Shute Shield 2021

[formerflanker]

I don't know who was more amateur - Manly or the broadcast.
Both need to improve massively for this experiment to succeed.

 

[wamberal]

Gordon up 66-0 against Manly - flicking through a few club games on Stan. Only close game really Easts vs Southern Districts. All other games are blow outs.

The Eastwood/Western Sydney game was closer than it looked, some good tries by the Two Blues. Good entertainment.

 

[Ruffledfeathers1992]

The 2021 edition of the Shute Shield is a case of the haves and have nots. It'll be a rematch of the 2016 GF, Uni and Norths. Randwick will be mid table- they have finally bounced back after losing their club. Have they finished the refurb of their pavillion at Coogee yet? Easts and Southern will both be up there. Some concerning scorelines for round 1. What on earth is happening at the Village Green?

 

[formerflanker]

What on earth is happening at the Village Green?

Just teething problems.
We'll come good.

 

[The Honey Badger]

Undoubtedly. But in their early stages they only had one game a week on FTA. As their national competitions developed, so did the tv coverage. There is no way that we could bridge that gap just by having a game on FTA in NSW only. Have to start somewhere.

In the beginning there was no Pay TV, No digital channels. just 3 commercial stations and the ABC.

I do think we are at a good starting point to grow the comp with all games broadcast on Stan. Just need to spread the talent evenly and stop the lopsided results. An even comp will attract more eyes more quickly.

 

[wamberal]

In the beginning there was no Pay TV, No digital channels. just 3 commercial stations and the ABC.

Black and white too, until 1975 or so.

I do think we are at a good starting point to grow the comp with all games broadcast on Stan. Just need to spread the talent evenly and stop the lopsided results. An even comp will attract more eyes more quickly.

How to achieve that? Maybe we should employ that young chap who made the breakthrough in quantum computing to nut something out for us???

The only way that I could think of to achieve a closer comp would be some sort of centralised player allocation. Could that ever happen?

 

[Jimmy_Crouch]

The only way that I could think of to achieve a closer comp would be some sort of centralised player allocation. Could that ever happen?

To create equalisation you could look towards the NRC. If you have the Shute Shield clubs directly feeding into NRC teams then players might head to a different club to gain selection.

 

[I like to watch]

I don't know who was more amateur - Manly or the broadcast.
Both need to improve massively for this experiment to succeed.

No doubt
it was Manly.

this is going to be a very long year for them.
F all in the lower grades to put pressure on the guys that failed so dismally in round 1

 

[sendit]

Any non-Sydney based tahs need to be allocated to a bottom 4 Shute Shield side

Possible other alternatives,

*player transfer fee
*Geo-lock players, can only play for a club within x KM of their home address

 

[Eyes and Ears]

I am not convinced that an allocation from the Tahs would change much. Either the players are playing for the Tahs and they are only available late in the season by which time it is too late to have an impact for a bottom 4 club. Or you get lucky and get a guy who is excellent at club rugby but doesn't make the 23 - which means he will likely be cut from the Tahs and go elsewhere for the following season.

 

[sendit]

I am not convinced that an allocation from the Tahs would change much. Either the players are playing for the Tahs and they are only available late in the season by which time it is too late to have an impact for a bottom 4 club. Or you get lucky and get a guy who is excellent at club rugby but doesn't make the 23 - which means he will likely be cut from the Tahs and go elsewhere for the following season.

I don’t know, I remember when south’s were at their peak for a few seasons, they hit that real sweet spot of having a handful of super squad members who were never going to be regular starters. Even if they have a turnover of 2 or so years before they leave, how’s that different to what’s happening to a large portion of players at some of the bottom clubs anyway? There’s already a decent amount of turnover, that turnover may as well be super squad quality players

 

[Eyes and Ears]

Souths had the combination of strong group of young players. IIRC they made the GF in Colts 1, then 2nd Grade (might have won), then First Grade in a short period of time. Plus they had $ to attract multiple high quality players ie Timani brothers, Ulugia, Nic Henderson to name but a few.

 

[sendit]

Souths had the combination of strong group of young players. IIRC they made the GF in Colts 1, then 2nd Grade (might have won), then First Grade in a short period of time. Plus they had $ to attract multiple high quality players ie Timani brothers, Ulugia, Nic Henderson to name but a few.

Don’t recall them ever winning a colts GF during that time period, the 2nd grade was a bit meh with them making sure a healthy handful of 1st graders were eligible to play in the finals and I’m pretty sure all those guys you mentioned were fringe super players at the time hence why they were actually playing for south’s

All a tad off track though, 4-5 non game day squad members from the tahs playing for Penrith even on a 2 year cycle would be a positive move forward. Help raise the training standards, improve results, improve depth

 

[the coach]

I thought it would be interesting to check the Player Points from all the teams in round 1 --- this was supposed to even out the competition by putting a 100 point cap on each first grade team:

Uni 37 v Hunter 83
Easts 92 v Souths 51
Woods 82 v 2Bs 15*
Wests 38 v Wicks 60
Pen 29* v Norths 42
Manly 50 v Gordon 46
* not all players allocated points so total is incomplete

So the only teams nearing the cap are Easts (who played the closest game against Souths, with a much lower points total), Eastwood, and Hunter who were easily beaten by Uni with a much lower points total.

And look at the player points in the Manly v Gordon game --- certainly doesn't explain the result.

Not sure what all this means other than the fact that the player points cap has NOT had the intended result of evening out the competition and preventing a few clubs from attracting all the good players.

The PP system needs an overhaul if it's to be effective.

 

[John S]

I think it's going to be a long season for some clubs (Penrith etc). I did feel a bit better after the Gordon v Manly blowout though.

 

[The Honey Badger]

Todays games



Round 2 - 17 April 2021

TeamScore ScoreTeamLocationDate/Time
Penrith v BYE 17/4/2021 00:00 AM
Gordon v Two Blues Chatswood Oval- 17/4/2021 03:00 PM
Souths v Eastwood Forshaw Rugby Park- 17/4/2021 03:00 PM
Eastern Suburbs v Manly Woollahra Oval- 17/4/2021 03:00 PM
Sydney Uni v West Harbour Sydney University Football Ground- 17/4/2021 03:00 PM
Hunter Wildfires v Norths Newcastle Sports Ground No 2- 17/4/2021 03:00 PM
Warringah v Randwick Pittwater Rugby Park- 17/4/2021 03:05 PM

 

[wamberal]

Amazing win by the Woodies away to Southern. They looked gone for all money after a red card in the first half.

 

[The Honey Badger]

Round 2 Results

Penrith 0 v 0 BYE
Gordon 50 v 5 Two Blues Chatswood Oval-
Souths 25 v 28 Eastwood Forshaw Rugby Park-
Eastern Suburbs 22 v 24 Manly Woollahra Oval-
Sydney Uni 57 v 15 West Harbour Sydney University Football Ground-
Hunter Wildfires 3 v 23 Norths Newcastle Sports Ground No 2-
Warringah 29 v 12 Randwick Pittwater Rugby Park-

 

[The Honey Badger]

Only 2 blow outs there. Better performance by Manly.

Cracking game at Rat park. Tyson Davis had a blinder for his 100th game.

 

[The Honey Badger]

Round 3

Manly -BYE
Randwick v Eastern Suburbs Coogee Oval- 24/4/2021 03:00 PM
Souths v Warringah Forshaw Rugby Park- 24/4/2021 03:00 PM
Two Blues v Penrith TBC- 24/4/2021 03:00 PM
West Harbour v Hunter Wildfires Drummoyne Oval- 24/4/2021 03:00 PM
Sydney Uni v Eastwood Glen Willow, Mudgee-. 24/4/2021 03:30 PM
Norths v Gordon North Sydney Oval- 24/4/2021 04:00 PM