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[Scarfman]

Scarfie, your injury might be called plantar fasciitis. If it is, you've got to use lots of cold compression, stand on ice bricks or whatever. I had a dose of this last year and a medico mate of mine recommended cold treatment and rolling the sole of the foot heavily on a Coke bottle (the classic shape) a few times a day. It worked.

Check PF out on Google to ensure that's what you've got.

PS. How're going to get down to Leura Cellars? Crawl?

Don't joke! I hate to crawl to the bathroom for a piss the other night.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check it out, and I'm seeing the physio on Monday.

Leura Cellars would go out of business without me.

 

[Pfitzy]

until you own up to your shortcomings, you can't fix them. Yeah, that clip was better, good leg drive too. Surely you didn't end up scoring the try as well, did you? If you did.....that's very impressive. If not, well....you fucking well should have! :thumb

Well I was busy getting up from that drive - the two blokes who ran it on from my hitup are actually reasonably fast. Therefore my shortcoming is my fitness

Back to business...

I should re-title this thread to "Oh God! What have I done?!!" - today we played Notre Dame down at Blakehurst (only ground they could get at short notice as their normal home venue was booked) which is a goodly drive from this part of Western Sydney. Nevertheless, we got pretty good numbers against what was a youthful (inexperienced) team in their first year of Suburban Rugby. Notre Dame University are a Catholic Uni here in Sydney apparently. As I said, they were youthful and relatively fit so we had to be on our guard for the breakouts, but size was going to be an issue for the lads, in addition to the fact we've got some pretty awesome talent.

Seconds started poorly, failing to make inroads against the vigour of youth, and a mistake led to Notre Dame's first try in Suburban rugby on the expected breakout that their speed provided. However the Renegades hit back with some nice tries and never looked like being headed once the set piece got into gear. Still, the Notre Dame boys made some nice passages of play to keep a respectable loss of 29-21 (5 tries to 3 - their kicker was quite good). I'll say it again, fitness is the key for them rolling a few teams in this comp. They've definitely got the right attitude.

I was standing with the other reserves for Seconds, minding my own business, when the First Grade head coach taps me on the shoulder. "No props have shown up for First Grade. Do you want 1 or 3?"

:-\

Now at this point I know the guys we're playing aren't going to be crash-hot at scrum time, but its still been many moons since I packed a scrum. Also a daunting prospect is a few of the Firsts pack have played a LOT of rugby at higher levels than Subbies 5th Div (including Kiwi rep sides), and I might look like an idiot in front of them having stuck my hand up for prop. So like an idiot would, I say "Loosehead will be just fine thanks Muzza" and smile broadly. Then I go get the brown undies and think about the nearest chemist I'll need to pick up something stronger than Deep Heat for Sunday morning. I should add I haven't trained for three weeks due to injury and/or being sick enough (phlegm custard in my lungs and nasal passages) to take time off work this week, and this doesn't help the fact that I'm still barge-arsed and aerobically about as fit as Oprah Winfrey.

Still, I decide that as my season goal of starting Second Grade front rower is already exceeded (even if I'm in it by default) then I might as well go in boots and all.

The game itself was bloody exhausting - I spent a lot of time walking, coughing up phlegm and leaning on rucks and trying not to point out the ref's errors . And, due to both backlines having early season rust, there were a LOT of scrums due to knocks-on and forward passes. The kid opposite me was actually softer than I am and I managed to keep it over him most of the game. Something changed early in the second half and he had a couple of good hits on me and got the points decision in about two scrums I can remember - I found out later that they were ignoring the substitution rules and had interchanged one of their locks who had enjoyed his rest and came on to give them a hand pushing. Their blindside flanker was also much better at shoving than their openside.

But by far the most satisfying moment was the 8-man shove we put past them midway through the second half when their flyhalf had knocked on in-goal. We drove them back to the line, I came up on the loosehead side, and our 8 picks it up and dives over. Besides that, I ran the ball once (with offload) and made a tackle and helped our hooker start a maul that, on its way to the line collapsed on my left leg. We won 43-20 (7 tries to 2 - again, their kicker nailed everything).

So the Renegades get off to a good start with a bonus-point win in both grades - currently leading First Grade on differential and third in Seconds. But I'm not sure I'll be sticking my hand up for First Grade prop against some of the better sides in the comp the way I feel now (or tomorrow) - the guys playing for Fairvale and Lane Cove will have better scrums than Notre Dame...

 

[Pfitzy]

And just in case no-one believes me, its a record of fact

http://www.rugby.net.au/game.asp?game=82131&comp=1778&orgid=7

 

[Scarfman]

Tries ... 0. Goals ... 0. Points ... 0. Ah, so many memories.

 

[Scarfman]

Scarfie, your injury might be called plantar fasciitis. If it is, you've got to use lots of cold compression, stand on ice bricks or whatever. I had a dose of this last year and a medico mate of mine recommended cold treatment and rolling the sole of the foot heavily on a Coke bottle (the classic shape) a few times a day. It worked.

Check this out. I go to the physio with plantar fasciitis and leave having to do pelvic floor exercises. Can anyone figure it out? (Answer below)

 

[Virgil]

And just in case no-one believes me, its a record of fact

http://www.rugby.net.au/game.asp?game=82131&comp=1778&orgid=7

Got you playing prop now Nick, the answer perhaps to OZ's propping woes

 

[Pfitzy]

Could very well be Virg. I couldn't be much worse than the current crowd

Scarfie - I had weak plantar flexion (couldn't raise myself on the ball of my left foot) and the physio spent most of her time twisting my back and cracking my neck. Worked a treat!

 

[Pfitzy]

Now I remembered the point I was going to make:

Also worth mentioning that just before this ankle problem I'd been experiencing numbness in the groin area and around the back passage as well, so don't give yourself splinters scratching your head about why physios do what they do

 

[Scarfman]

I'd been experiencing numbness in the groin area and around the back passage as well

Sounds like you've been keeping yourself busy, Nicko.

In my case, the reason my achilles and plantar are fucked are because they're taking all the strain from my fundamental lack of core stability. I'm running around rolling my hips like Oprah.

 

[Pfitzy]

That's what happened to me too - was running using just my calves instead of driving through with the whole body. Throw in being on the receiving end of a few heavy tackles and its no wonder my dura was twisted...

 

[Pfitzy]

Training last night - pitch has about an inch of water on it and drainage there is bad. There is also this tufty grass everywhere that you could cut yourself on or at least roll an ankle in the wet.

And I've been told that I'm starting loosehead prop this weekend for First Grade again...

 

[barbarian]

And I've been told that I'm starting loosehead prop this weekend for First Grade again...

Your rise to prominence is eerily similar to that of Al Baxter...

Before you know it you may be the club's most capped prop!

 

[Pfitzy]

Well I've got one cap at prop so far (I subbed in last year but that was uncontested scrums) and the leading prop I know of has 28 across both grades (18 starts). A ways to go I think, and I'm unlikely to play two grades in a day as he did.

 

[Pfitzy]

Today we beat Norwest in both grades - 20-12 for 2nds (4 tries to 2) and 52-10 in Firsts (about 8 tries to 1). Scrum was tougher this week as I predicted but I was much better prepared. I got nailed completely on one scrum but mostly got the better of it. Besides that, we dominated at lineout time (I was lifting at 3) but need to work more on our rucks. Ran the ball a couple of times from memory and knocked on once as I was preparing to clean up but got a pop pass instead. Which was OK because at the resulting scrum we totally dicked them. edit: made two tackles as well which I think is a record for me

My proudest moment today was at halftime - the coach wanted to sub in two new props to give everyone a run but the skipper (also hooker and ex-NPC lower division player) said we deserved another 5-10 minutes. Pretty high praise I thought, considering the THP ready to come on was actually the guy who propped First Grade last year in their undefeated run.

The funnier story today was our old foes Bankstown - they went down to 6th Division (after apparently asking to go up to 4th and getting laughed at) and played their first game this week after a bye last week. They're usually pretty strong at home but got dusted by Rockdale 25-12 - the irony being Rockdale dropped from 5th to 6th Div because of lack of players :lmao:

I can start to feel the fitness taking hold but because I'm still a bit sick I've now got a godawful sore throat (could have been the yelling too ) that I hope clears up next week. Training Wednesday followed by Roseville on Saturday at their place. I hear they have a bit of skill due to their ranks being swelled by ex-GPS players, but considering they got smashed by Norwest last week (34-14 Firsts and 29-10 Seconds) I don't hold many fears. Away games are always tough.

So now the ladders look like this:

FIRST GRADE: http://www.rugby.net.au/ladder.asp?comp=1778&OrgID=7
SECOND GRADE: http://www.rugby.net.au/ladder.asp?comp=1780&OrgID=7

First and second respectively on points for/against

I'm fucked. Bed time.

 

[naza]

Glad to hear you're giving it a good crack in 1sts Nick despite being so crook. May I add I'm a HUGE Pablo Sanchez fan !

 

[Pfitzy]

Because of the cool name or because he occasionally wears an Easts Academy shirt?

 

[naza]

Because of the cool name. I like him even more now ! :lmao:

How have you pulled up today - moving like a cripple ?

 

[Pfitzy]

Actually today I'm not as bad as last week, where it was the first time I'd played prop for ages. We were playing against men and not boys this week but the muscles aren't in as much shock. The neck is a bit stiff but the back is generally OK except where I copped a knee. Other than that (and the coughing up heaps of phlegm) I'm as sound as a pound.

 

[Thomond78]

Other than that (and the coughing up heaps of phlegm) I'm as sound as a pound.

The choice of this phrase may go a long way to explaining just why sterling is heading around the u-bend at the moment... :lmao:

 

[Pfitzy]

Smart arse eh?

Interesting day here in Sydney for suburban rugby - its been raining a fair bit (as I write this its hammering down... and now its stopped) so it was no surprise when our club secretary rang the opposition (Roseville) that their ground was closed. We already knew our ground had been closed (both are owned by the local council - poofs) and were resigned to not playing tomorrow. Then we contacted the competition admin and they were surprised to hear Roseville had called it off, because their council had not closed the ground at all, and its not the club's call! So back on the phone and a few news updates and SMS later we're back on for tomorrow!

8)

Going to be damp underfoot so we'll look to grind it out in the forwards I reckon.

In a slight downer, at training on Wednesday night it was confirmed that one of last year's regular first grade props (TH) was going to play on the weekend. In addition, the rather large lad from Parramatta premier grade who showed at one of our trial games was there (LH). So that's me out of a job as far as First Grade goes :-\

But the Second Grade coach isn't sure just who will show up for his lot, so I am almost guaranteed a starting spot at prop or hooker there - especially after the recent credit I racked up propping First Grade ;D