Shute Shield 2014

[the coach]

Well its not Uni so it makes it hard to pick "the other team" this year.

Well there'll still be plenty of Uni supporters there at least for the three lower grade games and plenty at Forshaw on Sunday, as well. They missed the 1sts GF but are in all the others GFs and won the colts and overall club championships so not a bad year. Although I suspect they'd trade all the other grades / colts to be in the 1sts tomorrow.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Tough day for some supporters tomorrow. Usually the choice of who to barrack for is a fairly simple one for many supporters: Cheer the team playing The Corporation.

This year there's no univeraslly polarising team/club in the First Grade GF, so punters not from Woodies or Hobbits will need to do a bit of homework first.

With John Grant and Nick Batger out of the Woodies, I'm not even sure that the Hobbits are underdogs anymore. They have turned in two magnificent performances to keep their dream alive, and I reckon they have one more performance left in the tank.

 

[wamberal]

Back to the GF: my heart says Rebels, but my head says Woodies by 12!

I hope both teams bring heaps of supporters with them to make it a day for the players to remember.

There will certainly be a lot of Woodies supporters. I really think that we are right up against it. Southern now are a better team than the one that beat us at home in the semi-final. Plus Kane Douglas.

A lot will depend on how well our two new wingers handle their defensive duties, Pakalani was awesome last week.

 

[the coach]

There will certainly be a lot of Woodies supporters. I really think that we are right up against it. Southern now are a better team than the one that beat us at home in the semi-final. Plus Kane Douglas.

A lot will depend on how well our two new wingers handle their defensive duties, Pakalani was awesome last week.

Agree with you Wamberal, must be some doubt over Ben B's fitness as well given the new injury he seemed to sustain last week.
Mind you Brad Curtis and Ben Shorter are great replacements on the wings -- they'd be regular 1st graders in many other clubs.

 

[the coach]

Just realised both teams will have the luxury of fresh reserves, not being involved in the 2nds GF. As the Woodies were undefeated minor premiers and the Rebels finished 2nd last you'd have to assume the Woodies will have the stronger bench.

 

[wamberal]

Just realised both teams will have the luxury of fresh reserves, not being involved in the 2nds GF. As the Woodies were undefeated minor premiers and the Rebels finished 2nd last you'd have to assume the Woodies will have the stronger bench.

Benn Robinson, for one. But, yes, the Woodies twos will be chomping at the bit to get onto the paddock in the last 20.

Southern by 6.

 

[the coach]

Benn Robinson, for one. But, yes, the Woodies twos will be chomping at the bit to get onto the paddock in the last 20.

Southern by 6.

Is this some form of reverse psychology?
You're a Woodies supporter but you're picking the Rebels

 

[Braveheart81]

wamberal is hardly known for his positivity.

 

[Crashy]

Any idea what sort of crowd we're expecting?
As the woodies knocked out the Marlins, i'm rooting for Southo.

 

[the coach]

Any idea what sort of crowd we're expecting?
As the woodies knocked out the Marlins, i'm rooting for Southo.

Not as many as there might have been if more than the die hard supporters actually knew there was a game on

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I reckon there will be a fair collection of the Corporation there. They tend to hunt in packs and they will have three teams in the prior games.

Concord is pretty handy for the Hobbits and Woodies faithful to get to, and is one step closer to Homebush for the real tragics. There are apparently free buses from Concord to Homebush, so some of the sponsors refreshing products can be consumed as preliminary activities prior to heading out to Homebush.

 

[the coach]

I reckon there will be a fair collection of the Corporation there. They tend to hunt in packs and they will have three teams in the prior games.

Concord is pretty handy for the Hobbits and Woodies faithful to get to, and is one step closer to Homebush for the real tragics. There are apparently free buses from Concord to Homebush, so some of the sponsors refreshing products can be consumed as preliminary activities prior to heading out to Homebush.

Assuming people drive to Concord and then get the free buses to Homebush, I wonder how they get back to their cars after the test?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I'd take the train and walk up Burwood Rd (or whatever it is called) from Burwood Station.

No cars to worry about and the walk from the station is only about 1 Klick.

 

[JFT]

Would be awesome if the rain stayed away. Would love to see both backlines having a crack!

 

[Iluvmyfooty]

It should be a great day of football at Concord tomorrow with the first grade being a toss of the coin - Souths have the momentum but Eastwood are very professional. The lower grades will also be good games especially third grade with two teams with plenty of attacking ability.

Tips
Eastwood
Manly
Uni
Uni

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Team Lists for tomorrow (2nd grade to 4th Grade only and All Colts games [Both clubs starting 15 listed]) are on the Sydney Uni Website.

http://www.sydneyunirugby.com.au/team-list.html

Sorry you need to click on the link above. The lists don't "cut and paste" nicely into the forum software.

 

[Bomber Harris]

SMH happy to spend plently of pages on Kurtley, not even a paragraph on SS for months. Guess they must be selling heaps of papers to MMA, world sports, Nascar enthusiasts

This post will do . First as to tomorrow I am on the Woods partially for reasons that follow . Now for the diatribe.

What do Allambie Heights Public School and the NRC have in common? Everything and nothing....

The AHPS P&C has just voted against any more community fundraising ie; trivia nights and fetes etc. Great local events bringing people together done away with at the same time as the same community gets the Allambie Heights Jets up and running as a new junior team in the MMM's area. Does anyone want to deny the Saturday afternoon at Manly Oval as a genuine display of community

Either we are real about genuine grass roots Mr Pulver - you have been at Manly Oval twice in the last season methinks - or we are not . The Rays who are they ? Maybe a vague coalition of Northern clubs but who are the Rams and Stars ? The latter are no more than a corporate networking opportunity . Prediction the Rays will get less people to Brookie than have attended Manly Oval for Rats and last week v Woods . In which case even with a bit of small change from Fox it is doomed .

While the thinking behind it is laudable I fear the NRC is (yet again) a black irrelevant hole and the a Woods should be applauded for staying out of it.

What does the rugby community really think? If there is a disconnect between our game and the local P&C - see above- SS has already lost to the forces of the quick fix and $ but.......somehow I suspect it will still be the feeder for the 2nd tier even if it has to suffer being 4th tier for a year or two.

 

[Bomber Harris]

I agree it's not easy and there's a lot of competition, but the reality is that unless you followed a club you wouldn't even know the SS GF was on this Saturday.

There must be some middle ground between the very high (and I agree with you -- totally unrealistic) aspirations of the job spec and what we're currently getting in the Sydney media ie bugger all.

Without the ABC's excellent coverage, including highlights of the previous week's games, and on line sites like G&G, Rugby News etc there'd be zero coverage. I'm still struggling to understand why the NSWRU/SRU let the Rugby News hard copy disappear. Surely it wouldn't have cost much to keep it alfoat.

The SRU has failed the SS dismally

 

[Dave Beat]

This post will do . First as to tomorrow I am on the Woods partially for reasons that follow . Now for the diatribe.

What do Allambie Heights Public School and the NRC have in common? Everything and nothing..

The AHPS P&C has just voted against any more community fundraising ie; trivia nights and fetes etc. Great local events bringing people together done away with at the same time as the same community gets the Allambie Heights Jets up and running as a new junior team in the MMM's area. Does anyone want to deny the Saturday afternoon at Manly Oval as a genuine display of community

Either we are real about genuine grass roots Mr Pulver - you have been at Manly Oval twice in the last season methinks - or we are not . The Rays who are they ? Maybe a vague coalition of Northern clubs but who are the Rams and Stars ? The latter are no more than a corporate networking opportunity . Prediction the Rays will get less people to Brookie than have attended Manly Oval for Rats and last week v Woods . In which case even with a bit of small change from Fox it is doomed .

While the thinking behind it is laudable I fear the NRC is (yet again) a black irrelevant hole and the a Woods should be applauded for staying out of it.

What does the rugby community really think? If there is a disconnect between our game and the local P&C - see above- SS has already lost to the forces of the quick fix and $ but...somehow I suspect it will still be the feeder for the 2nd tier even if it has to suffer being 4th tier for a year or two.

Accurate review.

 

[Yikes]

Maybe just tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth then Yikes.

You are correct in terms of the media officer being shared with the Waratahs. But it is more often than not an intern. Can't blame the kids in the intern roles of course, they are after all, learning, but what they are being taught is completely inadequate. Blame the teacher not the student!

You are however incorrect that NSWRU and SRU do not exist as organisations. They very much do. They have their own Board of Directors with the NSW Executive Director Bruce Worboys on both (among others). granted, they don't have many employees these days, but employees nonetheless.

I am not incorrect. The organisations have boards, but thats not the point. People in rugby have this vague notion that these organisations exist in a - you know - office. With staff members doing things. "Why don't they have a decent website!" they say. "Why doesn't their media officer do a better job!" they say. "All those administrators with their nose in the trough!" they whinge. "SRU has failed the Shute Shield dismally" they say dramatically. It's all rubbish. Beyond board members, who actually have other lives and jobs and stuff, there is no-one to do anything beyond the bare minimum to make the competition actually happen.

I said:

NSWRU and SRU do not exist as organisations, you know, with a bunch of staff. SRU has a grand total of 0 employees. NSWRU has a couple who perform specific roles (eg. ref appointments).

I would love to hear from you who the employees of SRU are. Good luck.

As far as NSWRU goes, there are a couple of full-time employees. Bruce is one. The others have specialised roles, as I said. Jim Williams works as part of a specific project, Robin Timmins does the referee appointments. The person who manages the Shute Shield administration (draws, results, judiciary etc) is actually an employee of NSW Suburban Rugby.