Dear ME
We all know you picked the 1st to 3rd last year andyour predictions are usually correct-but can you answer the question please
GSP, you know what? It probably counts for a bit because of the camraderie built within a successful age group but I can accept that the new face syndrome can readily undermine it, just as all the other distractions of life in senior these days - posting on social media, girls, study, posting on social media, part time jobs, detentions, taking duck face selfies, training, driving lessons, doing beach weights for schoolies etc etc and posting on social media.
I recall reading a story in the excellent B&G dossier that GT print each season which talked of the 1997(?) GT premiership side being borne of a hard core group of 13As who tried their guts out for each other and gradually got better and better until by year 12 they were a force, not a pretty force, but a ruthlessly effective force lead by a passionate Coach McBain and they won the comp in their senior year. How sweet to savour the victory drinks poured over the rocks of their U13 and U14 losses for those 5 year team men? can a one year man say the same thing? at the risk of being shunted to the scholarship forum, I would suggest the one year matured drink is less tasty than the 5 year one.
I believe the 15As are usually the purest team in the comp because the cynicism of players whose senior is being spread over three years have not yet affected them and, unless you are at BGS, year 10s are not allowed to be in the 1st XV because of the 2 year window rule and therefore the team is not tampered with from above.
While I am on that point, IMHO Rowing is the purest GPS sport because no primary schools have rowing programs meaning any successful shed or 1st VIII has to be developed within the program run by the school without scholarships. I know having better oars and better shells can help a result but identifying the rowers and developing their technique and fitness for the sport has to come from scratch.
