QLD GPS Rugby 2020

[Garry Owens]

^Yeah I am sure the New Star aligned BBC Head Coach who applied for Jim McKay's job as Attack Coach at the Reds and failed to interview a year or so ago would be keen as mustard to get Brad Thorn along to join in the "many hands to build a village" approach. Pffff.

If these clowns were/are too prideful to ask Andy Mac ( from within their existing community) to come down and assist with set piece , and instead , rely on the sagely Yoda-esque scrum doctoring mastery of the prior DOR/Forwards Coach with the "get low" and "push" well......I wouldn't be humming Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out for a Hero"

Insofar as the Kefs.......meh. Hasn't done BBC any good for the last few years with them both being there ( or sort of in Totai's case )

Just names and a bit of hullabuloo.

If they turned it over to Steve Kef , fully , without him having to defer , all good I guess but until they sort out the dynamics its the same old story.

 

[Aussie Luke]

Except the Spanish flu didn't originate in Spain

I googled this and yes, you're right! Must have been "fake news" at the time, way back in 1918.

Back to rugby...so will this year's First XV matches be played in front of empty stands with no more than 100 people allowed to gather?

 

[Confucius Say]

I just back form self iso and watch the Season on BBC on YouTube. It has reach a big audience globally and the comment on YouTube have been very very positive. Well done to all the boy last year on a tough competition. Those TSS and NC game were pure theater and while there could only be one winner, all player and coach deserve to be congratulated.

Hoping 2020 is another tough contest and GT can get them self up each week.

 

[Aussie Luke]

I just back form self iso and watch the Season on BBC on YouTube. It has reach a big audience globally and the comment on YouTube have been very very positive. Well done to all the boy last year on a tough competition. Those TSS and NC game were pure theater and while there could only be one winner, all player and coach deserve to be congratulated.

Hoping 2020 is another tough contest and GT can get them self up each week.

What I liked about the BBC documentary was the school's cultural and ritualistic aspects. This is unique to the school and is what is great about some of the GPS schools. I hope they keep this up and it would be great if all 9 of the GPS schools were also exuding this culture at the rugby. I liked this also about the Nudgee documentary. Terrace are big on their rituals as are Churchie and TSS. I'm looking forward to seeing the next school profiled and what they bring to the table.​

 

[sonnybinkboys99]

Who are we feeling are the competition darkhorses?

 

[Aussie Luke]

Who are we feeling are the competition darkhorses?

I think Churchie will be good this year as I understand they had a lot of year 11s in the team last year and they were quite competitive in some select games

 

[Rugrat]

Who are we feeling are the competition darkhorses?

Could be a lottery with such a short preparation time and Fitness combinations and selections will be a big issue. Will be very interesting to see which individuals showed the most disciple to train alone. A few big lads may well struggle to get selected for firsts in the early rounds.

 

[Aussie Luke]

The boarding house at Nudgee has been shut down during the virus issue and the interstate boarders are still not allowed back for awhile yet. Additionally, the international students are not allowed back into the country at all and will not be available during the season, so they will lose a lot of their depth and onsite advantage. I suspect the same for TSS.

 

[The Engine Room]

The boarding house at Nudgee has been shut down during the virus issue and the interstate boarders are still not allowed back for awhile yet. Additionally, the international students are not allowed back into the country at all and will not be available during the season, so they will lose a lot of their depth and onsite advantage. I suspect the same for TSS.

The rumour mills are running hot.....latest being BCC 1st XV squad busted by police for training, TSS 1ST XV caught on camera training via a Police drone. Have to laugh at it all.

 

[Garry Owens]

The boarding house at Nudgee has been shut down during the virus issue and the interstate boarders are still not allowed back for awhile yet. Additionally, the international students are not allowed back into the country at all and will not be available during the season, so they will lose a lot of their depth and onsite advantage. I suspect the same for TSS.

Or any School with a boarding house with a lot of players from somewhere else.

BGS not so much , nor TGS , but even IGS has a few NT boys (think Seamus King-Smith for example)

Churchie would be similarly impacted as would BBC.

I don’t think it really gives anyone a major advantage or disadvantage. Most are in the same boat and then Schools like Terrace or High won’t really challenge this year but are definitely capable of taking down 1 or 2 of the top half of the table (in how it projects)

1. TSS
2. Nudgee
3. BBC
4. Churchie

 

[Rugrat]

https://gpsqld.org.au/gps-covid-19-update/

 

[BlueSenator]

The boarding house at Nudgee has been shut down during the virus issue and the interstate boarders are still not allowed back for awhile yet. Additionally, the international students are not allowed back into the country at all and will not be available during the season, so they will lose a lot of their depth and onsite advantage. I suspect the same for TSS.

Kind of... current numbers sit at around 60 compared to the somewhat normal figures of 300. No plan or insight on how those figures look in the future.. just saying.

 

[Blue & white]

Oh my lord. What a problem we have this year and rugby in general.I am in shock..
As you all know:
-rugby,football,basketball & tennis are all to be played term 3.
-some schools want the 1st 3 rounds of rugby cancelled to enable "front row passports " to be obtained ;
-boys had to nominate which sport they will play.

I am in total shock at the number of football teams & the lack of rugby teams.
Some schools have 32 football teams and 9 rugby teams.
Figures came out yesterday.

 

[The Engine Room]

Yes - it's all very intriguing.

I'm backing rugby out this year unfortunately. Particularly with the spectre of ATAR looming in Term 3 for the first time, the delayed season start and impact to the ATAR period after the disruptions of Term 2, I believe will see many headmasters putting the can on GPS Rugby this year. Disappointing for all concerned but you never know. Perhaps a short and sharp carnival type event over 4 weekends would work??

Oh my lord. What a problem we have this year and rugby in general.I am in shock..
As you all know:
-rugby,football,basketball & tennis are all to be played term 3.
-some schools want the 1st 3 rounds of rugby cancelled to enable "front row passports " to be obtained ;
-boys had to nominate which sport they will play.

I am in total shock at the number of football teams & the lack of rugby teams.
Some schools have 32 football teams and 9 rugby teams.
Figures came out yesterday.

 

[Garry Owens]

Oh my lord. What a problem we have this year and rugby in general.I am in shock..
As you all know:
-rugby,football,basketball & tennis are all to be played term 3.
-some schools want the 1st 3 rounds of rugby cancelled to enable "front row passports " to be obtained ;
-boys had to nominate which sport they will play.

I am in total shock at the number of football teams & the lack of rugby teams.
Some schools have 32 football teams and 9 rugby teams.
Figures came out yesterday.

Democracy in action . Sort of speaks volumes across many fronts though eh?

I can sort of understand why some schools are not rushing to prioritise Rugby in the middle of a crammed Sporting offering where the boys are deciding what they want to play , and also where , the delays being referenced make it impossible to have a GPS Rugby season in Term 3. If one was to exist it would have to extend into Term 4 , which has other impacts - especially for the Grade 12 boys that are trying to sit finals and finish school through October / early November.

About the only way you might make it work is ditch the bye round and if there are a couple of schools who want to opt out this year - let them .....and maybe pinch the first weekend of the School Holidays - a compressed 6 week season.

The other issue in all of this is money and resources ....and the cost of running these programs where some schools just don’t have the money, or are , and will continue , to experience issues with their customers being able to pay the cost of schooling.

And if you are a family that is experiencing and will continue to experience difficulty emanating from the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 you may well be looking at the real value proposition of education right now and exactly what you are paying for - especially scholastically.

I’m not casting aspersions on any “elite” private school per se .....I’m just saying for a good number of them will not be immune from the significant financial impacts of COVID-19. Their service offerings and their value propositions will be questioned more than ever before as they roll forward.

A really good case in point is a GPS old boy I work with who has 3 kids under 3 and is aghast at the cost as he’s looking at enrollments. He is going to try and re-direct to a Catholic option in the association at a $9k per year per child difference. For him that consideration wouldn’t have even been considered 2 months ago.

It’s a genuine paradigm shift folks but like the GFC everyone is a bit in denial and waiting to “get back to normal” without understanding that there has been a permanent shift in how life has changed.

 

[fairplay]

If some students want to pull out for exams, fine. But I am sure most of the guys gunning for a spot in their schools 1st XV's would rather play regardless.

Covid 19 or whatever you want to call it.... actually gives programs the opportunity to cut some regular operating costs, though gameday revenue would be down I imagine.

Let the senior teams play. Don't take that away from them.

 

[Garry Owens]

I am not sure about all Schools but I know some (or at least one) Rugby Support Groups are set up separately and keep their own retained earnings.

Some Schools have even been known to "borrow" money from them and for not inconsequential amounts of money (lots of zeroes behind the first number)

It's a structural problem in these cases where you can have overly ambitious Mum and Dad zealots who are holding the purse strings......frayed and under strain from the coin of a zillion burgers and chips sold over generations........... and that are telling Schools how to suck eggs (or maybe how to flip them) and what they will and won't do with "their" ( The RSG that is ) money. How the fuck does that work ? ( Other than satisfy power surges and the subtle as "a turd in salad" over anxious Mummy Managers? )

 

[Jets]

If that's an issue I'm sure the schools could outsource the food at rugby games, much like many have done with tuck-shops.

Just the talk of rugby burgers makes me long for a Terrace Rugby Cheeseburger.

 

[Garry Owens]

Hot diggety damn Jets ? Spot on. I think the pickles could be the making of it .....

Oh let me count the ways !

 

[Aussie Luke]

Democracy in action . Sort of speaks volumes across many fronts though eh?

I can sort of understand why some schools are not rushing to prioritise Rugby in the middle of a crammed Sporting offering where the boys are deciding what they want to play , and also where , the delays being referenced make it impossible to have a GPS Rugby season in Term 3. If one was to exist it would have to extend into Term 4 , which has other impacts - especially for the Grade 12 boys that are trying to sit finals and finish school through October / early November.

About the only way you might make it work is ditch the bye round and if there are a couple of schools who want to opt out this year - let them ...and maybe pinch the first weekend of the School Holidays - a compressed 6 week season.

The other issue in all of this is money and resources ..and the cost of running these programs where some schools just don’t have the money, or are , and will continue , to experience issues with their customers being able to pay the cost of schooling.

And if you are a family that is experiencing and will continue to experience difficulty emanating from the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 you may well be looking at the real value proposition of education right now and exactly what you are paying for - especially scholastically.

I’m not casting aspersions on any “elite” private school per se ...I’m just saying for a good number of them will not be immune from the significant financial impacts of COVID-19. Their service offerings and their value propositions will be questioned more than ever before as they roll forward.

A really good case in point is a GPS old boy I work with who has 3 kids under 3 and is aghast at the cost as he’s looking at enrollments. He is going to try and re-direct to a Catholic option in the association at a $9k per year per child difference. For him that consideration wouldn’t have even been considered 2 months ago.

It’s a genuine paradigm shift folks but like the GFC everyone is a bit in denial and waiting to “get back to normal” without understanding that there has been a permanent shift in how life has changed.

I am seeing exactly the opposite i.e. people with their kids enrolled at the GPS schools wanting to prioritize the rugby season as they see it as very integral to an education and not separate to education. Without it, they are not offering something unique and not available to other less well resourced or supported schools. The value proposition is the GPS sporting association. One mustn't forget that the GPS is a sporting association, and its very admired and unique and valuable and they should place high priority on this.