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Sydney Subbies 2025

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Here To Do

Herbert Moran (7)
CrashBandicoot2 said:
I think this is a great idea. A bit of common sense to for the overall benefit of Rugby in Sydney and Australia.

However with only 12 Shute Shield clubs, 11 in Sydney against 20+ clubs that need colts, I would foresee one club complaining about fairness that may ruin the whole thing.
Logically - Lets look at the clubs below

Eastern Suburbs - Colleagues ( or Oysters)
Eastwood - Epping
Gordon - Chatswood
Manly - Savers
Norths - HH/Mosman
Randwick -Irish/UNSW
Southern Districts - Sea Lice/Burraneer?
Sydney Uni - Petersham
Warringah - Newport
West Harbour - Briars
Parramatta - Merrylands
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West Harbour are more likely to strike up a partnership with Drummoyne than us, which is weird because we've had a number of people involved at WH before or after us.

There is a massive disconnect - I'd describe it as a gulf - for absolutely 0 reason as Pfitzy alludes to.

Prem clubs can absolutely identify talent in Subbies (continue poaching with promises of myrrh and frankensense) and help us develop players that may want to jump up a level.

Conversely, rather than just shipping an "unwanted" player to an enemy club in the Shute, if they treated Subbies as a nursery system, that player can still get game time and maybe develop their craft playing for a club they'll never have to face.

It's not rocket surgery - fool me once I'll not be fooled again (or something like that)
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
The are an affiliate union under NSW Rugby.

However just like any of the other organisations they have their own Board and the ties are based on resourcing e.g. referees, streaming or deals etc. Difficult to draw boundaries there.
 
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Footyhead#2

Chris McKivat (8)
Pfitzy said:
When will rugby wake up and make schools rugby midweek and club rugby Saturday? League do it without issues.

And please don't ever believe the line about "oh the training for schools is too intense and requires too much dedication" - because the same kids playing first XV at Oakhill are often also playing and training league at the same time.
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I struggle to see your logic here Phitzy... Sydney and Brisbane have some of the best Schoolboy rugby comps in the world. GPS & CAS rugby programs are elite and way better than what the clubs could offer.

In my opinion we need to be expanding Schoolboy rugby to include more schools, not dismantling the competitions that are successful. Imagine where the sport would be in Australia without the big rugby schools.

I am very impressed with how far the ISA comp has come in the last 20 years. I believe this is one of the reasons we now have 4 or 5 competitive NSW Schoolboy rep teams each year. If we can create a second or third ISA comp it would create more rugby players and more Schoolboy rep depth.
 
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The ultimate ressie

Chris McKivat (8)
No games at Ryde oval for Lane Cove Iggies. Is that pre arranged as part of the merger? Pity
Was a decent ground for viewing with a nice coffee shop
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Footyhead#2 said:
Sydney and Brisbane have some of the best Schoolboy rugby comps in the world.
Click to expand...

I think that's a fairly subjective statement. We can't win an U20 tournament after all so it can't really be the tip of the spear.

I accept that the schools programs are good; they invest a lot in it, mostly for their immediate benefit, which is their prerogative.

How many XVs are these schools putting out compared to years past?
What is the percentage of players from those schools programs who continue to play rugby at any level post-school?
Do you think that rugby league is producing astronomical numbers of players ready for professional sport because of their school system, or their club system? They have more of both, after all.

We need to be conscious of the fact that relying on rugby schools to produce the talent - a good portion of which is only marking time until they got back to rugby league - is fraught with peril.

Other sports with more money and better pathways are coming, and I wonder if schools rugby is sustainable in that environment.

Would I like to see rugby in all schools? Sure - but the horse has probably bolted on that, with the exception of certain teachers who bring their love of the game to green fields e.g. my old high school was league all my life but found success in rugby when a teacher took the natural talent of those country kids and won some state titles.
 
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Footyhead#2

Chris McKivat (8)
Pfitzy said:
Stop clubs dying, and therefore rugby dying.

That's it. That's the logic.
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So to do this you want schoolboys to play 2 games of rugby per week? That doesn't double the participation, it just doubles the output. What happens to their Wednesday classes? How do you manoeuvre 1500+ kids at Kings to play against Scots on a Wednesday?

And then on a Saturday when Dural and Northern Barbarians all of a sudden have 40 teams each, where are they all going to play...? Maybe at the empty fields at Kings and Barker!

I think you will find the Headmasters, teachers, parents and students themselves would prefer they focus on learning during the week than play a second game of rugby.
 
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The Ghost of Bernie

Herbert Moran (7)
The ultimate ressie said:
No games at Ryde oval for Lane Cove Iggies. Is that pre arranged as part of the merger? Pity
Was a decent ground for viewing with a niceY
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Yes it was. Agree it was and still is good for viewing and will continue to be used as a back up if Tantallon Oval is closed. Player facilities were at best average and Ryde Council were happy to charge an arm and a leg too.

However the move away from Ryde Oval has likely been the catalyst for the resurgence of player numbers. Have basically doubled access the board as Tantallon is a more central location for former students of Riverview.and have been attracting seniors from other nearby(ish) clubs-Hunters Hill, Mosman etc.
 
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The ultimate ressie

Chris McKivat (8)
The Ghost of Bernie said:
Yes it was. Agree it was and still is good for viewing and will continue to be used as a back up if Tantallon Oval is closed. Player facilities were at best average and Ryde Council were happy to charge an arm and a leg too.

However the move away from Ryde Oval has likely been the catalyst for the resurgence of player numbers. Have basically doubled access the board as Tantallon is a more central location for former students of Riverview.and have been attracting seniors from other nearby(ish) clubs-Hunters Hill, Mosman etc.
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Good to hear
Keep up the good work
 
O

Odyssey_Park the 2nd

Herbert Moran (7)
Footyhead#2 said:
So to do this you want schoolboys to play 2 games of rugby per week? That doesn't double the participation, it just doubles the output. What happens to their Wednesday classes? How do you manoeuvre 1500+ kids at Kings to play against Scots on a Wednesday?

And then on a Saturday when Dural and Northern Barbarians all of a sudden have 40 teams each, where are they all going to play...? Maybe at the empty fields at Kings and Barker!

I think you will find the Headmasters, teachers, parents and students themselves would prefer they focus on learning during the week than play a second game of rugby.
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I think if we keep doing the same as we always have rugby is going to die out. You talk about how amazing the school system is but that isn’t translating into player numbers after school.
We have this amazing Div 1 with strong teams but we are struggling to fill divisions below it.
The lower clubs in Shiite have been struggling for years to fill teams while the big clubs get bigger and now and Eastwood can’t run a 4s.
Pfitzy isn’t saying the school system is broken and needs to be fixed hee trying to change it so there are 40 junior teams playing on a Saturday rather than clubs struggling to field sides.

He’s banged on about it numerous times, if the game doesn’t work together we aren’t going to grow. You will have your 1500 kids playing on a Saturday and not much else
 
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CrashBandicoot2

Frank Nicholson (4)
Footyhead#2 said:
So to do this you want schoolboys to play 2 games of rugby per week? That doesn't double the participation, it just doubles the output. What happens to their Wednesday classes? How do you manoeuvre 1500+ kids at Kings to play against Scots on a Wednesday?

And then on a Saturday when Dural and Northern Barbarians all of a sudden have 40 teams each, where are they all going to play...? Maybe at the empty fields at Kings and Barker!

I think you will find the Headmasters, teachers, parents and students themselves would prefer they focus on learning during the week than play a second game of rugby.
Click to expand...
Funny how a Private school cant organise mid week games, when Public schools have been doing that every week for the last 50 years,

Finish Wednesday classes at 12pm - Have a designated Sports afternoon. Students and staff to travel to whether their sport is booked. Play games at 2pm and 3pm.

Im sure Kings have a few Private buses that can help transport enough children around. If not, then maybe they can use all the money they receive to hire a few extra buses for an afternoon.

As a previous student of a Public school it was great to do
Monday - School Training
Tuesday - Club training
Wednesday - School Game
Thursday - Club Training
Friday - Rep Training
Saturday - Club games
Sunday - Rep games,

Take me back to simpler times!
 
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Footyhead67

Stan Wickham (3)
Looks like Maccabi have moved up to Div 5 and Penrith fallen down to Div 6 according to Subbies website. Sydney Harbour also in Div 6 making it now a 10 team comp.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
KentwellCup>ShuteShield said:
Hasn't Maccabi been absent for awhile?
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One team last year and I *think* Halligan Cup the year before. EDIT: no wait - Div 5 in 2024 and 2023, Halligan Cup 2022

Thankfully they're no longer at Lyne Park - which was a bit rough to play on and not full size! I look forward to the ocean views at Burrows ;)
 
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footy_footy

Ted Fahey (11)
Footyhead67 said:
Looks like Maccabi have moved up to Div 5 and Penrith fallen down to Div 6 according to Subbies website. Sydney Harbour also in Div 6 making it now a 10 team comp.
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Unsure of the finer details behind the Penrith move but seems like a good call. Emus have been guilty of being too ambitious in the past in my opinion (the move to John I Dent for example). Focussing on getting one team firing in 2025 should provide a strong foundation for future growth. To get one team through a season you are probably looking at 30+ players total.
 
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