as a coach of a division 1 team in the BJRU and coaching at a GPS school i could comfortably say the BJRU comp is far superior in quality than both the GPS and AIC competition until we reach the u16s. At my club we have kids playing in the A's across both GPS & AIC teams that cant make the division 1 team at our club. The sooner we make the club comp the premier rugby comp nationwide the better
they get told by schools that they cant play club. For instance we had one kid at our club who stopped playing club rugby this year when he was invited to do a pre season with the 1stXV squad essentially he was told he would be holding the pads but if he wanted to be considered to play 1stXV in subsequent years he needed to stop playing for club. The other reason is a number of the kids who are in League programs at your Marsdens and Keebra etc... give up rugby all together and stick with League.
although not a club coach any more. I agree. Kids playing club start at U/6 and after one club season have played 2 to 3 times the games as the kids playing for school. the more you get to know about the rugby 'pathway' system in this country the more you shake your head at the dysfunction caused by the battle for power and control.
You have to wonder if this sort of "designed dominance" is going to be the undoing of the rugby program in time. Nudgee certainly don't figure as strongly academically.
Who cares ,they win premierships …
People in charge of recruitment and future employment opportunities that don’t give a toss about rugby yet alone whether you played in a dominant First XV. ( I’m assuming that was a question? )
Yep this is sadly true. I know of another case of a boy who last season wanted to trial for BJRU to play in the state championships. As he was already in his schools 1st XV squad, he was told to quit club rugby and concentrate on 1sts, thus preventing him from being able to trial for BJRU. He ended up getting cut from the 1sts and played 5 pointless games (season shortened because of COVID) in his schools U16s. A wasted year in terms of his rugby development. This boy had always played both club and school in his previous years.
The "divided" competition was an agenda item on the GPS Headmasters forum a few years back when the "arms race" of GPS had Nudgee, TSS and BCC in the race at full throttle . It would be a tragedy if Qld went down the path of Sydney GPS rugby.
Thats not nudgees fault but that of the other GPS schools. Nudgee also won the soccer as well, so is that an issue as well? Or are we apart of the PC brigade that everyone should win a prize. Nudgee has dominated at schoolboy level for 100 years, and its across all age groups. They do it because there programme is second to none. The ARU and rugby in general should celebrate that Nudgee keep the sport somewhat relevant, as the other GPS schools and the ARU sure do a great job of doing the opposite.
Here we go again, the bitter child or middle aged dad who hates his life using the old default about nudges academic record. Chris this is a rugby forum mate, so keep your childish, petty comments to the family dinner table. Nudgee dominate across all age groups from 11A to 16D this my friend is based on its programme and hard work, maybe other schools could take a lead.Also champ if you want to talk about your knowledge of academia I can guarantee that the average wealth of Nudgee families is the highest of all QLD gps schools, as the school is made up of a lot farmers whose properties alone are valued in the hundreds of millions, so are you calling them dumb? stick to engineering mate and also soccer, oh thats right Nudgee won that too, must be all those imports. GFY
dont put any extra pressure on the kids now - hahahaha
Would it be a solution for the GPS schools to enter a team(s) in the local club comp(s) on the understanding that they will withdraw from the comp when GPS games start (or schedule games so that players could play both if they wish)? That way they could support both competitions, the players could have access to both rep pathways, they get plenty of game time before GPS, keeps them away from League, etc. Not sure how/if this would drain club stocks when GPS starts up, but I suspect not - would be less disruptive than having half your team leave halfway through the club season to go and play GPS rugby, the competition would just shrink by a team or two toward the end of the season. Some schools (GPS and non-GPS) already play junior teams in the local club comps before U11s. One school team got together, joined a club and played as a unit for that club and arranged for their games to be played at different times to allow them to continue playing while GPS rugby is on. This may not be allowed by most schools/clubs but it may be viable to allow school team to enter the competition until school competitions start.
Even though Rob "Razor" Toia is off to a slow start after round 1, He will 100% be the MVP of this year 2022 GPS rugby season. After his 150m plus running meters in this years u19 Origin game (playing 3 years up) for Queensland (most in the QLD team) despite they lost something 6-30 as a centre, the thought of "Will Sheedy is going to eat up this Toia bloke for breakfast" is an absolute joke. Rob Toia will make BGS look like a joke and every other GPS side this year, leading them to victory for Nudgee's 43rd GPS premierships. Not only do Nudgee have Rob Toia but they also have u18 QLD League Player Tory Bath playing outside him having already scoring 3 tries in the first game. As well as Storm signed player Jake House adds a very nimble and creative side to Nudgee. Inigo Lawrence #9 and Wil Rogers #2 having a very good game in the first round, are my player to watch for this season and many more years to come. With that Nudgee will Undoubtably win this years GPS Rugby premiership Undefeated !!!
As a proud nudgee dad and old boy, I am actually quite nervous for this round 5 clash against bgs. Just phoned my youngin and he got me bugging and “paranoid about the boys in blue”. I’ve heard that bgs have a quick and agile back row which has moved charlie mccauley into lock. Not only this but they have some absolute star power coming off the bench. Anyways, just keen to watch a bit of good school boy footy and may the best team win bgs!!