places like Randwick.

Eastern suburbs FTW.

We do however actually accomodate a few CUB's ( Cashed up bogans) in the Eastern Suburbs. They are the one's with the rusty HQ sitting in the driveway. Probably lotto winners or something. ;D

In all honesty tho, jokes aside...

Why wouldn't a young lad want to live in beachside Sydney. Leave the choice to the players thankyou.
Penriff's probably a great spot but it ain't exactly on the coast...

Interesting approach, I gather you, like most of a number of Sydney Clubs, have no real interest in seeing rugby grow as a sport in Aus.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Some people just prefer to live on the coast. Go figure !

 

[Pfitzy]

You should stop using Ratsak for bait

Sundays won't work that well I don't think - especially for those who work Saturday morning and then bust a gut to get to games that afternoon. This if course is not a concern for white collars who generally don't work Saturdays, but us poor westies have a number of blokes who shorten their 6-day working week to play. I know - bally scrubbers should just get a university education and buy a beach condo eh what?

I think it will only be the bottom tiers of Subbies that get a makeover, and the problem is obvious: numbers. The top three divisions are fairly stable with promotion/relegation giving them impetus to perform or the safety blanket of a lower division if they have issues.

Currently there are 13 teams in 6th Division (12 after Bankstown got the boot) while Roseville struggled to play 5th Division throughout the season and will probably go back down. I know Rockdale, Bankstown, and Killara West Pymble slid down from 5th Div last year due to numbers (Rockdale yanked their Seconds halfway through 2007).

Likewise with Sydney Harlequins and Fairvale this year coming down from 4th Division when the numbers just weren't there. Oakhill and Norwest had numbers issues as well during the year, with Norwest especially killing off their First Grade chances to get their best Second Grade unit out there for the finals.

Chatswood have (again) failed to make a meaningful contribution in the Third Grade arean of 4th Division and are probably headed down as well after two poor years. St George are also struggling and with games starting at midday, the Saturday workers issue is massive. There are only 7 sides in 4th Div now and it could be 6 in short order or even less - though the Renegades have ambitions of moving up next year even if fat bastards like me have to play two games.

There is no junior rugby program out here to match what AFL and League are putting on (and soccer of course). The Hills have juniors as do Blacktown, but even dud suburbs like mine have 30 junior sides in all ages from U6 to U18. The next suburb along has 15-20 junior sides. We need to pull finger.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Not denying the place for Westies. Just don't want to live there. lol

Some of the lads that come to the Wicks, come for the lifestyle. Freedom of choice works 4 me.

 

[Pfitzy]

If you have the income... OR want to bring up a family in an apartment. Some people don't.

 

[the gambler]

Lets stay away from the whole where would you rather live debate children.

For me this latest plan by NSWRU is a disaster waiting to happen.

The points system is essentially a salary cap and salary caps can only work in professional environments where people are prepared to make sacrifices to play at a particular standard/level. Club rugby is not a standard that would allow such a system to operate. A large number of players, who are essentially amateur, will not play for Penrith just so they can play first grade. They will play in subbies comps or simply not play rugby at all. To hope otherwise is to be living in dreamland.


I dont have a better solution at the moment, however I dont see how this plan is going to work.

 

[Pfitzy]

I'm with you on that gambler - besides which the bigger clubs will still have ways around it i.e. long-term players who aren't Wallabies etc are excepted. Clubs who are into junior development still get concessions etc. It is a manufactured system that could be avoided by the ARU saying "Well you're big, independent, funded clubs, so now we're going to throw our cash at development programs in growth areas to stimulate something along the lines of a 5-year plan".

A decent Colts program for Western Sydney, overseen by and feeding into Parramatta, Eastwood, and Penrith, and another one for the Shire, would help everyone enormously and get rugby up against the big boys.

 

[the gambler]

I have huge fears in reducing the number of colts teams. Yes Penrith, Souths and to a lesser extent Parra really struggle in the lower grades but cutting the colts down to two grades could lead to a huge loss in player numbers.

A number of current 1st grade players, a few super 14 players and even a current Wallaby or two couldnt get a game for 1st or 2nd grade colts teams when they were playing colts. Burgess for example spent the best part of a year in 3rd grade colts for Uni while a number of guys who couldnt even get a game for 4th grade colts for Uni went to play for Easts and Norths and ended up playing for NSW 19's within 12 months.

Obviously Uni is a special case and I dont want to start that argument but its a simple fact that some players develop later than others and you cannot tell what level a player will end up playing when he is 18 or 19. However if clubs only have 2 colts teams you will lose a lot of players to subbies and a lot will simply not play at all or only very occasionaly with their mates.

Its a dangerous path and one I dont like at all.

 

[the gambler]

Week 1: Saturday, semi-final B: Eastern Suburbs (4th) v West Harbour (5th) at Western Weekender Stadium, St Marys, 3.10pm.

Where the hell is that??

 

[Lindommer]

It's at the northern end of Forrester Road, St Marys. Magnificent stadium, developed by St Marys metropolitan league team and shared with Penrith rugby this season.

You blokes from the eastern and northern suburbs better get your shots and make sure your passports are up to date. ;D ;D ;D

 

[formeropenside]

Probably a few Western Sydney clubs could come north and have a look at Sunnybank and how it has developed into a top club from a late start in a non-traditional rugby area. Apparently it has focused on the islander population and has a swag of Reds in the team. I suspect it also has links with Churchie (a strong GPS school without being Ipswich Grammar, Nudgee or Terrace) to pick up a lot of those players.

Of course, while there are old clubs in Brisbane with vested interests they arent the unholy trinity either.

 

[Rugby Rat]

Most people do not come to Sydney to live in Penrith, Bankstown or Parra.

You can however afford a house out that ways and I am not knocking the need for Flanelette and Uhg boots nor the fact that state taxes are paid on Winnie reds. Nor am I knocking the emotional need for levi jeans to be worn on 40 degree summer days.

Neither am I saying that a visit to the local Mosque is not great for the spiritual side of things. Also that the occaisional drive by certainly keeps people on their toes and the bullet holes provide good ventilation in the summer months.

What I did say, to play for the Wicks is sometimes a lifestyle choice. Wake up on the beach at sunrise. Plenty of pretty girls and good surfing beaches.

 

[Ash]

Probably a few Western Sydney clubs could come north and have a look at Sunnybank and how it has developed into a top club from a late start in a non-traditional rugby area. Apparently it has focused on the islander population and has a swag of Reds in the team. I suspect it also has links with Churchie (a strong GPS school without being Ipswich Grammar, Nudgee or Terrace) to pick up a lot of those players.

Of course, while there are old clubs in Brisbane with vested interests they arent the unholy trinity either.

Interesting, because Churchie is nowhere near Sunnybank.

 

[formeropenside]

Probably a few Western Sydney clubs could come north and have a look at Sunnybank and how it has developed into a top club from a late start in a non-traditional rugby area. Apparently it has focused on the islander population and has a swag of Reds in the team. I suspect it also has links with Churchie (a strong GPS school without being Ipswich Grammar, Nudgee or Terrace) to pick up a lot of those players.

Of course, while there are old clubs in Brisbane with vested interests they arent the unholy trinity either.

Interesting, because Churchie is nowhere near Sunnybank.

Yeah, closer to Easts or Souths, but they seem to get a few Churchie boys out there. The Ippy Grammar crowd tend to go to the Broncos.

 

[Rugby Rat]

A similar Qld example. It's like rating the Nudgee boys and forcing them to play against Brothers.

Sure there are those Nudgee boys that will play for other teams but to be forced ?

Power to freedom of choice. Not power to the non playing rugby board. I am thinking we need a player's Union for Union which would stand up for player's rights.

 

[Ash]

A similar Qld example. It's like rating the Nudgee boys and forcing them to play against Brothers.

Sure there are those Nudgee boys that will play for other teams but to be forced ?

Power to freedom of choice. Not power to the non playing rugby board. I am thinking we need a player's Union for Union which would stand up for player's rights.

No, it's not. It's not a similar example at all.

Anyway, having 3 or so completely dominant teams removes freedom of choice, as top players can pick from 3 teams instead of 12. So that argument is silly.

As for living in Randwick, no way. I choose to live in or around Balmain. The argument that players want to all live in Randwick for the lifestyle is one of the silliest things ever said on a rugby board. Ever heard of gross generalisations?

Finally, there being only a few dominat teams wouldn't be such a problem, if it didn't affect poorly on the development of players and the spreading of the sport into non-core areas, which is required. The big problem is these clubs think they are bigger than the game of rugby, which pedants like RR clearly agree with. This is a shame, but then I've also met a few Randwick supporters who have more balanced views, so you can't tar them all with the same brush. Unfortunately.

 

[fatprop]

A couple of mates I played with were told to change clubs by a selector (linked to the club recommended) and they would get higher rep honours. One did and became a Wallaby.