Sydney Subbies 2022

[Pfitzy]

Clarification: it is $4k per season for those clubs getting three games televised every week (Divs 1-3 get 1st XV, 2nd XV, and Colts as part of the package).

For 4th Division this year with 2 grades / week it is $2400.

Most I've talked to have jumped at the chance to sell the streaming space to sponsors and use the footage for match review and judiciary purposes.

For those clubs in Div 5, I believe they can ask for individual pricing at this point.

 

[Waterloo_Ned]

Beecroft vs UNSW - My friend is a 2nd grade UNSW flanker and he is not confident. Beecroft by 2
Lindfield vs Hawkesbury - Valley to punch on. No-one is taking them serious or talking about them as a contender except me but they are going under the radar and trust me they are a seriously good team. Valley by 40
Blacktown vs Briars - Briars to grind out an unstructured and hurting Blacktown. Briars by 12.
Newport vs BOB's - BOBs are a little light on this week and Newport will make them hurt. Newport by 40+
Hills Vs Harlequins: - One of the matches of the year. We have been looking forward to this one for a while and will try to use our size over the reds. Hills will try the same thing and naturally aim bash us through the middle, and play off the back of it, spreading the ball out wide and then trying to kick in behind our back 3. Expect this to be a high quality game and both sides up for this. Quinns by 3.

 

[Pfitzy]

Hills Vs Harlequins: - One of the matches of the year. We have been looking forward to this one for a while and will try to use our size over the reds. Hills will try the same thing and naturally aim bash us through the middle, and play off the back of it, spreading the ball out wide and then trying to kick in behind our back 3. Expect this to be a high quality game and both sides up for this. Quinns by 3.

Tough day at the Yatt for your blokes by the looks - missing a few guys or just overwhelmed?

 

[Pfitzy]

Couple of great games at Kellyville Park yesterday. We were missing all our regular hookers due to injury and illness so lineouts were a bit of a pickle. Redfield got us in second Grade after two late scores from poor kicks by us. It was 12-all in Firsts going into the last ten minutes when Redfield broke upfield and took the lead. Pounded their line for the last 3 minutes of the game and just couldn't crack them. Fair play.

Redfield would be disappointed by the number of breaks they didn't capitalise on with dropped ball, but to be fair there was a lot of pressure in contact both ways.

 

[SuburbanCornChip]

Tough day at the Yatt for your blokes by the looks - missing a few guys or just overwhelmed?

Seems like the former (but probably a bit of both) Second rower playing prop and 3 of their typical pack missing. Would hurt considering that’s usually their weapon.

On the replay looks like they got got blown out in the second half, 5 points in it at half time.

 

[Heavyd]

Div 2

Beecroft vs UNSW: Cricket score pendng, UNSW by 50+
Lindfield vs Hawkesbury: HV way too polished for an improvng Old Soldier, HV by 30+
Blacktown vs Briars: A yawnfest coming here in a high scoring non tackling encounter. I'll take total points over 70 and Briars to just edge out the result 40-36.
Newport vs BOB's: Breakers have some injury concerns that may see this tighter than expected. I'll go with the Breakers at home by 15.
Hills Vs Harlequins: MOTR, this will be brutal in the fowards. Im going to step out on a limb and say this will end in a draw.

- Either Beecroft gave a good account of themselves or wheels have fallen off UNSW as a four point scoreline was not on the radar. Beecorft also knocked them off in 2nds. We will get a clearer picture of where UNSW's finals hopes lie when they host Newport this weekend.
- Old Soldier at home almost caused an upset on the Barraclough favourites with a near miss in 1s.
- Hills 7 try romp over Harelquins made mince meat of my draw prediction.

Chatting to some RAMS players who ran around against Breakers lower grades geez subbies absolutely stiched them up this season. A club that can field 4 grades gets punted to the lower divs yet a club that can field 2 grades and a colts roams around in Div 2. Apparently Breakers put $500 on the bar for BOBs who to their credit got a bus down Mona Vale road to make the most of ladies day and their awesome clubhouse.
But subbies politics appears to be a joke, Knox perpetually in Div 1 yet western Sydney clubs get the shaft. A broom definately needs to get put through the board and administrators at seasons end. The raptors debacle should of been enough for them to fall on their swords.

 

[BJT]

- Either Beecroft gave a good account of themselves or wheels have fallen off UNSW as a four point scoreline was not on the radar. Beecorft also knocked them off in 2nds. We will get a clearer picture of where UNSW's finals hopes lie when they host Newport this weekend.
- Old Soldier at home almost caused an upset on the Barraclough favourites with a near miss in 1s.
- Hills 7 try romp over Harelquins made mince meat of my draw prediction.

Chatting to some RAMS players who ran around against Breakers lower grades geez subbies absolutely stiched them up this season. A club that can field 4 grades gets punted to the lower divs yet a club that can field 2 grades and a colts roams around in Div 2. Apparently Breakers put $500 on the bar for BOBs who to their credit got a bus down Mona Vale road to make the most of ladies day and their awesome clubhouse.
But subbies politics appears to be a joke, Knox perpetually in Div 1 yet western Sydney clubs get the shaft. A broom definately needs to get put through the board and administrators at seasons end. The raptors debacle should of been enough for them to fall on their swords.

Its worth acknowlegdging here that late in the piece the Rams were offered the option between being Div 2 without a colts or the current circumstances and they chose the latter.

 

[Eastcoast]

Its worth acknowlegdging here that late in the piece the Rams were offered the option between being Div 2 without a colts or the current circumstances and they chose the latter.

Do we know when they were offered this option? Was it before or after the start of the season? If it was after the season had started- then who can blame them for not wanting to drop everything?

Onwards to Div 1 though. Very pleasing weekend for the HH boys. Forest were absolutely abysmal in 1's. Sitting 3rd in Kentwell feels good. A few teams seem to be losing interest in the competition. Might be the start of the UNSW stack job for the end of the year.

 

[Pfitzy]

Sitting 3rd in Kentwell feels good. A few teams seem to be losing interest in the competition.

Would have put a few concerns to bed, no doubt. Gave good account against Colleagues in the only loss so far and wins over Knox and Petersham must feel good. Some challenges in the back half of the year with Waverley and Mosman still to come, as well as another one against Colleagues.

Drummoyne have dropped off a little so they might be ripe for the picking.

 

[Pfitzy]

Do we know when they were offered this option? Was it before or after the start of the season? If it was after the season had started- then who can blame them for not wanting to drop everything?

Before season definitely as there was a lot of shifting around with clubs to get Div 1 and then 2 sorted.

Logically it would have made sense to ask them if they wanted to swap when Raptors came down, I suppose? Try and keep Div 2 at even numbers. As it was, Div 4 ends up with 12 which is great except I was going to make plans the week we had spare

In Epping's eyes I guess they needed to balance up the inconveniece of playing at 2-3 locations every week, versus the level of competition they'd come up against in Div 2. Some very handy clubs there, and they weren't exactly setting Division 2 on fire last year before Covid hit (Blunt Cup 3rd - 6th in Firsts and Seconds and 8th in Colts and 4th Grade).

McLean Cup they're 5-1-1 (loss to Savers, draw with Redfield). Grose Cup they're first with 7-0-1 (loss to Savers).
They'll face Oysters in a couple of weeks with Merrylands again in Round 14 as the main challengers.

 

[Pfitzy]

In fact, looking at our draw, I'm kind of filthy we have to play Epping and Savers twice that's the way the cookie crumbles.!

 

[Fat Pigeon]

In fact, looking at our draw, I'm kind of filthy we have to play Epping and Savers twice that's the way the cookie crumbles.!

Pfitzy - as the old saying goes, it’s better the whore you know.

 

[Prodigy]

Before season definitely as there was a lot of shifting around with clubs to get Div 1 and then 2 sorted.

Logically it would have made sense to ask them if they wanted to swap when Raptors came down, I suppose? Try and keep Div 2 at even numbers. As it was, Div 4 ends up with 12 which is great except I was going to make plans the week we had spare

In Epping's eyes I guess they needed to balance up the inconveniece of playing at 2-3 locations every week, versus the level of competition they'd come up against in Div 2. Some very handy clubs there, and they weren't exactly setting Division 2 on fire last year before Covid hit (Blunt Cup 3rd - 6th in Firsts and Seconds and 8th in Colts and 4th Grade).

McLean Cup they're 5-1-1 (loss to Savers, draw with Redfield). Grose Cup they're first with 7-0-1 (loss to Savers).
They'll face Oysters in a couple of weeks with Merrylands again in Round 14 as the main challengers.

Let's clear something up. Epping was offered the opportunity to save Subbies some embarrassment and move back to Division 2 on the Thursday night before Round 1. At 10pm at night, after training had finished. With the expectation we would change focus to being a Division 2 club straight away.
Obviously a move that late to Division 2 would have been disastrous for Round 1.
After Round 1, we tossed up the options. We had already lost a number of high end players (new and returning) due to the farcical nature of our grading. We knew we had the player numbers to go up in terms of first to fourth grade, but definitely not the colts. We saw the move as a chance to regroup and, to be honest, our player group had come to terms with what the decision was. That's not to say that players don't make themselves unavailable when the club is split, but we are working through it.

We are managing the inconvenience of 2-3 locations because we have great people at our club. People who dig in. We have had, and will have some tough weeks. This past weekend, for example, saw our first grade captain's bucks party, 1s and 2s at Mac Uni and 3s and 4s at Newport. 22 absolute fucking legends rolled out to Newport and dug in for two tough grades of footy. Tell me that other clubs would manage it.

This week, we finally get to open at Somerville. For those in the know, that was another kick in the guts to our great club. But as they say, its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog.

 

[Pfitzy]

This past weekend, for example, saw our first grade captain's bucks party, 1s and 2s at Mac Uni and 3s and 4s at Newport.

Two locations is tough enough with Halligan Cup. Three would be a nightmare, particularly having to go to Newport.

You'd have to say the regroup was the right decision; top 2 for both McLean and Grose, with a PD of 200+ and have basically locked in a finals spot with half the season to go, and the depth to take it all the way. Only trail Harbour by 50 points on the club championship, so the game in two weeks will be keenly watched.

I well remember playing 2 games back to back at tight head prop against Harlequins a few years ago. The same 15 played both games, including someone who came along just to help out, in order to make sure our club met its obligations.

At least we saved on jersey washing that week.

 

[Pfitzy]

We knew we had the player numbers to go up in terms of first to fourth grade, but definitely not the colts.

On Colts: does the landscape change significantly once Eastwood piss off? I don't think they've even broken ground at the Pony Club yet, so it'll still be two years away. What resources are nearby from which you can recruit?

 

[Prodigy]

Two locations is tough enough with Halligan Cup. Three would be a nightmare, particularly having to go to Newport.

You'd have to say the regroup was the right decision; top 2 for both McLean and Grose, with a PD of 200+ and have basically locked in a finals spot with half the season to go, and the depth to take it all the way. Only trail Harbour by 50 points on the club championship, so the game in two weeks will be keenly watched.

I well remember playing 2 games back to back at tight head prop against Harlequins a few years ago. The same 15 played both games, including someone who came along just to help out, in order to make sure our club met its obligations.

At least we saved on jersey washing that week.

We'll see if the regroup is the right decision in the longer term. At the moment, it is doing what we needed it to do and drawing some players back to the club.
The points differential is not something that we are discussing. As fun as the game was, and I don't want to sound like I'm pouring pity on them, I took no pleasure, as the first grade coach, in putting 90 points on Northern Saints.
We are breaking the season down into chunks. We are part way through the 3 chunks, with good wins over Mac Uni. We now change focus to Raptors this week and being back at home, and then the trip to Oysters/Easts.
Definitely not thinking about the post-season, or anything further ahead than Oysters.

On Colts: does the landscape change significantly once Eastwood piss off? I don't think they've even broken ground at the Pony Club yet, so it'll still be two years away. What resources are nearby from which you can recruit?

I don't think the landscape changes for us once Eastwood leave. I don't believe that Eastwood are really drawing from the local area - I think they have target zones around the Hills and Dural. What we do want to do is position ourselves as a seriously fun rugby option for kids coming out of North Rocks, Central Eastwood and Ryde, who just don't want the excess of Eastwood and the fight for positions.
The traditional good rugby havens of Epping Boys and Marist Eastwood seem to have changed course with rugby no longer a focus, unfortunately.

 

[Pfitzy]

If Subbies wants us as a Div 4 club as we can’t guarantee colts then we will leave it to them.

I also look at Sydney Harlequins whose admission into Div 3 originally relied on using Easts 4th Colts team, and continues to do so. This is the kind of flexible thinking the competition needs, IMHO. The break between club-school-club makes player retention tough.

It is a shame more clubs in Div 4 can't field a third grade side, but that is a result of numbers dwindling everywhere. Subbies hasn't had a full 6 divisions for years.

Competitions outside Sydney grade clubs into fixed divisions to fit the landscape better. e.g. Wagga has clubs filling every slot in the Riverina comp, but smaller towns can only get a Third Grade side together. Nightmare to plan for as an administrator, but practical in its approach.

The situation this year is a result of 2 years of Covid. Hopefully a return to something like "normal" can be the 2023 season, and stabilise us back to 8 clubs per division.

 

[The Ghost of Raelene]

On Colts: does the landscape change significantly once Eastwood piss off? I don't think they've even broken ground at the Pony Club yet, so it'll still be two years away. What resources are nearby from which you can recruit?

Can't think it would change much. Seems like Eastwood have a steady flow of Oakhill boys into the clubs Colts as well as always having strong higher grades will attract good footballers.

Is European Summer going to further decimate some clubs player numbers? Job Keeper is funding A LOT of Contiki tours this year.

Cue the Subbies Board burying their heads and attending as many lunches as possible and then say how resilient they have been through tough times and look forward to working with clubs moving forward into a bigger and better 2023.

xoxo Rae Rae

 

[Pfitzy]

Saw on the news last night that La Nina weather system is done for now. Hopefully everyone can catch up any remaining games by next wet weather weekend and the season can finish without further major disruption.

 

[Heavyd]

Div 2

BOBs vs Beecroft: a much improved effort from Beecroft last week will give them confidence to topple Barker however I think BOBs will be too drilled and will win by 7
Hills vs Lindfield: Another interesting game which should prove a tight tussle. Old Soldier to stay with Hills for 60 minutes before losing by 14.
UNSW vs Newport: A tough away ficture for the Breakers but think they will have too much class out wide for the students. Newport by 10
HV vs Quinns: Tough away assignment for the boys from the east. HV will be too classy for Harlequins and win well by 24+
Iggies vs Blacktown: Fresh off a bye Iggies wont waste the chance to register a rare win and will go for the throat of a suffering Blacktown. 14+