Quick Hands
David Wilson (68)
. . . but it was consumed by a bloke on the grassy knoll.
The second sipper?
. . . but it was consumed by a bloke on the grassy knoll.
Was there not a similar GPS arguement in Queens land about scholarships a year or two ago. Much heat in the media etc. What happened?
Kick Too Farr-Jones, a Newington old boy and now the chairman of NSW Rugby, was among the first to react to the news that the Scots first XV had beaten his old school by the staggering score of 101-0.
“My major concern is safety,” he told Fairfax Media. “If there are significant weight and strength differences [between teams] then there are safety issues and we have to be careful of that.”
One solution, he said, would be to limit the number of scholarship players to just 20 per cent. Another to dismantle the whole GPS competition.
The comments immediately drew fire, with a Facebook posting by one Kieran Healy, who played prop in the last Sydney Grammar team to play first grade GPS four years ago – before, like Sydney High eight years ago, they pulled out – noting, “We lost heaps of GPS firsts games by over 100, where was Nick Farr-Jones then?”
Nick’s answer is that he was not chairman of NSW Rugby then and that the issue with Sydney Grammar and Sydney High was less the fact that other schools were on scholarships than that their schools were pursuing a more academic path, and had a far more wonderfully multicultural make-up than years past, with many students not necessarily disposed to pursuing rugby.
Another Newington old boy, Phil Kearns, also weighed in, amid assertions the Scots team had as many as 14 of its players on scholarships – despite the principal of Scots, who I know to be a good man, robustly denying this, saying the results were merely the pursuit of excellence.
“They must have some very good coaching,” Kearns said, laughing. “Every school accuses other schools of doing the same thing. Shore say they don’t have any players on scholarships. I’m not sure I believe that. And I’m sure Scots are doing it.”
I am with Kick Too Farr-Jones and Kearns. When one team beats another by that amount in serious football, it bespeaks a physical mismatch not consistent with safety. And it is terrible for the game. I know nothing of Scots' scholarship program, but am told that Kearns is also correct that it is rife throughout many of the richer schools.
The solution? A return to basics. Schoolboy sport must remain just that. Rugby at professional level has become a very serious affair. It is a mistake for that spirit to take over the game for the younguns, where the prime value must remain the inclusivity of giving everyone a game, rather than the exclusivity of pouring your principal and principal resources to the elite alone.
Read more:http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/lets-get-out-there-and-support-nsw-waratahs-in-super-rugby-final-20140801-zz9v9.html#ixzz39BCoGZiw
I actually agree with some of Fitzsimons views - proof of the capacity of rugby to unite us
Good result. Most consistent team at Newington since they started in the 13's. Joeys won 13A, 14A and 15A easily.
NFJ was chairman last year when the Shore New mismatch occurred.
What did Shore do to be punished so harshly in this report, once again by a New old boy. Have they been attending the PSSA Swimming and offering scholarships to the tall 10 year olds on the odd chance they may 1. do rowing; & 2. be good at it.
Although, perhaps fortunately for New, the New/Shore mismatch was mitigated by the referee who restricted the size of the margin to 48-3. A more traditional display of refereeing may have seen close to 100 run up that day and the fury of the past week decend upon them.
I too find his spray at Shore a little difficult to reconcile.
Where's the shore spray?
Every school accuses other schools of doing the same thing. Shore say they don’t have any players on scholarships. I’m not sure I believe that.
Oh.
Not really a spray, more of a piece of snide innuendo.
Mind you they have some bursary recipients which have left some confused as to the criteria on which they are based. One gets mentioned quite a bit on here- not in this thread.
His kids go there - I'll bet he got the cold shoulder today!
I thought his kids were at New.
Kearns is.
NFJ is even more conflicted on this issue than you thought - and he's managed to layer another conflict on top by throwing some innuendo Shore's way.
What a narrow little world this is.
I think the Shore innuendo came from Kearns the way I read the Fitzsimmons article.
got it - correct.
Well that's just hypocrisy then.
Do you find it odd that Alan Jones and Fitzsimons feel the need to assure us that Dr Lambert is a good man every time they mention his name?
Does anyone else get that treatment? do they think that it might lessen the defamatory impact of anything they're about to say - although Jones seems to worship him.
Looks like the death of GPS rugby in Queensland as well. Churchie beat Brisbane High 67-10 and Nudgee beat Grammar 67-7.
Looks like the death of GPS rugby in Queensland as well. Churchie beat Brisbane High 67-10 and Nudgee beat Grammar 67-7.
and that's with open slather on scholarships - what a fantastic idea for fostering Australian rugby