Queensland Junior Rugby

[Sunny]

Anything can happen at these titles, Last year in U13's Talk was Green were favourites with Orange, well Blue got up and took the title.
And with rep, you don't have to be a name or a starting player.
So I go to the tournament with and open mind really.

 

[Garry Owens]

A pretty good summary of the teams. Riverside has led the way in the BJRU u13 comp until their hiccup against Souths. Souths then got pipped by Ashgrove GPS today emphasising the evenness of the comp. The teams with boys at GPS schools in their sides will be backing up from Saturday school games in Term 3 so it will be interesting to see how they all fare in the final rounds of the comp. In relation to the state champs, I don't think you can have your cake and eat it too! The Nerang side playing in the u13 comp is virtually a Gold Coast rep side so when it comes time to play in the state champs, it's a bit rich to say "let us keep all our good players together".If they are that good, they will shine in a development carnival and get picked for Country. Riverside seem to be over reliant on 3 players and if you shut them down, game on. But you are probably right in your assessment of the teams. Green may surprise with some very good Ipswich and GPS players competing for spots. Their forward pack will be better than most at this carnival. But Blue and Pink clear favourites because of their talented and speedy backs. Good luck to all boys!

You hit the nail on the head on a few of these points . The issue with Green is that there have been a couple of injuries and pull outs and then there've is no guarantee that their best foward pack they could play will play ...or at least in the right positions

Riverside is reliant on one player , not 3 , IMO and that's no diss on the other 2 players - they are fabulous players . But you take that one player off their team who touches the ball between 8 to 10 times a game and scores 3 to 4 tries a game ( because of poor defensive planning mainly ) and Riverside is right back in the pack and capable of getting beaten by Souths , GPS and Easts

The point is this - in Round 1 - Easts dominated field position around 70% in first half and probably around 60% of the ball . 4 tries to 2 to Riverside at half time with 3 of their tries to their main strike man on 5 touches because Easts outside defense was porous

 

[Garry Owens]

Anything can happen at these titles, Last year in U13's Talk was Green were favourites with Orange, well Blue got up and took the title.
And with rep, you don't have to be a name or a starting player.
So I go to the tournament with and open mind really.

Good for you

But the cynic in me would say that 2/3rds of the City spots are already taken

 

[Garry Owens]

Also good point raised by Prince Henry re : fade of GPS ( Schools ) players on GPS ( Schools ) centric Club Teams

It happened last year in 12's and 13's as well

The BJRU have trialled the half season option at U15 level this year

Maybe they lower the offering to U13 and U14 Teams next year ?

Of course that would possibly mean lower rate of subs and I am sure all layers of officialdom wouldn't like that .

But maybe ........just maybe you actually keep more boys in Clubs rather than the traditional drop off because of competing interests and where you lose that money anyway

Maybe that's the way you can actually have GPS and AIC / Combined Schools squaring off in a September " Conferece 1 v Conference 2 " carnival whereby the AIC kids gravitate to Conference 2 in Club from July to September ( after their AIC season ) and GPS kids gravitate to Conference 1 from April to June ( before their GPS season )

Maybe schools could enter as a club team ( affiliated to ) which ....you know would strengthen / integrate the links better between two community businesses like School and Club

 

[BASSO]

Also good point raised by Prince Henry re : fade of GPS ( Schools ) players on GPS ( Schools ) centric Club Teams

It happened last year in 12's and 13's as well

The BJRU have trialled the half season option at U15 level this year

Maybe they lower the offering to U13 and U14 Teams next year ?

Of course that would possibly mean lower rate of subs and I am sure all layers of officialdom wouldn't like that .

But maybe ....just maybe you actually keep more boys in Clubs rather than the traditional drop off because of competing interests and where you lose that money anyway

Maybe that's the way you can actually have GPS and AIC / Combined Schools squaring off in a September " Conferece 1 v Conference 2 " carnival whereby the AIC kids gravitate to Conference 2 in Club from July to September ( after their AIC season ) and GPS kids gravitate to Conference 1 from April to June ( before their GPS season )

Maybe schools could enter as a club team ( affiliated to ) which ..you know would strengthen / integrate the links better between two community businesses like School and Club

all good points, yes the green team would have been a lot stronger with out the injuries and pull outs. Looking forward to seeing the Coast team Given the strength of their club teams.

 

[Sunny]

W

Good for you

But the cynic in me would say that 2/3rds of the City spots are already taken

Why "Good for me"
I don't get why you said that?

 

[Harry Small]

green and pink have the best foward personnel and blue and pink the best backs

Lots of big names / reputation players in the forwards from blue , but , I would only look at a one of their forwards at prop and a second rower ( both play in a multitude of different positions at club ) . From Green I Iwould easily take one of their props , one of their second rowers and their No 8 as automatic City selections . From Pink , two of their Props and their 2 xHooker , definitely their No 7 , and two of their second rowers , one of whom can cover 6/8

So that's 7 from pink , 3 from Green and 2 from Blue ..won't work out that way though ( of course ) The Green Prop who should be first Prop picked doesn't have the "name" .Green second Rower who is either No 1 or No 2 as the best
ball running lock .and equal 1 or 2 as best line out man also probably won't get a look , as again , he doesn't have the " name"


Anyway .Blue backline will kill everybody even if they only get sub 50% ball . Can only see 3 from Pink being in the mix ( maybe 4 ) and 1 from Green if he's lucky ( maybe 2 )

Pity Rangers new outside back only came along the week after trials - he's a killer and equal or best outside back in the competition

You are on the mark with some of those comments, off the mark with others. It will be a great carnival, to see how the boys match up surrounded by different team mates.

 

[Tashara]

Well said. It should be more about development than combinations and win at all coasts (er, I mean costs). Nerang in u13 is virtually a hand picked super team and yet there is "apparently" disharmony because the GCJRU selectors have done the right thing and spread out the talent!

In relation to the state champs, I don't think you can have your cake and eat it too! The Nerang side playing in the u13 comp is virtually a Gold Coast rep side so when it comes time to play in the state champs, it's a bit rich to say "let us keep all our good players together".If they are that good, they will shine in a development carnival and get picked for Country.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and contribute your views on Nerang u13s to gossip and rumours. These rumours were sparked by a Club on the GC who lost 3 players to Nerang this year. So let me help by stating some facts to clear this mistaken belief about the u13 Bulls.

In 2014, the u12 Nerang team won both half season competition grand finals by approximately 50 pts each. They had a season game average scoreline of around 65-3 pts and have been undefeated on the GC for 5 years. The u12 team last year were made up of players who have played in the same team for at least 2 years and for the majority, many more. The decision to allow Nerang to try out for the BJRU comp was based on these results. Interesting to note that only 4 players in this u12 team were represented in the u12 2014 Development Carnival.

Come 2015, Nerang lost 5 players due to various reasons such as; one player was a girl and could no longer play, and another where a player's family returned to NZ etc. At one stage there were concerns the Bulls would not have enough players to field a team in 2015. However, like many other clubs there were the typical player movements. 5 players decided to transfer to the Bulls on their own accord and without any influence or approach by Nerang.

Hardly a hand picked team as two of these players were rejected by a rival coach but the boys were made to feel welcome at Nerang.

Having barely enough players (one reserve as per a grading game against Riverside), we put a call out through our boys to ask school mates and also used social media to attract NON-CURRENT GCJRU players. We didn't get much of a response but three 'walk-ins' eventually showed up throughout the season.

We also have had 2 League players join the team and these were definitely recruited by the coach to strengthen squad numbers. GOOD WORK to increase rugby numbers I say!!

So this rumour about creating a hand pick super team is ridiculous and unfounded.

With regards to making one GC rep team. I must disagree with your comment that 'it's a bit rich to say "let us keep all our good players together"' - Surely a regional rep team should pick the best players in that region regardless of which club they are from. Given that the GCJRU insist on having two rep teams in the region, the word 'rep player' can be used very loosely. Nerang have largely played with a core group of 6-7 very good players and the remaining players have been coached very well to do their jobs. Full credit goes to the coach for making this possible and he is a major contributing factor to the Bulls success over recent years. We also believe that these 6-7 players only would make an 'A' GC team, leaving the remaining 8-9 players from other GC teams.

People can have their own opinions about whether the GCJRU have made the right decision to spread out the talent, but I personally disagree. I, like many other GC people wish for an even playing field and we believe that watering down the GC is unfair and contributes to a significant disadvantage at the State Champs. But let's look at some facts to show what I mean by a disadvantage:

Club Teams per Rep Team Ratios:

Brisbane have approximately 30 club teams in the u13's comp contributing to 4 rep teams (I'll let you guys debate how these teams are made up), but this calculates into an average club team to rep team ratio of approx. 7 club teams to 1 rep team. (7:1)

Sunshine Coast have 8 club teams making 1 rep team (8:1)
Darling Downs (6:1)

Gold Coast have 7 club teams now making 2 rep teams. That's 3.5 teams per rep team (3.5:1).

So unless there are some extraordinary talent on the GC to warrant this, the GC are significantly at a disadvantage.

It is my understanding that the Sunshine Coast were also asked to field two rep teams but refused. The people critical of this two team policy are looking for an even playing field when it comes to the State Champs. Also, the best players on the GC wish to play with the best players in their region, not to be assigned to a rep team that is significantly weaker than their own club team and playing alongside players that are not up to the standard.

If you believe the State Champs is about development and just having fun because they are only u13 - then that's great. But if you believe that the State Champs is about the best players in each region coming together to play the best rugby in the state, then there needs to be some changes. Many other codes and sports treat State Champs as an event of the top players, even at this age group - I'm hoping that rugby would do the same.

A final point of interest is that there are 5-6 top Nerang players who have dropped out or were not available to play in the GC Cyclones squads due to various reasons and will not be playing at the State Championships this year.

 

[BASSO]

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and contribute your views on Nerang u13s to gossip and rumours. These rumours were sparked by a Club on the GC who lost 3 players to Nerang this year. So let me help by stating some facts to clear this mistaken belief about the u13 Bulls.

In 2014, the u12 Nerang team won both half season competition grand finals by approximately 50 pts each. They had a season game average scoreline of around 65-3 pts and have been undefeated on the GC for 5 years. The u12 team last year were made up of players who have played in the same team for at least 2 years and for the majority, many more. The decision to allow Nerang to try out for the BJRU comp was based on these results. Interesting to note that only 4 players in this u12 team were represented in the u12 2014 Development Carnival.

Come 2015, Nerang lost 5 players due to various reasons such as; one player was a girl and could no longer play, and another where a player's family returned to NZ etc. At one stage there were concerns the Bulls would not have enough players to field a team in 2015. However, like many other clubs there were the typical player movements. 5 players decided to transfer to the Bulls on their own accord and without any influence or approach by Nerang.

Hardly a hand picked team as two of these players were rejected by a rival coach but the boys were made to feel welcome at Nerang.

Having barely enough players (one reserve as per a grading game against Riverside), we put a call out through our boys to ask school mates and also used social media to attract NON-CURRENT GCJRU players. We didn't get much of a response but three 'walk-ins' eventually showed up throughout the season.

We also have had 2 League players join the team and these were definitely recruited by the coach to strength squad numbers. GOOD WORK to increase rugby numbers I say!!

So this rumour about creating a hand pick super team is ridiculous and unfounded.

With regards to making one GC rep team. I must disagree with your comment that 'it's a bit rich to say "let us keep all our good players together"' - Surely a regional rep team should pick the best players in that region regardless of which club they are from. Given that the GCJRU insist on having two rep teams in the region, the word 'rep player' can be used very loosely. Nerang have largely played with a core group of 6-7 very good players and the remaining players have been coached very well to do their jobs. Full credit goes to the coach for making this possible and he is a major contributing factor to the Bulls success over recent years. We also believe that these 6-7 players only would make an 'A' GC team, leaving the remaining 8-9 players from other GC teams.

People can have their own opinions about whether the GCJRU have made the right decision to spread out the talent, but I personally disagree. I, like many other GC people wish for an even playing field and we believe that watering down the GC is unfair and contributes to a significant disadvantage at the State Champs. But let's look at some facts to show what I mean by a disadvantage:

Club Teams per Rep Team Ratios:

Brisbane have approximately 30 club teams in the u13's comp contributing to 4 rep teams (I'll let you guys debate how these teams are made up), but this calculates into an average club team to rep team ratio of approx. 7 clubs teams to 1 rep team. (7:1)

Sunshine Coast have 8 clubs teams making 1 rep team (8:1)
Darling Downs (6:1)

Gold Coast have 7 clubs now making 2 rep teams. That's 3.5 teams per rep team (3.5:1).

So unless there are some extraordinary talent on the GC to warrant this, the GC are significantly at a disadvantage.

It is my understanding that the Sunshine Coast were also asked to field two rep teams but refused. The people critical of this two team policy are looking for an even playing field when it comes to the State Champs. Also, the best players on the GC wish to play with the best players in their region, not to be assigned to a rep team that is significantly weaker than their own club team and playing alongside players that are not up to the standard.

If you believe the State Champs is about development and just having fun because they are only u13 - then that's great. But if you believe that the State Champs is about the best players in each region coming to together to play the best rugby in the state, then there need to be some changes. Many other codes and sports treat State Champs as an event of the top players, even at this age group - I'm hoping that rugby would do the same.

A final point of interest is that there are 5-6 top Nerang players who have dropped out or were not available to play in the GC Cyclones squads due to various reasons and will not be playing at the State Championships this year.

Excellent and well put Tashara, the team at Nerang is superbly coached and it is no surprise that they are successful given the talent of their coach. The word is the coach is involved at a BBC under 14 level, look out to those who come accross his team, they will be well coached and drilled.

 

[Garry Owens]

@ Harry Small

I'm not sure how "different" the teammates are when Pink is Easts with a few Souths throw ins and Blue is Riverside with the best of Souths , where , some of the boys have high familiarity with each other anyway from School Rugby

I made mention earlier in the thread that someone needs a Geography lesson as to what Eastern Region is and Southern Region is , unless of course , the intent was never to have re-directs to supposedly weaker regions where there would have been much better capacity in seeing how , a greater spread of talent , would have fared

On the surface ...Blue and Pink would look like a possibles and probabes trial with some gerrymandering of regions to make it so

 

[Prince Henry]

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and contribute your views on Nerang u13s to gossip and rumours. These rumours were sparked by a Club on the GC who lost 3 players to Nerang this year. So let me help by stating some facts to clear this mistaken belief about the u13 Bulls.

In 2014, the u12 Nerang team won both half season competition grand finals by approximately 50 pts each. They had a season game average scoreline of around 65-3 pts and have been undefeated on the GC for 5 years. The u12 team last year were made up of players who have played in the same team for at least 2 years and for the majority, many more. The decision to allow Nerang to try out for the BJRU comp was based on these results. Interesting to note that only 4 players in this u12 team were represented in the u12 2014 Development Carnival.

Come 2015, Nerang lost 5 players due to various reasons such as; one player was a girl and could no longer play, and another where a player's family returned to NZ etc. At one stage there were concerns the Bulls would not have enough players to field a team in 2015. However, like many other clubs there were the typical player movements. 5 players decided to transfer to the Bulls on their own accord and without any influence or approach by Nerang.

Hardly a hand picked team as two of these players were rejected by a rival coach but the boys were made to feel welcome at Nerang.

Having barely enough players (one reserve as per a grading game against Riverside), we put a call out through our boys to ask school mates and also used social media to attract NON-CURRENT GCJRU players. We didn't get much of a response but three 'walk-ins' eventually showed up throughout the season.

We also have had 2 League players join the team and these were definitely recruited by the coach to strengthen squad numbers. GOOD WORK to increase rugby numbers I say!!

So this rumour about creating a hand pick super team is ridiculous and unfounded.

With regards to making one GC rep team. I must disagree with your comment that 'it's a bit rich to say "let us keep all our good players together"' - Surely a regional rep team should pick the best players in that region regardless of which club they are from. Given that the GCJRU insist on having two rep teams in the region, the word 'rep player' can be used very loosely. Nerang have largely played with a core group of 6-7 very good players and the remaining players have been coached very well to do their jobs. Full credit goes to the coach for making this possible and he is a major contributing factor to the Bulls success over recent years. We also believe that these 6-7 players only would make an 'A' GC team, leaving the remaining 8-9 players from other GC teams.

People can have their own opinions about whether the GCJRU have made the right decision to spread out the talent, but I personally disagree. I, like many other GC people wish for an even playing field and we believe that watering down the GC is unfair and contributes to a significant disadvantage at the State Champs. But let's look at some facts to show what I mean by a disadvantage:

Club Teams per Rep Team Ratios:

Brisbane have approximately 30 club teams in the u13's comp contributing to 4 rep teams (I'll let you guys debate how these teams are made up), but this calculates into an average club team to rep team ratio of approx. 7 club teams to 1 rep team. (7:1)

Sunshine Coast have 8 club teams making 1 rep team (8:1)
Darling Downs (6:1)

Gold Coast have 7 club teams now making 2 rep teams. That's 3.5 teams per rep team (3.5:1).

So unless there are some extraordinary talent on the GC to warrant this, the GC are significantly at a disadvantage.

It is my understanding that the Sunshine Coast were also asked to field two rep teams but refused. The people critical of this two team policy are looking for an even playing field when it comes to the State Champs. Also, the best players on the GC wish to play with the best players in their region, not to be assigned to a rep team that is significantly weaker than their own club team and playing alongside players that are not up to the standard.

If you believe the State Champs is about development and just having fun because they are only u13 - then that's great. But if you believe that the State Champs is about the best players in each region coming together to play the best rugby in the state, then there needs to be some changes. Many other codes and sports treat State Champs as an event of the top players, even at this age group - I'm hoping that rugby would do the same.

A final point of interest is that there are 5-6 top Nerang players who have dropped out or were not available to play in the GC Cyclones squads due to various reasons and will not be playing at the State Championships this year.

Wow, thanks for clearing that up for everyone. It really is outstanding that there are people involved in junior rugby that are so passionate and willing to spend valuable time to make a clearly well articulated point in response to a perception that was not sourced. Thank you and well done. I dips me lid to the like of you.

Unfortunately, for the multitude of aforementioned reasons in this thread, the carnival will never be about the best players. Not when there is a prohibitive rugby tax to participate, fathers are involved in positional selections/coaching and the unevenness of the regional selection process dictates that some teams have a higher proportion of Div 1 players than others. Let's just call it a development weekend for all stakeholders and participants and be happy that this event is held at all!

 

[Prince Henry]

You are on the mark with some of those comments, off the mark with others. It will be a great carnival, to see how the boys match up surrounded by different team mates.

What kid at 13 has the "name"? These carnivals give the opportunity to make a name hopefully, whether you are number 7 or number 17

 

[Sunny]

Wow, thanks for clearing that up for everyone. It really is outstanding that there are people involved in junior rugby that are so passionate and willing to spend valuable time to make a clearly well articulated point in response to a perception that was not sourced. Thank you and well done. I dips me lid to the like of you.

Unfortunately, for the multitude of aforementioned reasons in this thread, the carnival will never be about the best players. Not when there is a prohibitive rugby tax to participate, fathers are involved in positional selections/coaching and the unevenness of the regional selection process dictates that some teams have a higher proportion of Div 1 players than others. Let's just call it a development weekend for all stakeholders and participants and be happy that this event is held at all!

Plenty of Div-1 players miss out on making rep teams, So are selectors obligated to pick lower div players or not?
It is strange some teams have heaps of Div-1 players and a scattering of others, some seem to be half Div-1 half Div-2....
Are they locked down to an area or list of teams they can look at, because some teams also have players from 5 or 6 clubs and others 2 or 3.
I'm guessing some selectors/ coaches might just be more proactive for their team and really get out to as many games they can.

 

[Tashara]

Wow, thanks for clearing that up for everyone. It really is outstanding that there are people involved in junior rugby that are so passionate and willing to spend valuable time to make a clearly well articulated point in response to a perception that was not sourced. Thank you and well done. I dips me lid to the like of you.

Unfortunately, for the multitude of aforementioned reasons in this thread, the carnival will never be about the best players. Not when there is a prohibitive rugby tax to participate, fathers are involved in positional selections/coaching and the unevenness of the regional selection process dictates that some teams have a higher proportion of Div 1 players than others. Let's just call it a development weekend for all stakeholders and participants and be happy that this event is held at all!

Thanks for your response

We received a lot of grief during the beginning of the season on the GC with regards to untrue allegations of headhunting, and also because some people from other clubs did not approve of us leaving the GC comp. It wasn't a good time for us as we were forced to constantly defend ourselves. We have always remained very transparent about our player movements and involvements.

I understand it's easy to draw opinions based on what you know at even given moment regardless of the source, so I was motivated to put the cards on the table for anyone who may not know our history.

The GC rep selection has also been a sore point which is a hang-over effect from last year and still leaves people unhappy and dissatisfied. People can get like that when they are asked to fork out $650, although there are probably 23 other GC players and families who would not be in this position if it wasn't for the two team policy.

Yep, I take your point with regards to the selection process and can only imagine the complexities and politics that occur. I don't think that is limited to rugby union either. Sad but a true reality that continues to exist to the highest levels.

 

[Benchwarmer]

Seems a lot of talk in the U13 group this year in Brisbane..............the way I see it......Firstly Yes! there are two teams that would appear to stray from the 'pick by region' and 'overflow as required' approach of year's passed.......why......who knows? & I see two teams that have been picked from the 'West' and 'North' with a good range of club teams represented.......TRUE....many players play alongside each other at club & school and many do not......FACT......a few have played alongside each other at State level and against each other dependent on the team & carnival & sport..........end of the day they are there to have fun, enjoy camp and make new friends....end rant and end dots.

 

[Sunny]

The word going around the U14's on Monday's training was, the Pink team already have the title wrapped up....very confident.
I think it's really up for grabs, and a few other teams just might put their hand up.

 

[Peterparker]

Under 13 green.

 

[Sunny]

Anyone seen the draw yet?

 

[BASSO]

Basso,

The green team have only lost one player from injury that I know.
He is a back rower and a fringe player. I dont think he would be in the starting side.

Some of the selections are interesting. IMO one of the best backs in the comp from the only DIV 1 side in the green catchments didn't make the team.

It also appears they have not picked a dedicated hooker?

Lion, when you speak about the best back in the competition I presume you are speaking about the new guy at Ipswich Rangers, it is amazing what one good player can do, he has changed that team from a Div two team into a top 3 Div one team. The selectors should bend the rules and get that boy playing in the green team. there chances of winning will quadruple if he was to play, it is a shame he arrived just after selection time.

 

[BraveandGame]

Are the rep team list available anywhere yet?? I see the U16 is up but can't find the 13 or 14s anywhere - 12s will picked this weekend.