VRU 2012
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elementfreak
Trevor Allan (34)
Melbourne will be too strong again this year IMO.
Box Hill has David Palavi coaching them this year so expect them to improve with a number of new players as well.
Box Hill has David Palavi coaching them this year so expect them to improve with a number of new players as well.
Noticed this advertised. They are obviously keen to develop their youngsters.
http://www.sportspeople.com.au/sp/position/PositionDisplay.asp?ID=18603
http://www.sportspeople.com.au/sp/position/PositionDisplay.asp?ID=18603
P
philsale
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VRU 7s this weekend - 15:15 at AAMI as curtain-raiser to REBvCRU.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Why Uni?? Surely he looks at results...or does he know someone there?
T
Train Without a Station
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Unfortunately Alain has actually gone back to Belgium due to visa issues. Huge shame as he was a great bloke, great trainer and appeared to be quite a quality player too.
P
philsale
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Hopefully he'll be back soon, but there was also some talk of some time in the states. I think Joel is the most disappointed - he had a huge bank of Rainier Wolfcastle jokes readied.
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
I'm interested to see which clubs are the movers and shakers as Vic 1st Grade becomes far more professional. Unless the other clubs pick up their game Prems is at risk of becoming a 4 Horse race between Melbourne, Quins, Powerhouse and Souths with Melbourne the favourites by far.
A few Qs for those in the know (not I):
A few Qs for those in the know (not I):
- Is the plans to make Prems 4 grades going through? Surely this would be great for the bigger clubs and the ones with more socially geared 3rds.
- Will Souths will finally field a 3rd grade? Surely they have the numbers, they always have a great 1s and a decent 2nds. It isn't their job to provide space for Cerberus.
- Is it true that Prems will become an 8 club comp from 2013 on? I heard a rumour but I don't have a source. This would make sense, there is no need to spread Victoria's rugger talent too thin.
elementfreak
Trevor Allan (34)
1: There has been an attempt to make the Prem grade only available to clubs who can provide 1sts, 2nds, 3rds and Colts although not enough U18 players from the school teams are coming to club land. Melbourne, Quins and PH will all have 4 grades this year at least.
2: Souths are going to look after Cerberus and have them as the 3rd grade side which IMO works really well.
3: Not sure, although I will put the feelers out to try and find out.
FiveStarStu
Bill McLean (32)
1. There is a plan for a fourth grade this year, so far six teams have shown interest.
2. Cerberus will keep on being the Souths' third grade team. I don't think they have enough numbers to field three teams consistently, so the fourth grade will help them out a bit. I think it works well.
3. I have heard the same rumour regarding the Premier One league, but at this stage that's all it is I think. Would take the pressure off smaller clubs.
Will be an interesting year, I reckon. Quins got out to a great start last year but dropped completely after the half-year cup. Power House were the opposite, ordinary start and a great finish. Melbourne just needed to chip away at Quins and keep PH at bay and the title was theirs. Both Quins and PH could have a crack this year.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Melbourne will have 6 teams, maybe 7...they have some serious depth. Apparently 110 players at inter-club trials on the weekend with players missing through State commitments and injury/unavailability. Almost as many support staff as well...ha! Will be some good players playing 2nd grade there that would walk into other 1st grade sides!
House and Quins will be strong again, but surely the competiton is geared at knocking off Melbourne's World XV again? The forum seems to be forgetting Moorabbin, written off or just forgotten??
p.Tah
John Thornett (49)
My 6 year old cousin has just signed up for Melbourne. I wonder what grade he'll be in
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
1. I think you'd find the number not too dissimilar (by percentage) to those who continue with footy or soccer but when you have 3 times the footy/soccer players per school (and more schools playing) then that's what happens. I think the long term answer is creating schools leagues (possibly taking place on a Wed night) that facilitate for the smaller schools who might only be able to field 1 team made up of 10s, 11s and 12s. The current set-up doesn't allow for schools that aren't wealthy and aren't in the inner east to compete.
2. I agree but surely Souths can't continue to be a force in Vic club rugby with only 1 reserves team and a Colts side lacking in numbers. Perhaps a club with a struggling 3rds could move them to 4th grade and have Cerberus be their 3rds.
3. Thanks, I'd be very interested to hear what you come up with. It's the logical middle ground between the club system we currently have and the pillar system they trialed.
1. Yeah I read about that but it was a maybe. The big issue with the 4th grade in Div 2 in the past is blokes who as probably a bit past it but interested in playing still probably don't have the time to travel to Warnabol on the weekend. A Prem 4th grade even if they have a bye every 2 weeks makes sense.
2. I think the pressure needs to be put on Souths to find those numbers. Read above number 2.
3. Vic club rugby needs a restructure perhaps along the lines of WA Rugger or NSW Subbies. I've been tossing around an idea for a structure and would love to chat about it if anyone is interested.
Quins had a nightmare year with injuries and lent on their terrific Colts program but didn't get there. PH were all heart but Melbourne are rapidly becoming the Syd Uni of Victoria.
Yeah but 1 is the Chargers so I wouldn't count them. I think you need to cap them at 6 least lest it gets silly. With so many clubs in that area it doesn't make sense to allow one to get so strong.
Good on them for doing such a good job though.
Melbourne tends to not do too well in juniours, I think it comes down to the fact that youngins can't play perfectly structured rugby because they don't know the game well enough yet, this leads to so the south-east Melbourne clubs with bigger kids winning.My 6 year old cousin has just signed up for Melbourne. I wonder what grade he'll be in
They have a good set-up though and they'll teach your cousin some basics he can use well into his rugger career.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
Agree, big Islander kids run riot, looks at Wyndham, Endeavour, Moorabbin and Northern. Melbourne have a good set up for juniors, just not overly as focussed on results as the seniors seem to be.
elementfreak
Trevor Allan (34)
The pillar system was good when it was run during the season although it was made a joke of when the Power House pillar team took all the pillar boys back into the comp for one round to ensure they beat someone to make sure they got the week off in the finals. That night the Easts pillar side beat the PH pillar side 96-something and it was then decided to trial it the next year as a 12 round season IIRC and then pillar but the "lesser" players only played 10 rounds of footy for the whole season and it was scraped in the end.
It was a shame as with the right set up it would work really well.
The schools are trialling a 7s comp on Wednesday nights (aimed at both public and private schools) to try and get more players to come into senior rugby after school.
It was a shame as with the right set up it would work really well.
The schools are trialling a 7s comp on Wednesday nights (aimed at both public and private schools) to try and get more players to come into senior rugby after school.
pablo
Darby Loudon (17)
The Pillar Cup was a joke, and you're right made a mockery of by the House coach...but hey, would you rather your name on the Dewar Shield or one that was there for 2 years?? In House's defence, they got very little help from their associated clubs in the first year, only 1 or 2 players over the season from Footscray and Border Army...so were backed into a corner in that regard and history shows came out shining. I also remember them resting a lot of "Pillar" players on a Friday night and winning the Pillar semi against Quins/Souths.
The current system that the VRU has adopeted with the juniors works well, splitting players into regional teams (N/E/S/W) and aligning players accordingly as a pre-season tournament - zero affect on the club/school competitions and no one getting offside with cross-club politics. They do this in SA with the Bartercard Cup.
en_force_er
Geoff Shaw (53)
I don't think it's a lack of focus on results, it's more a case of demographics. You'll find mostly caucasian kids end up in the Inner East clubs with some islander boys and vice-versa in the South-Eastern/Western clubs. It's just a case of where people tend to live and the ability of different types of kids to play our game evens up as the boys grow and learn to play a style of rugby appropriate to their size.
What schools are playing?
7s is great and certainly has a place but I don't think this is the way forward. It's great to have a sampler league like this but surely any school with 1 keen rugby teacher could and 50+ boys a year level could find 20ish boys in years 10/11/12 to play in a comp 4-8 weeks comp.
You just need 5-8 schools like this, start with the schools that already have plenty of rugby players (for example I believe that many of Eltham's players come from Eltham High) then find more that are keen. It's about getting a framework up and running and building on it.
If a school is doing well in this Wed league and isn't based around club players then propose they move to the Saturday league. Also a Wed league would be good for schools like Brighton who tend to have 2 or 3 too few boys to field a 2nds, they can play their 2s on a Wed.
I think the Pillar cup was silly and it makes more sense to just have less Prems clubs. This is obviously the direction Vic rugger is heading and I think it's the right one.
As for thejnr regional comp it's a step in the right direction but their existence is nowhere near well publicised enough, nor are any of the juniour sides involved consulted. I personally am involved in juniour rugby (and have been for at least 3 years) and have never been spoken to about the comp.
I haven't been told to tell the boys about it, haven't been asked who'd be handy to have in the team, and certainly haven't been asked for feedback on how the program is going.
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