Wrong. We did NOT get the Showground for use. There was much discussion about the move to the Hills and without boring people half to death with it, the commitment that Hills Council wanted was something the Two Blues were not in a position to fund.
You are right there will be some players who leave, Penrith are telling us they have lost 43 players already, so not much will change.Sorry, I don't see how that would work. IMO it would just result in an exodus of players who want to play 1st grade to other clubs, to league or they will give it away as I expect will also happen to the colts if they don't enter a team in colts 1 next year.
You are right there will be some players who leave, Penrith are telling us they have lost 43 players already, so not much will change.
There will a core group who prefer to play for Penrith, what this proposal will do will stop them getting beating by 100 points most weeks while giving them time for the colts to come through and strengthen the club.
Word is that nsw rugby are looking at balmain (6 men's sides with enough colts) to be promoted.
Penrith have gone backwards this past 2 years. Only 2-3 seasons ago they were competitive in ones and twos. We just beat them by 1 in 2's at coogee and we JUST got home. At the time I thought "penrith are on the up". How wrong I was.
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Word is that nsw rugby are looking at balmain (6 men's sides with enough colts) to be promoted.
Penrith have gone backwards this past 2 years. Only 2-3 seasons ago they were competitive in ones and twos. We just beat them by 1 in 2's at coogee and we JUST got home. At the time I thought "penrith are on the up". How wrong I was.
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If memory serves me correct, the Emus actually beat the Wicks in 1st grade at Coogee in 2011 or 2012.
Promoting Balmain may remove the 100+ thrashings from Shute Shield competition but one wonders how sustainable that will be, and what would that do for the growth and expansion (or prevention of further contraction) of the game.
Sydney extends to the base of the Blue Mountains, not the M7. Not that many folk attend Shute Shield games in the Northern and Eastern suburbs, but there are plenty of opportunities for Junior, Club, Subbies and School footy in those areas.
If Penrith is dropped to Suburban rugby, what opportunities are there for the talented young athletes living outside the M2, M7, M4 roads, apart from having to travel huge distances, or relocation?
What incentives are there for the Junior Village Clubs to spread the gospel of Saint Billy Webb-Ellis? There is no regular school footy.
Picking up on your theme, Balmain is a road to nowhere (metaphorically speaking).
The NSWRU are going to have to do what the AFL have done with GWS - although on a massively smaller scale of course. They are going to have to fund and run the club in the short term or it will be a repeat of what's happened at Penrith.
Not sure if Balmain is the answer though. Before Penrith we had Drummoyne in the competition and they also struggled. Drummoyne is the next suburb to Balmain and had a stronger junior and senior playing tradition (Drummoyne is actually the amalgamation of Glebe and Balmain and was originally known as Glebe-Balmain - they only changed their name to Drummoyne to get on Drummoyne Oval in 1932)
While the current Balmain club are a separate entity, it's not really a growth area and they will face the same issues that beset Drummoyne.
NSWRU really need to go back to the drawing board and think through what to do next. I'd prefer the competition to have one less team next year and get a better result in 2017. IMO it should be in a growth area and it needs to be funded and supported by the NSWRU/ARU and not left to a few overwhelmed volunteers at grass roots level.