Thanks Coach.
Always good to know the full facts. Once again Gaggerlanders come to the rescue.
Always good to know the full facts. Once again Gaggerlanders come to the rescue.
Shute Shield 2013
- Thread starter Hugh Jarse
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Blackers13
Syd Malcolm (24)
Just heard on very good authority that Parra have signed another international to the Two Blues. This time a Fijian test and Sevens player. Bellytwoblues can you confirm?
B
BellyTwoBlues
Guest
Thaat's correct Ryan. Here's the press release that went out earlier today.
Parramatta Two Blues Rugby sign Fijian Star Taniela Rawaqa
Parramatta Two Blues are delighted to announce Fijian Star Taniela Rawaqa has signed with the club.
The flying Fijian established a relationship with the Two Blues in 2012 which has seen the player join the club recently.
Taniela has played 17 Test Matches for Fiji and scored 103 points in International Rugby. A fly half or fullback, 26 year old Taniela will bring big game experience to the young Two Blues squad who are looking to build on their successful platform of the 2012 season where they made the semi finals for the first time in 21 years.
At 179cm tall and 90kg, Rawaqa will be one of the most exciting attacking players in the 2013 Shute Shield. A 7s superstar, Taniela also represented Fiji in the IRB 7s circuit.
Taniela said ‘ I am very excited to be joining the Two Blues. I have been training with the team for several weeks now and have been very well looked after. The Two Blues have a young team with a very strong culture and I look forward to the challenge of playing in the Shute Shield.’
Two Blues Head Coach Glen Christini said ‘ We are delighted to secure a player of Taniela’s quality. His attacking skills are sublime and his on field leadership will certainly benefit our younger players. It’s a great fit for the club and for Taniela himself. He has ambition to be selected again for Fiji and I am sure the focus we have on playing expansive running rugby will suit his style’.
Name: Taniela Rawaqa
Position: Fly-half, Fullback
Height: 1.79m
Weight: 90kg
Date Of Birth: 30/04/86
Place of Birth: Lautoka, Fiji
Rugby Career
Test Debut: 19/05/07 v Samoa
Test Caps: 17
Test Points: 103 (4 tries, 19 con, 15 pen)
The Two Blues open their season with a home match at Merrylands RSL Club Rugby Park, Montrose Avenue Merrylands v Premiers Sydney University on April 6 2013. Gates open 10am.
Ends
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I Personally think that Uni and Manly are the two teams to beat
The middle tier being made up of 7 teams in no particular order
Souths, Norths, Eastwood, Parra, Rats, Wicks, easts.
bottom tier
Gordon, wests harbour, Penrith (sadly could be a tier on their own)
Crashy
Arch Winning (36)
Uni
Manly
Norths
Randwick
Parra
Eastwood
Souths
Easts
West Harbour
Gordon
Warringah
Penrith
Its interesting to see that Parra's colts beat Souths in 2nds and 3rds - deadset this would be the first year in many that Parra have 3 colts teams - well done. I truly think that rugby in NSW has bottomed out and is seeing some good growth now this ridiculous payment system is being abandoned for university scholarships.
Penrith also fielded 3 colts teams in the trials.
Manly
Norths
Randwick
Parra
Eastwood
Souths
Easts
West Harbour
Gordon
Warringah
Penrith
Its interesting to see that Parra's colts beat Souths in 2nds and 3rds - deadset this would be the first year in many that Parra have 3 colts teams - well done. I truly think that rugby in NSW has bottomed out and is seeing some good growth now this ridiculous payment system is being abandoned for university scholarships.
Penrith also fielded 3 colts teams in the trials.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Modesty, uncertainty or a desire not to show your Club's hand, Dave?
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Think Manly have been building up to this year for a while now, There is a lot of excitement this year at Manly about the clubs chances of knocking off Uni. looking forward to seeing whether they can deliver. I think Uni are vulnerable first year in a while without Louden.
Gordon are playing Warringah at Rat Park
Pirates are in NZ vs Silverdale
Who else is playing this weekend, where and when?
Pirates are in NZ vs Silverdale
Who else is playing this weekend, where and when?
Randwick play easts at latham park
Dave Beat
Paul McLean (56)
Bruce, not sure, last year it was Manly 2 Uni 1, we missed the one that counted (3 miss reads in D, and a brain snap inb our 22). Could we be 3 from 3 this year. Both teams always lift for these games.
What do you reckon Bruce, how will Manly fair strengths and weakness's?
I'd love to see both teams (1's & 2's) at full strength with all Super & Wallaby players back.
Pete, yeah it looks like a good "solid"build right through the club.
I'm not a Uni fan, but am a fan of what they have acheived - I get sick of people complaining about them, and wish more clubs would follow some of their examples as it would be for the good of rugby.
Examples - may be similar ideas, delivered in a different way (Parra is a perfect example).
Cheers
Dave Beat
Paul McLean (56)
Manly club men and coach travel;
http://www.hongkongtens.com/blog/penguins-in-seventh-heaven-at-gfi-hkfc-tens/#
http://www.hongkongtens.com/blog/penguins-in-seventh-heaven-at-gfi-hkfc-tens/#
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Dave, I think the issue of Uni dominance is now being addressed by clubs such as Manly in the appropriate way, namely, using Uni as the benchmark and taking steps to go past them.
One of Manly's great strengths is its tribalism, a factor which should never be underestimated. Uni doesn't have it to anything like the same extent, although the constant sniping and misinformation spread by other clubs has produced something of a laager mentality, a sense of "it's us against the world". It helps the Club to maintain its focus.
I don't know nearly enough about what is going on at Manly to comment on its strengths and weaknesses, although clearly the Club is doing a lot that is right. I do know a fair amount about Uni so I'll concentrate on that.
What Uni has developed over more than a decade is system, which is what has made its success sustainable, at least up to now. One of the principal building blocks of that system is very advanced physical conditioning. In my admittedly biased opinion it is at least equal to anything used in Australian professional rugby, and the bulk of the Uni players train with the same intensity and commitment as professional players.
Chris Malone faces a daunting task this season replacing Todd Louden. Around the turn of the century Nobby Malone came to Uni from Manly, and I can clearly remember that Manly officials of the time made sure we got the message that we were more than welcome to him. I have not previously had the chance to do so, so I would now like to place on record my personal gratitude for the generosity of spirit of the Manly Club in sending him to us. It's in the true spirit of club rugby.
Nobby has been a wonderful servant for Sydney Uni and was a major factor in the Club's resurgence.
He follows on from a man who played his Sydney Club rugby with Randwick. Todd Louden doesn't appear to be one of its favourite sons, even though he coached a not-exactly-star-studded First Grade team to the narrowest of extra-time Grand Final losses.
Louden has also made an extraordinary contribution to Sydney Uni rugby. The Club's EDS (Elite Development Squad) system was his creation, and when he came back to the Club for the past two seasons he brought it to a whole new level of professionalism. In my opinion he is without doubt the best developer of rugby talent and very probably the most astute thinker and strategist in Australian rugby. That he is languishing up on the Central Coast and is continually and systematically passed over for even an assistant coaching role at Super level, let alone being given a head coaching position, is absolutely baffling, although illustrative of the malaise that continues to afflict our sport in this country.
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B
BellyTwoBlues
Guest
Wow Bruce. That is going to be very hard for me to bite my tongue.
B
BellyTwoBlues
Guest
Parra are down playing Queanbeyan in Colts and grade today.
Updates are, Parra won 1st Colts 28-0 and are currently leading 2nd Grade 38-0 at halftime.
there were lower grade colts and another lower grade game played as well but I haven't been sent those scores yet.
Updates are, Parra won 1st Colts 28-0 and are currently leading 2nd Grade 38-0 at halftime.
there were lower grade colts and another lower grade game played as well but I haven't been sent those scores yet.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Don't hold back, Belly. I would be very interested in your comments.
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sidelinesid
Jimmy Flynn (14)
I watched an easts v randwick game this evening. Young randwick 10 broke his leg in the first tackle of his first run on in first grade .game held up for quite some time until the ambulance arrived and did its business
Easts had big height difference in the line out. Randwick had some very good plays but we're dusted at the breakdown.
Look forward to a tight season.
Easts had big height difference in the line out. Randwick had some very good plays but we're dusted at the breakdown.
Look forward to a tight season.
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