Sydney Subbies 2017

[SubbiesVeteran]

There is to many forfeits and clubs must merge for sustsinability. I would suggest

Rouse hill and uwsh - yeah renegades
barker old boys and Newport - Newport old boys
Balmain and Drummoyne - Drummoyne muzzled wolves

Yeah Great Idea lets merge a Club from Turramurra and Newport 40mins away from each other and Rouse Hill and Richmond 25min away from each other

Balmain and Drummoyne would the only viable merge but why both clubs are running out 5teamsand Colts each week in Kentwell Cup

 

[Cattledog]

2016 was a great year for HAC. As I have explained to numerous people 2016 was the 125th year of the Club & blokes came from everywhere to play. Fellas either did not retire from the previous year (or came out of retirement as a one off), blokes brought their mates to the club for the uniqueness of the season, the Club calendar was full of celebrations, & the whole feel for the year was fantastic!

On top of this we had lost the 2015 1st grade Div III GF to Redfield the year before & the fellas felt they had some unfinished business. Subsequently in 2016 we went on to win the Div III Club Championship, 1st Grade & 2nd grade premierships & were runners up in 4th grade.

The success of the 2016 season led to a number of blokes drawing a line under their time at HAC rugby & (logically) it seemed like a fitting time for many to move on. Paradoxically - Sometimes it seems like winning premierships in Subbies or Country rugby can be detrimental to your long term Club health! It's all therefore very understandable really why we had the strength to be promoted but why we have not had the means to be as competitive in 2017.

HAC's biggest issues this year has been finding Colts & recruiting new replacements for long term lower grade warriors. With a female dominated campus I can assure you that our HAC Fillies Womens 10's & 7's rugby teams were a great innovation in 2017. However, colts have proved problematic & once again this has corresponded with a change in subbies structure beyond our control which effected the whole district. As always Penrith DRU were scrounging for Colts numbers & then the very year we get promoted to Div II (& require a "colts" for the first time in years) Subbies implement colts in Div III! Thus meaning that both Hawkes. Valley & HAC now both needed to find Colts teams for 2017!

2017 has been a steep learning curve for a lot of fellas as only about 3 of us were around when the Club was in DIV 1 in the late 1990's. To some extent it has been like learning a new matchday structure with both Colts & the pre noon kickoffs for 4th grade both being problematic. AKA for the last 16 years 4ths or 3rds kicked off after noon & you didn't have a games break between 3rds & 2nds! Also clearly the standard of lower grades in Div II is significantly higher than that of Div III 2016.

All that being said HAC are looking strong for the 1st Grade Div II title in a couple of weeks & we will be either DIV 2 or DIV 3 in 2018. Whether it is 3 grades & a colts or 4 grades & a colts is much of a muchness. After 126 years of HAC one thing you realise is - So long as there is a bunch of blokes & a comp of some sort - HAC will have a rugby club!

 

[Skinny Minny]

2016 was a great year for HAC. As I have explained to numerous people 2016 was the 125th year of the Club & blokes came from everywhere to play. Fellas either did not retire from the previous year (or came out of retirement as a one off), blokes brought their mates to the club for the uniqueness of the season, the Club calendar was full of celebrations, & the whole feel for the year was fantastic!

On top of this we had lost the 2015 1st grade Div III GF to Redfield the year before & the fellas felt they had some unfinished business. Subsequently in 2016 we went on to win the Div III Club Championship, 1st Grade & 2nd grade premierships & were runners up in 4th grade.

The success of the 2016 season led to a number of blokes drawing a line under their time at HAC rugby & (logically) it seemed like a fitting time for many to move on. Paradoxically - Sometimes it seems like winning premierships in Subbies or Country rugby can be detrimental to your long term Club health! It's all therefore very understandable really why we had the strength to be promoted but why we have not had the means to be as competitive in 2017.

HAC's biggest issues this year has been finding Colts & recruiting new replacements for long term lower grade warriors. With a female dominated campus I can assure you that our HAC Fillies Womens 10's & 7's rugby teams were a great innovation in 2017. However, colts have proved problematic & once again this has corresponded with a change in subbies structure beyond our control which effected the whole district. As always Penrith DRU were scrounging for Colts numbers & then the very year we get promoted to Div II (& require a "colts" for the first time in years) Subbies implement colts in Div III! Thus meaning that both Hawkes. Valley & HAC now both needed to find Colts teams for 2017!

2017 has been a steep learning curve for a lot of fellas as only about 3 of us were around when the Club was in DIV 1 in the late 1990's. To some extent it has been like learning a new matchday structure with both Colts & the pre noon kickoffs for 4th grade both being problematic. AKA for the last 16 years 4ths or 3rds kicked off after noon & you didn't have a games break between 3rds & 2nds! Also clearly the standard of lower grades in Div II is significantly higher than that of Div III 2016.

All that being said HAC are looking strong for the 1st Grade Div II title in a couple of weeks & we will be either DIV 2 or DIV 3 in 2018. Whether it is 3 grades & a colts or 4 grades & a colts is much of a muchness. After 126 years of HAC one thing you realise is - So long as there is a bunch of blokes & a comp of some sort - HAC will have a rugby club!

100% agree with the sentiment that success can sometimes be detrimental - trophies often equal retirement and while a move up divs can often secure new players, the colts issue is only going to grow.

More colts teams required, less young guys playing rugby now than ever before.... the numbers just don't add up

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[sandeep]

I think maybe hac should stay and have 1 more year in division 2. I believe they have resources to field 4 competitive grades. The Colts issue may be an issue even if they are division 3

 

[Pfitzy]

Didnt st george win first grade 3rd division then the club folded maybe 4 years ago

Yes - Clark Cup in 2013 and then by late 2014 they were pretty much toast.

Yeah Great Idea lets merge a Club from Turramurra and Newport 40mins away from each other and Rouse Hill and Richmond 25min away from each other

Its closer to 35 minutes from our actual home ground, at that.

 

[sandeep]

Hac should stay in div 2

 

[Nine or Ten]

I'm not sure Epping would agree with you.

 

[Kiko]

Finally someone with the same vision as my brother. Sandeep you are a visionary my friend. Together we can "Make Subbies Great Again". Merging makes sense as it will make the divisions stronger.

If Rouse Hill & Uwsh merge then Pfitzy will have some help for once which will actually make this thread quite boring.

Epping & Lane Cove can merge & play out of the best ground in Sydney - Epping 5 Dragons

Hawkesbury Valley could merge with Blacktown (since Uwsh & Rouse Hill are taken) & they could play the 5 Dragons in the battle of the fences every year - West Side Warriors

Hunters Hill could merge with Hills & make a super club as they are both on the march to Div 1 - Hills Squared

Mosman, Waverley & Collaroy - Beached Whales

St Ives, Mac Uni, Lindfield. This way the Colts can come from the Uni & there would never be an issue with numbers - Macquarie Park Bluebags

Hopefully with a few more merges we can get rid of Div 6 at least. Would you rather have 6 fragile divisions where the bottom 3 divisions struggle to put up a team every week, or 4 really strong divisions where everyone puts out 4 teams & Colts every week. Does anyone really care about Div 5 & 6 anyways?

Dear Not Birchgrove,

My question to you is would there be room for the Kirribilli Kiko's RUFC and the Royal Marching Dolphin Squadron in this league?

 

[FenceLover]

Finally someone with the same vision as my brother. Sandeep you are a visionary my friend. Together we can "Make Subbies Great Again". Merging makes sense as it will make the divisions stronger.

If Rouse Hill & Uwsh merge then Pfitzy will have some help for once which will actually make this thread quite boring.

Epping & Lane Cove can merge & play out of the best ground in Sydney - Epping 5 Dragons

Hawkesbury Valley could merge with Blacktown (since Uwsh & Rouse Hill are taken) & they could play the 5 Dragons in the battle of the fences every year - West Side Warriors

Hunters Hill could merge with Hills & make a super club as they are both on the march to Div 1 - Hills Squared

Mosman, Waverley & Collaroy - Beached Whales

St Ives, Mac Uni, Lindfield. This way the Colts can come from the Uni & there would never be an issue with numbers - Macquarie Park Bluebags

Hopefully with a few more merges we can get rid of Div 6 at least. Would you rather have 6 fragile divisions where the bottom 3 divisions struggle to put up a team every week, or 4 really strong divisions where everyone puts out 4 teams & Colts every week. Does anyone really care about Div 5 & 6 anyways?

I like this talk and good to see there are some on here not only concerned about the future but actually planning for it.
I would take this 1 step further and look to merge all non fence teams with teams who have fences this way the team would have a mediocre training park and a glorious playing pitch for home games.

Drummoyne and Balmain make sense as the Dirty Reds have a magnificent fence and the Muzzled Wolves a shitty goat track.
You would combine HAC and Hawkesbury Valley.
Waverley would be tricky as so many teams would want to play there you would have to beat them off with a stick
And as for Hunters Hill I don't think much of their fence so they would need to do something if they wanted to be a serious div 1 contender but looking at Google maps, Lane Cove aren't far so that could be an option for them

 

[southsider]

As said previously there's a few different reasons HAC struggle, female dominated cohort, by far the lowest student population out of any WSU campus (only a few thousand). Plus all the students just want to party and are pretty damn lazy when it comes to commitment

 

[Bernie]

Epping & Lane Cove can merge & play out of the best ground in Sydney

You could call this side the Lane Cove Rams and watch people from both clubs with long memories roll their eyes.

 

[Rugby Central]

Hey NBB,

Your love of vision is admirable, but your grasp of geography is, well, loose.

Also many of the clubs you have suggested for merging have no need to merge. Mosman, Waverly, Lindfield are all travelling pretty well. Demographics are helpful. Maccabi seems to be another club that is well organised and happy where they are without lofty ambitions.

UWS, as Cattledog pointed out, have a rich history that will always play if there's a game going somewhere. They don't need to be in the higher divisions to justify themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for merging and to making stronger clubs and stronger competitions. But forcing incompatible marriages will probably have the opposite effect and just create more small clubs as those players look to play where they want with their mates. Northern Eagles anyone?

More importantly, we should never lose sight of what Subbies Rugby is about: The love of Rugby and playing with your mates.

 

[Nath]

No fence at Rose Bay old boy.

 

[FenceLover]

Easily solved, get the plans drawn up now and propose to council. There is plenty of cash floating around the local council there at Rose Bay, plus im sure would further enhance the local area and improve property prices.

You cant just give up before you even start! Look at all the positive and forward thinking ideas coming through GAG now, embrace the change

No fence at Rose Bay old boy.

 

[Rugby Ref]

Still alive baby.

We don't have a fence, but we still have a chance.

Hey Nath

Do you reckon that you guys will get over Merrylands on Saturday in the Meldrum Final? They definitely play a very physical game...
Also what gives with the home ground advantage for Merrylands? Subbies web-site shows the game is to be played at their ground at Holyroyd..

RR

 

[laura.ainslie]

Hey Nath

Do you reckon that you guys will get over Merrylands on Saturday in the Meldrum Final? They definitely play a very physical game.
Also what gives with the home ground advantage for Merrylands? Subbies web-site shows the game is to be played at their ground at Holyroyd..

RR

Hey! I'm Merrylands secretary. Subbies couldn't find a neutral ground so did a coin toss between our home ground and Engadine's. We didn't rally for it to be at our ground. It was a 50/50 chance.

 

[Rugby Ref]

Calm down lovey, no offence was intended by my question to Nath... from the outside looking in, it appeared quite strange. Now that you have clarified the situation it now makes sense.
Good luck on Saturday, I hope it is a good open game where the players decide the result (and not the ref..)

 

[fkj]

Calm down lovey, no offence was intended by my question to Nath. from the outside looking in, it appeared quite strange. Now that you have clarified the situation it now makes sense.
Good luck on Saturday, I hope it is a good open game where the players decide the result (and not the ref..)

Yeah its a bit surprising. I'm pretty sure a lot of subbies clubs wpuld love to act as a neutral venue, and the potential extra cash it would bring...

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[laura.ainslie]

Calm down lovey, no offence was intended by my question to Nath. from the outside looking in, it appeared quite strange. Now that you have clarified the situation it now makes sense.
Good luck on Saturday, I hope it is a good open game where the players decide the result (and not the ref..)

None taken mate, and the name is Laura. I was just explaining the situation It's an unfortunate one, as we'd love to have the stress of running the grounds taken away, as that just adds to the running of our own finals match. All we want is to have a good hitout, and yes, hopefully decided by the better team on the day and not the ref!

Acting as a neutral ground is great. Unsure why a ground couldn't be found for us.

 

[The Year Of]

20 years for kicking a bloke in the head in afl.

Only 8 weeks in subbies! Tougher game!