the coach
Bob Davidson (42)
I still reckon Eastwood will win the Premiership. They have been going gangbusters all year.
Perhaps 'the coach' could answer my query as to why The Wicks have dropped off?
How long have you got?
IMO there were many factors:
(1) the growth of Sydney Uni as "the place to play" if you want a rep career instead of Randwick
(2) decline in finances (licenced club mainly but this drew money from the rugby club) to attract and retain players
(3) failure to maintain playing style (ie running rugby) saw wrong type of players and coaches being selected
(4) not enough focus on juniors and colts for several years
(5) super 15 competition resulted in young players who may have come to Randwick going straight into Academies and S15 squads from school
(6) etc
Obviously all the other clubs faced most of these issues as well but some of them managed them much more professionally.
As Late Starter pointed out, the club still has depth (all 7 teams made the playoffs) and plenty of players (evidenced by 10+ sitting on the bench for 5th grade), but there's a big gap between 2nd grade and 1st grade, especially once the S15 players come back. Significantly, the Wicks who used to boast having rep players in 2nds only have 3 current S15 players: Kepu (0 games this year), Beale (1 game), Mitchell (1.5 games) and all were playing S15 before coming to Randwick.
Good signs for the future however with some very promising young players attracted to the club this year (eg David Horwitz) and some exciting talent in the colts.