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rugbyfan
Guest
Might encourage them to try harder? Should be interesting to see how they go!
blues recovery
Billy Sheehan (19)
The Rebels tour to Europe is far from meaningless.
1. This team came last this year and needs every opportunity to continue to develop its playing and team culture.
2. Player such as Neville and Aholelei are trialing for Super rugby contracts.
Im sure your club would not be as short sighted as to stand in the way of your great young talent pursuing a professional Rugby career.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
The very same.
lily
Vay Wilson (31)
1. I can grasp that they are trialling for places.
2. Meaningless relates to these 2 points.
A - Their sides will be weakened because of the World Cup and they will be using this as an academy trial themselves.
B - If they are trying to build team culture maybe try and tour somewhere when the whole squad is available.
I dont think I am being selfish in being annoyed. I hope all the guys trialling for spots do well. I just think the timing sucks. For me club rugby is usually a very good standard and one that can also be used to develop players as evidenced by the number promoted in the last year who didn't disgrace themselves.
2. Meaningless relates to these 2 points.
A - Their sides will be weakened because of the World Cup and they will be using this as an academy trial themselves.
B - If they are trying to build team culture maybe try and tour somewhere when the whole squad is available.
I dont think I am being selfish in being annoyed. I hope all the guys trialling for spots do well. I just think the timing sucks. For me club rugby is usually a very good standard and one that can also be used to develop players as evidenced by the number promoted in the last year who didn't disgrace themselves.
K
Keithy
Guest
I know Pat Ryan was in the same Colts team and Uni had owens, weeks, tilse, jerry in grade. Barry may not have seen a way past 3rd grade.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Barry was regarded very highly at Uni in terms of strength and potential, lily. He could really shunt a scrum. The Club really did a lot to assist him when he came up from Melbourne and persevered with him, but in the end he was regarded as having a poor training ethic. It is not surprising that he has a regular starting spot with Eastwood but there is so much further that he can go. Whether he does so is entirely up to him.
blues recovery
Billy Sheehan (19)
Lily understand your views from a club perspective but some facts about this tour.
The Rebels are not playing against Academy teams .The UK competitions are well into swing during the World Cup and the teams they are playing will be the best available without World Cup players. All three matches are the last each of these teams play before their competition starts.
This tour is very different to the old fashioned " Academy " The games are going to be heavily marketed and in the case of Bath and Worcester are expected to be played in front of sell out crowds.
Players like Neville and Eddie will be playing with the likes of Mortlock, Cipriani, Sommerville and Delve. the Rebels are taking all of their fit ,non World Cup vplayers including Sommerville and Cordingly as their last hurrahs before retirement. What a great opportunity for eddie to learn from Sommerville.
It is going to become an unfortunate consequence for club rugby that clubs will see less and less of their Super players and fringe players seeking professional contracts as the Super season extends and overlaps more with the club season and tours of this nature become the norm.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
You may have better knowledge of what is intended this year, br, but my understanding is that in previous years European clubs did not take these games against touring sides seriously at all. A major reason for this is the sheer number of games that European clubs play during a season; so it is understandable that they are not too concerned about what is essentially a friendly albeit fund-raising fixture.
2bluesfan
Nev Cottrell (35)
Hmmmmm, saw that too. Big ask this weekend for our side against the barn storming leaders. It will be interesting to see how our boys come back from the disappointment(s) of the Gordon game.
Two Blues by 2
A Tom Woods field goal four minutes after the siren to steal the match from Eastwood's grasp (No, I am not Thommo!)
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Bloody hell! One for the true believers. Congratulations to LG and those on the pointy end of the peninsula.
An historic win and you let the punters in for nothing. You could at least have charged the Bible Belters.
An historic win and you let the punters in for nothing. You could at least have charged the Bible Belters.
Lee Grant
John Eales (66)
qwerty - Eastwood put out a decent team:
Eastwood
1. Longbottom
2. Hill
3. Fa'amuasili
4. T.Alexander
5. Wykes
6. Palamo
7. Coridas
8. Perrett
9. Stannard
10. Hola
11. Frost
12. Piukala
13. Bennetts
14. Grant
15. Batger
Reserves
included L McCaffrey - and Alcock was supposed to come on but I can't remember that he did.
So the only differences from the team from the programme for last weekend were:
9. Nic White was replaced by the handy Super Rugby player James Stannard of the Force
11. Frost played instead of Turner
Rats:
1. Manu
2. Mason
3. Barnard
4. Adams
5. Longrigg
6. Ward
7. Porpiglia
8. ?
9. Sheehan
10. Angus
11. Dalton
12. Doyle
13. Smouha
14. Feltscheer
15. Campbell
You've got to love club rugby for nights like that; gotta love it.
There's no way that Rats team with all their 2nd graders playing should have got the result against the unbeaten Woodies. but they did - and they did it finishing the game with 13 men.
The Eastwood team tried to intimidate the Rats with the size of their scrapbooks but the locals weren't having any of it and just sent swarm after swarm after the better known Woodies players and when time was running out, rattled them.
Folks may nod their heads and say that's the loss the Woodies had to have but that wouldn't have resonated with any Rat fan at the ground. It was a great night for we locals and to beat an unbeaten team is probably going to be our highlight of the year.
Some thoughts:
Rats
• Superior teamwork and pressure beat a team of superior individual players.
• The Woodies forwards were bigger and taller than the Rats but the Rats guys out-enthused them.
• The return of Sheehan (my MOTM) had almost a magical effect on the Rats and it wasn't until he limped off with a serious looking leg injury with about 10-15 minutes to go, that the Woodies looked a chance.
• Oz 7s player 10. Hamish Angus had a blinder and his combination with Sheehan was the best the Rats have had this year. This lad is dynamite and next year we will be talking about him for a Super squad though not necessarily as a 10.
• 1. Salesi Manu had the best game I have seen him play since school, which is not a lot of games. It is well that he moved from Manly because he showed scrummaging against the Eastwood pack that he belongs in 1st Grade. He also got around the park better than any prop on the night. Watch this space on Salesi.
Eastwood
• They were disappointing. 10. Hola was very good and 19. L. McCaffrey looked class when he came off the bench. Wykes is a top player at this level but 13. Bennetts, 14. Grant and 15. Batger hardly fired a shot. 9. Stannard was remarkably quiet for a fellow who put his stamp on Super rugby towards the end of the season and it wasn't until the last 10 minutes that he showed his hand. Odd that.
• Well I'm resting my ears now because 80 minutes sitting in front of coach Sam Harris is hard on the ear drums.
Well done Rats - ya gotta love 'em when they get a result like this against the odds and defending their line with 13 men and and when a try would have won it for Eastwood.
The score? Rats 23 Eastwood 19.
blues recovery
Billy Sheehan (19)
Great stuff Rats, I fear a reprisal on Saturday, come on Parra the mighty Rats have proved whats possible. Great result for Rugby
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