NSW Suburban Rugby 2012

[Ozzie Bob]

Ozzie bob- sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Yes I am coaching bobs 5ths and numbers are good. We are playing Knox old boys tomorrow at their game and we have 6 fresh teams- in fact this year we probably have the most registered players in our our 50 year history. We will account for ourselves against Knox old boys tomorrow. The bobs are looking good. Hopefully the fitz files in the SMS will advertise our home game as the bobs will have a strong away crowd throughout the day.
Out of interest when did you play? I have played over 200 games and love the club.

Crashy i think i know who you are, but ill keep you identity a secret!

I never played for the club, but was on the committee for a year, used to ref halligans and touch judge other games. Love the club and went to the school!

Great news about numbers, cant wait to see how we get on!

Best of luck for tomorrow, im in london, so will check the results with great interest!

Up the BOBBIES!

 

[barbarian]

My team KOBs took on newly promoted Petersham at Camperdown oval. It was a closely fought day with Shammies taking 4s, 3s and 2s with us taking out colts and 1s.

Obviously Petersham have very good depth, always a bit intimidating to turn up at the ground before 4s to see Petersham 5ths having a run in Halligans. They were a well drilled club and it showed in every grade.

We were pretty stoked with our performance in 1s, we took it out 25-5 after being down 0-5 for most of the first half. Shammies came out firing but wilted badly in the second half. They had a dynamite 12 and a few good second rowers but struggled in the scrum and on the counter. Our backline was firing on all cyllanders with a newly recruited (aka he rocked up to training on Thursday looking for a place to play) French 10 and a few speedy wingers.

Div 2 looks to be just as close as we all expected. The surprising result of the day was Balmain sweeping Lindfield. Obviously the off-season recruitment of Balmain is paying off, Lindfield are a very good club. All other games looked to be closely fought.

.

 

[Crashy]

Credit to Knox old boys in first division. Not that we underestimated them at all but being significantly stronger this year in player numbers and depth we (barker old boys)were not happy to come away with one win from six games- though most of the games were close. Now for the next game at our home ground...
Looks like div 1 will be strong again across all clubs.

 

[RugbyTears]

I am very new to the Subbies rugby scene but I was interested to read about the amalgamation of Div 3 & 4 on this 'page'. And people on this page seemed to agree Colts is important. My son who plays in one of the Div 3 clubs tells me of the 12 clubs in the amalgamated division, only 5 are fielding Colts in 2012. I am no genius, but even I can work it out 'no Colts, no numbers in future, So is this a corrosion that is going to spread further and further up to the higher division ? I am pretty sure a lot of the young fellas playing in the 5 Colts team in Div 3 will not be coming back next year - who wants to play the same teams 3 times in the year with no competition points to play for either ? How is it possible for clubs like Macquarie Uni, Uni of Western Sydney and Waverley (association to Waverley College) not to be able to field one Colts team ?? Maybe I just don't understand Subbies rugby.

 

[Prodigy]

I am very new to the Subbies rugby scene but I was interested to read about the amalgamation of Div 3 & 4 on this 'page'. And people on this page seemed to agree Colts is important. My son who plays in one of the Div 3 clubs tells me of the 12 clubs in the amalgamated division, only 5 are fielding Colts in 2012. I am no genius, but even I can work it out 'no Colts, no numbers in future, So is this a corrosion that is going to spread further and further up to the higher division ? I am pretty sure a lot of the young fellas playing in the 5 Colts team in Div 3 will not be coming back next year - who wants to play the same teams 3 times in the year with no competition points to play for either ? How is it possible for clubs like Macquarie Uni, Uni of Western Sydney and Waverley (association to Waverley College) not to be able to field one Colts team ?? Maybe I just don't understand Subbies rugby.

Mate, I totally understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, guys at that age can be hard to pin down - the Colts competition in Division 3 has always been a hard one to run, because historically clubs have never needed to have colts to play in Division 3.
I am from Epping and we have been the ones in the past screaming for this competition. Unfortunately for us, last year other teams refused to play in the competition if there were only 7 teams. We had about 35 players eligible for Colts last year, so made the hard decision to play 2 teams. This allowed the competition to go ahead, but cause the downfall of our own colts team. Unfortunately we had to spread the numbers too thin especially when our teams played in totally different parts of town.
The boys didn't want to have to stay on the field if they were injured and unfortunately that was the case. A number of players who were good enough to push up into the top grades were expected to play colts and this meant that felt unwanted at the club and have left.

We had hoped to form a partnership with Eastwood Rugby to take their left over colts as part of our team and basically be Eastwood's fourth grade colts, but it seems like their numbers are exactly too over the top anyway.

I don't know if this helps, but over the last 6 seasons we have pushed for this. However, another significant problem for us is the slow demise of our junior club, who are only running 11's, 13's and 17's apart from mini's. Sydney Junior Rugby Union has alot to answer for in splitting to Saturday/Sunday competitions and I believe that this is going to be a significant problem in the future of Colts Rugby.

 

[Marley]

Anyone know the results from the weekend? and how did Crossy go??
I was away didnt get to see any action.

Cheers

 

[Prodigy]

Check the Subbies results www.rugby.net.au/competitions.asp

He must have done alright - they won all grades.

 

[Ozzie Bob]

Mate, I totally understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, guys at that age can be hard to pin down - the Colts competition in Division 3 has always been a hard one to run, because historically clubs have never needed to have colts to play in Division 3.
I am from Epping and we have been the ones in the past screaming for this competition. Unfortunately for us, last year other teams refused to play in the competition if there were only 7 teams. We had about 35 players eligible for Colts last year, so made the hard decision to play 2 teams. This allowed the competition to go ahead, but cause the downfall of our own colts team. Unfortunately we had to spread the numbers too thin especially when our teams played in totally different parts of town.
The boys didn't want to have to stay on the field if they were injured and unfortunately that was the case. A number of players who were good enough to push up into the top grades were expected to play colts and this meant that felt unwanted at the club and have left.

We had hoped to form a partnership with Eastwood Rugby to take their left over colts as part of our team and basically be Eastwood's fourth grade colts, but it seems like their numbers are exactly too over the top anyway.

I don't know if this helps, but over the last 6 seasons we have pushed for this. However, another significant problem for us is the slow demise of our junior club, who are only running 11's, 13's and 17's apart from mini's. Sydney Junior Rugby Union has alot to answer for in splitting to Saturday/Sunday competitions and I believe that this is going to be a significant problem in the future of Colts Rugby.

Prodigy what have they done to the junior comp?

When i played with my junior club (Beecroft) it was a full day at your home ground Under 10's-Under 17's generally against the one club on a Saturday.

It really concerns me to hear the state of Epping Juniors!

 

[RugbyTears]

Prodigy, thanks for the insightful explanation. I think this issue with Colts is exactly the same as what I have seen at junior club & schoolboy rugby in recent years where comps have teams with different playing numbers & standard. Clubs or schools that take care of their numbers & standard end up being penalised because you have so many 'byes' or uneven matches. Eventually players leave - usually to play league or stay at home to watch TV ! Its like a sickening reversal of Darwinism. instead of the fittest surviving, the fittest end up joining the weakest. As you said, Epping had 35 Colt players last year, and there is no Colts team this year. I don't know who is responsible for addressing this, let alone what to do with it. But it drives me mad whenever I hear the ARU talks about "expanding" the game in Melbourne & Perth. What about "sustaining" the game in areas which are already your rugby stronghold ? I know this is not the forum to rave about this issue but it will affect subbie clubs in a few short years. BTW, whats happened to the 35 Epping Colt players you had last year - I hope they are all accommodated in grades.

 

[Druid]

Prodigy what have they done to the junior comp?

When i played with my junior club (Beecroft) it was a full day at your home ground Under 10's-Under 17's generally against the one club on a Saturday.

It really concerns me to hear the state of Epping Juniors!

It will affect subbies very soon. At Hills for instance, we had an Opens team last year on a Saturday which allowed us to field a colts team this year. Unfortunately this year on Saturdays there is no Opens competiton or Under 15s competiton and the Under 16s competition has only 8 teams, and the numbers down the age groups to Under 10s are not significantly better. Without significant effort (which has not been forthcoming) the concept of playing junior Rugby on Saturday's will cease to exist.

The main question then for Subbies is, will kids who have structured their life around playing Rugby on a Sunday for the past 6 years come and play subbies colts on a Saturday morning, or will more kids find the transition from juniors to seniors that much more difficult?

 

[Prodigy]

Prodigy, thanks for the insightful explanation. I think this issue with Colts is exactly the same as what I have seen at junior club & schoolboy rugby in recent years where comps have teams with different playing numbers & standard. Clubs or schools that take care of their numbers & standard end up being penalised because you have so many 'byes' or uneven matches. Eventually players leave - usually to play league or stay at home to watch TV ! Its like a sickening reversal of Darwinism. instead of the fittest surviving, the fittest end up joining the weakest. As you said, Epping had 35 Colt players last year, and there is no Colts team this year. I don't know who is responsible for addressing this, let alone what to do with it. But it drives me mad whenever I hear the ARU talks about "expanding" the game in Melbourne & Perth. What about "sustaining" the game in areas which are already your rugby stronghold ? I know this is not the forum to rave about this issue but it will affect subbie clubs in a few short years. BTW, whats happened to the 35 Epping Colt players you had last year - I hope they are all accommodated in grades.

Of the 35 Colts players, I'd say around 8-10 are still playing for us. Some became too old for colts and have decided not to play again, 3-4 went to try their hand at Eastwood, while the rest just got jack of the situation and have decided not to play this year.

 

[lily]

In division 3 Brothers beat Waverley 40 - 8.
Their team included the following -
6 - Lenny Rawara
7 - Craig Thomas
8 - Vili Ratu
9 - Vinnie Byrne
10 - Darren Kapene
12 - Francis Cullimore
13 - Greg Wade

Most at the back end of their careers but still very handy. They must make an awesome steak sanga for the players after the game.

 

[Prodigy]

In division 3 Brothers beat Waverley 40 - 8.
Their team included the following -
6 - Lenny Rawara
7 - Craig Thomas
8 - Vili Ratu
9 - Vinnie Byrne
10 - Darren Kapene
12 - Francis Cullimore
13 - Greg Wade

Most at the back end of their careers but still very handy. They must make an awesome steak sanga for the players after the game.

With lots of pineapples and greenies on them.......

 

[lily]

With lots of pineapples and greenies on them.......

You'd have to think so.

 

[Ozzie Bob]

No wonder Gordon are struggling!

 

[MACCA]

In division 3 Brothers beat Waverley 40 - 8.
Their team included the following -
6 - Lenny Rawara
7 - Craig Thomas
8 - Vili Ratu
9 - Vinnie Byrne
10 - Darren Kapene
12 - Francis Cullimore
13 - Greg Wade

Most at the back end of their careers but still very handy. They must make an awesome steak sanga for the players after the game.

didn't francis cullimore play at a high level?

 

[grievous]

No wonder Gordon are struggling!

except when they beat Randwick

 

[grievous]

watched a couple of grounds on sat.
My old club StGeorge v Hills. Carrs Park was a picture, one of the prettiest grounds in Sydney, saw end of 2nds and 25min of 1sts. Hills still a well drilled club in all grades and won the 3 games against Saints. Saints are all island boys in 1st/2nds and play that game of punch up then throw it about , some good tries scored but they lack discipline and teams like Blue Mountains will belt them up there later in the season when numbers thin a little.

Also checked out Rockdale v Dundas Valley at Rockdale aka The Swamp. Scrappy, big hits and some very unfit players all 6th grade standard stuff. Dont understand why Dundas havent been able to grow back an extra side after their fall. Rockdale won a close contest.

 

[latrell247]

In division 3 Brothers beat Waverley 40 - 8.
Their team included the following -
6 - Lenny Rawara
7 - Craig Thomas
8 - Vili Ratu
9 - Vinnie Byrne
10 - Darren Kapene
12 - Francis Cullimore
13 - Greg Wade

Most at the back end of their careers but still very handy. They must make an awesome steak sanga for the players after the game.

These blokes could still be playing 1st grade in shute shield

 

[Ozzie Bob]

Looking forward to round 3!