NSW AAGPS 2018

[rod skellet]

Hi Lads and GPS schoolboy rugby followers.

Having seen a few GPS sides play this year, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring and choose a GPS 1st XV to take on CAS later this month at Joeys.

1. Angus Bell (N)
2. Will McLennon (I)
3. Archer Holz (K)
4. Hugh Boerkman (j)
5. Charlie Cale (K)
6. Junior Smidt (I)
7. Brett Wellington (S)
8. Will Harris (S) Capt
9. Seb Strang (S)
10. Charlie Sevala (S)
11. Joseph Sua'ali'i (K)
12. Dom Easy (I)
13. Angus Bell (I) Vice Capt
14 Jordan Williams (K)
15. Hamish Mac Smith (K)

The positions I struggled with were hooker and fullback. From what I have seen there is no GPS hooker who can match the all round game of Barker's Billy Pollard.

I went for McLennon (I) at 2 as he he has done everything right so far this year for View and he has plenty of gas in his tank and can run all day for a big lad.

Again with fullback, it is a tough position and my reasoning for putting Mac Smith from Kings out of position, is that he is just to good a player not to have in the side.

The following players I struggled to find a spot for in this team.

Jeremy Williams from Scots is yet to play I gather and may get selected on reputation alone having played NSW2 last year.

Also Minogue from Kings is a class player and will now doubt make the GPS sides somewhere at 10 but I went for Savala as he is combining well with Strang at 9 and is a big unit so can take the hits that no doubt Reimer and Moretti have in store for him.

On my selections, I think this is a formidable forward pack with class all over it and some big lads. Junior Smidt is a standout 6 and I think will go close to being a Aust Schoolboy this year.

Wellington will be versing Reimer (B) for the open side flanker spot in the NSW team in my opinion, while the Williams and Moretti matchup will make selectors scratch their heads.

In the backs, young Joseph Sua'ali'i is a huge talent and despite being lost to League, deserves his spot as does his King's team mate Williams who just shaded Tricks from Scots for the other wing . The centre pairing of Easy and Bell are fast strong and defensively sound.

The front row is a good one. Archer Holz has been outstanding this year and Angus Bell and his Newington team mates are finding form at the right time.

The CAS v GPS game will be a cracker this year.

The forward battle will be intense and I think the mongrel and and intensity that Reimer Pollard and Moretti bring to the game for CAS will keep them in the game. The difference this year is that there is no Donaldson, Hardacker or speedsters like Lloyd for CAS and I hate to say this but I think the speed and class of the GPS backs will be the difference this year.

GPS to win by 14.. Gosh I would love to be wrong on that call

 

[Vintage Red]

Apologies GPS followers. I have Will Harris and Jeremy Williams the wrong way around. Please sub Will Harris into 8 and Capt and put Jeremy Williams on the injury list

Heaven (SJC #2) and Scolari (SJC #11) I would add to the mix.

 

[rod skellet]

Yes quite possibly.
The only GPS comparison I have seen though was the 32-7 loss to Kings on May 12th.
If they have improved from there they will certainly be in the mix.
My order based on what I see of pre season form though would be:

1. Scots - range of possible positions 1 to 2
2. Kings - range of possible positions 1 to 3
3. Joeys - range of possible positions 2 to 4
4. Newington - range of possible positions 2 to 5
5. Riverview - range of possible positions 3 to 5
6. Shore - range of possible positions 6

I have no doubt you see it differently PicknGo..what would your order be?

The GPS trial games have shown a real mixed bag this year, with some teams only just now finding their ideal starting line ups. The home game advantage may well play a big part in this single round competition.

My selections are thus

1 Scots - range from 1-2
2 Kings- range range 1-3
3 Riverview- range 1-3
4 Joeys - range 4 to 5
5 Newington- range 4-5
6 Shore- 6th

 

[Rich_E]

Hi Lads and GPS schoolboy rugby followers.

Having seen a few GPS sides play this year, I have decided to throw my hat in the ring and choose a GPS 1st XV to take on CAS later this month at Joeys.

1. Angus Bell (N)
2. Will McLennon (I)
3. Archer Holz (K)
4. Hugh Boerkman (j)
5. Charlie Cale (K)
6. Junior Smidt (I)
7. Brett Wellington (S)
8. Will Harris (S) Capt
9. Seb Strang (S)
10. Charlie Sevala (S)
11. Joseph Sua'ali'i (K)
12. Dom Easy (I)
13. Angus Bell (I) Vice Capt
14 Jordan Williams (K)
15. Hamish Mac Smith (K)

The positions I struggled with were hooker and fullback. From what I have seen there is no GPS hooker who can match the all round game of Barker's Billy Pollard.

I went for McLennon (I) at 2 as he he has done everything right so far this year for View and he has plenty of gas in his tank and can run all day for a big lad.

Again with fullback, it is a tough position and my reasoning for putting Mac Smith from Kings out of position, is that he is just to good a player not to have in the side.

The following players I struggled to find a spot for in this team.

Jeremy Williams from Scots is yet to play I gather and may get selected on reputation alone having played NSW2 last year.

Also Minogue from Kings is a class player and will now doubt make the GPS sides somewhere at 10 but I went for Savala as he is combining well with Strang at 9 and is a big unit so can take the hits that no doubt Reimer and Moretti have in store for him.

On my selections, I think this is a formidable forward pack with class all over it and some big lads. Junior Smidt is a standout 6 and I think will go close to being a Aust Schoolboy this year.

Wellington will be versing Reimer (B) for the open side flanker spot in the NSW team in my opinion, while the Williams and Moretti matchup will make selectors scratch their heads.

In the backs, young Joseph Sua'ali'i is a huge talent and despite being lost to League, deserves his spot as does his King's team mate Williams who just shaded Tricks from Scots for the other wing . The centre pairing of Easy and Bell are fast strong and defensively sound.

The front row is a good one. Archer Holz has been outstanding this year and Angus Bell and his Newington team mates are finding form at the right time.

The CAS v GPS game will be a cracker this year.

The forward battle will be intense and I think the mongrel and and intensity that Reimer Pollard and Moretti bring to the game for CAS will keep them in the game. The difference this year is that there is no Donaldson, Hardacker or speedsters like Lloyd for CAS and I hate to say this but I think the speed and class of the GPS backs will be the difference this year.

GPS to win by 14.. Gosh I would love to be wrong on that call

Very strong side there Rod. As you would expect, my side would be a little different. Only a couple of players though. Will put my team up tonight. In the meantime, that front row would have to weigh as much as most Super Rugby front rows.
.

 

[Quick Hands]

The GPS trial games have shown a real mixed bag this year, with some teams only just now finding their ideal starting line ups. The home game advantage may well play a big part in this single round competition.

My selections are thus

1 Scots - range from 1-2
2 Kings- range range 1-3
3 Riverview- range 1-3
4 Joeys - range 4 to 5
5 Newington- range 4-5
6 Shore- 6th

On form 1st and 2nd seem reasonably to be between Scots and Kings. I think that Joeys, New and Riverview games will go down to a bit of luck on the day. It wouldn't even surprise me if one of the three upset the favoured top 2 at some point. Shore would seem to have 6th sewn up.

The competition certainly looks closer than it did a month ago.

 

[Rich_E]

Here's my GPS team. Couldn't decide on two spots, so hedged my bets.

1. Bell (New)
2. McClennan (View)/Heaven (Joeys)
3. Patterson (Scots)
4. Bokenham (Joeys)
5. Cale (Kings)
6. Schmidt (View)
7. Wellington (Scots)
8. Harris (Scots)
9. Strang (Scots)
10. Savala (Scots)
11. Williams (Kings)
12. Easy (View)
13. Bell (View)
14. Scolari (Joeys)/O-Brien (Joeys)
15. Connolly (Kings)
.

 

[HeresToRugby]

With the GPS opens sides to be selected in two games and people posting their selection guesses here are the rep players from the GPS 16s in 2016 to provide a little sanity to the argument.
2016 President A XV 2016 President B XV
Surname First School Position Surname First School
BELL Angus NC 1 VERHEUL Harry TKS
MCLENNAN Will SIC 2 ZYLSTRA Nathan TSC
ICANOVSKI Chris NC 3 HEAVEN Julian SJC
JANSON Liam NC 4 DUVALL Angus NC
WILLIAMS Jeremy TSC 5 BROWN Jordan TKS
WILKINSON Charlie SHORE 6 LEFEBVRE Gery TKS
PEPER Ben TKS 7 BROWN Finlay TKS
HARRIS Will TSC 8 BALDOCK Michael TAS
KENNEDY Rory SIC 9 MCCORMACK Pat NC
CREAGH Vincent SJC 10 LEWIS Saul NC
DUTALLIS Matthew SIC 11 APPS Lachlan TKS
EASY Dominic SIC 12 WALKER Dom SHORE
WELLINGTON Brett TSC 13 STEWART Ben TKS
AFEAKI Simi NC 14 BAKER Ben TSC
BELL Angus SIC 15 GLASCOTT Thomas SIC
DOMBKINS Maclean SJC 16 DU Nixon SGS
BOURCHIER James SJC 17 HARDING James SHORE
LOCK Sam TKS 18 STATHIS Cos SGS
SCOLARI James SJC 19 WILLIAMS Jet SJC
TITMUS Keith NC 20 HOGANJack SIC
DALTON Joe SJC 21 GO Luke TKS
FISH Cameron SIC 22 SHOWNIRUK Marcus SGS
MACSMITH Hamish TKS 23 TRICKS Fred TSC

And from these teams the following were selected in Sydney and NSW 16s.
GPS Boys selected for NSW Schools


Angus Bell (New)
Chris Icanovski (New)
Liam Janson (New)
Keith Titmus (New)
Will McLennan (View)
Rory Kennedy (View)
Dominic Easy (View)
Angus Bell (View)
Brett Wellington (Scots)
GPS Boys selected for Sydney U16

Tom Glascott (View)
Julian Heaven (Joeys)
Jordan Brown (Kings)
Ben Peper (Kings)
Matt Minogue (Kings)

Joshua Gunstone (Kings)

Who from this group are still at school as I'm sure they will be pushing for selection in the top teams ?

From the ones I know that are still at school and as a starting point from the above
1 Angus Bell Newington
2 Will Maclennan
3 Julian Heaven
4 Jeremy Williams
5 Jordan Brown
6 Joshua Gunstone
7 Ben Peper
8 Will Harris
9 Rory Kennedy
10 Matt Minogue
11 Matt Dutallis
12 Dom Easy
13 Ben Stewart
14 ?
15 Angus Bell

Wow - sanity of selections based on 2016? So much can change (and has). Take Bockenham for example. Hasn't even been mentioned above and has to be one of the form players and still only in Year 11 and there are some young players from Kings coming through also who are obviously quite talented. People seem to get very hung up on past rep players instead of what is actually happening in front of them in 2018 which is more relevant than 2017 and before. I really think it shouldn't matter what they played in the past and wouldn't it be much better if sides were picked at the end of the competition as kids focus on the more important goal of winning the GPS competition for their school first. Personally I couldn't give 2 hoots whether they played Presidents, GPS 1sts,White/Blue/ Gold etc. Let's all get real with a proper competition and then select some sides after that.

 

[sidesteppa]

Ok trying again: Scots v Kings from last Saturday. Terrible conditions for playing and filming, a lot of wind [noise distortion] & wet. 35mins viewing time.

 

[SonnyDillWilliams]

My GPS picks with certainties

1. Bell (New)
2. Zylstra (Scots)
3. Patterson (Scots)
4. Bokenham (Joeys)
5. Cale (Kings)
6. Schmidt (View)
7. Wellington (Scots) or Robson (Scots)
8. Harris (Scots)
9. Strang (Scots)
10. Savala (Scots)
11. Sualli (Kings)
12. Easy (View)
13. Bell (View)
14. O-Brien (Joeys)
15. Connolly (Kings)

Others that I rate
Scolari (Joeys) Kobe Rugless (Scots) X Ryan (Joeys) J Gibbs (Joeys) McClenan (View) Brial (Scots) Newington Winger?

 

[Up the Guts]

My GPS picks with certainties
11. Sualli (Kings)

When was the last time a year 9 boy played GPS 1sts or even made a GPS representative side? Hopefully, Kings can indoctrinate him to stay in Rugby (wishful thinking given the money League can offer).

 

[SonnyDillWilliams]

only bold are certainties

Sualli is a future Israel Folau ... only hopefully he has a bit more tolerance ... otherwise League should keep him

I have never seen someone as good as this kid in year 9, and I saw Kurtley Beale, Dareen Junee and Ryan Cross at a young age .... but they are not even close

 

[Up the Guts]

only bold are certainties

Sualli is a future Israel Folau . only hopefully he has a bit more tolerance . otherwise League should keep him

Certainly runs and steps like Folau. Yep, I realised you don't have him pegged as a certainty for 1s but should definitely make a GPS team which is pretty much unheard of for a 15 year old.

 

[footy4life]

What happened to the big Newington/Aus schoolboy prop Opeti Helu 2016? His highlight reel is spectacular and I keep waiting to see his name in rep sides but there has been nothing.

He is on his mormon mission until next year

 

[HeresToRugby]

Sett
Settle Mr Bockenham - I am sure if your son is as as good as you imagine he will be in the mix. There are 60+ boys picked.
These boys named have had to jump through a lot of selection hoops to get their reputations and history backs me up in that in previous years the Presidents,NSW and Sydney teams have delivered a majority of Opens GPS players. Its only 18 months ago.
When its all said and done we've only had five trials and boys like Jeremy Williams who also played NSW opens last year has been injured for most of it. Should he also be disregarded???

Silly comment and you obviously don't know Hugh's dad who is one of the most humble blokes out there so please don't make assumptions like the way you look at rep side selections. My point is that half of these sides are picked on reputation and not on form which is a major problem with the format of the competition and its timing. Quite a few kids are from the bush and don't always play rep and some even played league before coming to school and only start to catch up as they mature in Years 11 & 12. This would also be true of other schools. If you look at Joeys last year they lost only to Scots and Kings each by 3 points and quite a few of those are back this year. A bloke like Creagh scored 3 tries against Riverview but seems to be out of favour with most pundits on this thread. If any of the sides don't do well including Joeys then the selections should reflect that. Sadly we won't really know until the competition is finished which is how it always used to be until someone in power decided it might affect their ATARs which is totally ridiculous. Oh and by the way, the depth in Joeys backs would see quite a few from 2s quite comfortably in some of these rep sides. I'm sure a lot of those such as Everleigh, Kinnaan and Dalton didn't play rep either but it shouldn't mean they should be left out of the mix if form warrants it.

 

[Rich_E]

Silly comment and you obviously don't know Hugh's dad who is one of the most humble blokes out there so please don't make assumptions like the way you look at rep side selections. My point is that half of these sides are picked on reputation and not on form which is a major problem with the format of the competition and its timing. Quite a few kids are from the bush and don't always play rep and some even played league before coming to school and only start to catch up as they mature in Years 11 & 12. This would also be true of other schools. If you look at Joeys last year they lost only to Scots and Kings each by 3 points and quite a few of those are back this year. A bloke like Creagh scored 3 tries against Riverview but seems to be out of favour with most pundits on this thread. If any of the sides don't do well including Joeys then the selections should reflect that. Sadly we won't really know until the competition is finished which is how it always used to be until someone in power decided it might affect their ATARs which is totally ridiculous. Oh and by the way, the depth in Joeys backs would see quite a few from 2s quite comfortably in some of these rep sides. I'm sure a lot of those such as Everleigh, Kinnaan and Dalton didn't play rep either but it shouldn't mean they should be left out of the mix if form warrants it.

Dont worry. The three other sides proposed on this page (see posts 1001, 1006 and 1011) are all based on form so far this season, all include Bokenham and all are very similar actually, which doesn't necessarily mean we are all correct, but shows we could be there, or thereabouts.
.

 

[HeresToRugby]

Dont worry. The three other sides proposed on this page (see posts 1001, 1006 and 1011) are all based on form so far this season, all include Bokenham and all are very similar actually, which doesn't necessarily mean we are all correct, but shows we could be there, or thereabouts.
.

Yes thanks Rich. The problem is that due to the new format and the timing of selections, many GPS players haven't played each other and so a default position is often taken which is usually who played rep and who didn't. It is what it is but not ideal for any of the GPS players. It's no coincidence that many of the better performing teams at the end of last season had players who weren't really considered. The system is not right and it needs to change not to mention that its timing often dilutes the GPS competition which should be first priority and then selections second.

 

[WLF]

When was the last time a year 9 boy played GPS 1sts or even made a GPS representative side? Hopefully, Kings can indoctrinate him to stay in Rugby (wishful thinking given the money League can offer).

UTG's,

I recon never. We bumped into him in a school game last year and then at the NSW u14 Club/district Championships.
Never seen any boy as talented, and pretty much everyone who has seen him agrees, along with being a very nice young man, absolutely no tickets on himself.

Having a watched a few short Kings XV videos this year, he even stands out like you know what...
If ever the ARU etc should have picked up a young player.......

Can't wait to see him in year 12!!!!!

 

[Joker]

The system is not right and it needs to change not to mention that its timing often dilutes the GPS competition which should be first priority and then selections second.

Amen

Its like choosing the sauce before choosing the pie.

BTW...best sauce on a meat pie is White Crow by Fountain.

Turn the pie upside down and watch in awe as none of the sauce falls off. This is thick, sweet, and tomato pastey. It tastes like something you might find dolloped on a classic steak pie bought from a country bakery.

 

[Armchair Selector]

With the June long weekend leaving the boys with a week off, next week's matches will offer some tantalising match ups between teams and those seeking higher honours.

Joeys host Scots

Given tight losses to CAS teams Trinity and Barker, a number are writing Joeys off as premiership contenders this season. That is very brave. Dont think Joeys will mind the underdog tag. Anything but a Scots win will put the cat among the pigeons..... Really looking forward to this game.

Players to watch vying for GPS jerseys based on teams proposed in this forum or form:

Forwards

#2: Heaven (J) V Zylstra (S)
#3: Patterson (S) V Jones (J)
#6: J Williams (J) V Wellington (S)
#8: Bokenham (J) V Harris (S)

Inside backs: (Joeys) Murray 9, Gibbs 10, Creagh 12 V (Scots) Strang 9, Savala 10, Mason 12?

Also check out the back 3 of Joeys #11 Scolari #15 Ryan and #14 Wilson who I believe have been seriously underrated

Is Jeremy Williams (S) still out injured???? What has he done?

Shore host Kings

Suspect it wont be pretty as those vying for selection from Kings will want to impress

Players to watch vying for GPS jerseys based on teams proposed in this forum or form

In the forwards for Kings; #3 Holz and #4 Cale.

In the backs for Kings; #10 Minogue, #15 Connolly and #11 Suali (quite a cheer squad in this forum and appears warranted as well)

Is Gunstone still out injured for Kings? What has he done and when does he return?
What about Ben Pepper? Is he playing?

Shore candidates, struggling to nominate any stand outs based on form to date and none mentioned that I can recall

Riverview host Newington

Will be interesting to see how each pack's scrum goes. Most likely to be won in the forwards but finished via the backs. Riverview backs I suspect

Players to watch vying for GPS jerseys based on teams proposed in this forum or form

In the forwards for Riverview; #2 Mclennan. I actually thought he had moved to prop and threw lineouts. Can someone verify?

#6 Schmidt also mentioned as one to watch.

In the backs for Riverview; #9 Albert very talented but has stiff competition. Star studded backline in Easy, Bell and Dutaillis. Not sure where they will all fit for higher honours. Of the 3 I suspect Bell would be the easier pick.

In the forwards for Newington; Is Angus Bell (N) playing #1 or #8?
In the backs for Newington; #10? Saul Lewis can be very dangerous and unpredictable in attack

For those who need a fix of footy this weekend, head to Concord Oval on Monday for the finals of the NSW Junior State Championships. U15,U16 and U17. Sydney U18 will Play Country U18 at 3pm. From this match, the NSW U18 team will be announced who will play at the Australian Schools Div 2 Championships on the Gold Coast against a Barbarians team selected from the best Div 2 players from the Championship.

 

[Rich_E]

With the June long weekend leaving the boys with a week off, next week's matches will offer some tantalising match ups between teams and those seeking higher honours.

Joeys host Scots

Given tight losses to CAS teams Trinity and Barker, a number are writing Joeys off as premiership contenders this season. That is very brave. Dont think Joeys will mind the underdog tag. Anything but a Scots win will put the cat among the pigeons... Really looking forward to this game.

Players to watch vying for GPS jerseys based on teams proposed in this forum or form:

Forwards

#2: Heaven (J) V Zylstra (S)
#3: Patterson (S) V Jones (J)
#6: J Williams (J) V Wellington (S)
#8: Bokenham (J) V Harris (S)

Inside backs: (Joeys) Murray 9, Gibbs 10, Creagh 12 V (Scots) Strang 9, Savala 10, Mason 12?

Also check out the back 3 of Joeys #11 Scolari #15 Ryan and #14 Wilson who I believe have been seriously underrated

Is Jeremy Williams (S) still out injured???? What has he done?

Shore host Kings

Suspect it wont be pretty as those vying for selection from Kings will want to impress

Players to watch vying for GPS jerseys based on teams proposed in this forum or form

In the forwards for Kings; #3 Holz and #4 Cale.

In the backs for Kings; #10 Minogue, #15 Connolly and #11 Suali (quite a cheer squad in this forum and appears warranted as well)

Is Gunstone still out injured for Kings? What has he done and when does he return?
What about Ben Pepper? Is he playing?

Shore candidates, struggling to nominate any stand outs based on form to date and none mentioned that I can recall

Riverview host Newington

Will be interesting to see how each pack's scrum goes. Most likely to be won in the forwards but finished via the backs. Riverview backs I suspect

Players to watch vying for GPS jerseys based on teams proposed in this forum or form

In the forwards for Riverview; #2 Mclennan. I actually thought he had moved to prop and threw lineouts. Can someone verify?

#6 Schmidt also mentioned as one to watch.

In the backs for Riverview; #9 Albert very talented but has stiff competition. Star studded backline in Easy, Bell and Dutaillis. Not sure where they will all fit for higher honours. Of the 3 I suspect Bell would be the easier pick.

In the forwards for Newington; Is Angus Bell (N) playing #1 or #8?
In the backs for Newington; #10? Saul Lewis can be very dangerous and unpredictable in attack

For those who need a fix of footy this weekend, head to Concord Oval on Monday for the finals of the NSW Junior State Championships. U15,U16 and U17. Sydney U18 will Play Country U18 at 3pm. From this match, the NSW U18 team will be announced who will play at the Australian Schools Div 2 Championships on the Gold Coast against a Barbarians team selected from the best Div 2 players from the Championship.

.
ACS

Re: some of the players you mention.

Jeremy Williams (S). Hasn't played yet this season. Not sure of injury. Was kitted up last Sat but didnt take field from bench. So looks like he will be back soon, hopefully for final trial against Joeys. Made NSW 1 bench last season.

McClellan (V). Has played 2 in both games Ive seen. So looks like he might have switched back to 2, where he was picked for NSW u16s in 2016. Was prop in View 1s last year. Played great in 2 matches Ive seen this year. Possibly even bigger this year, but doesnt appear to have lost mobility.

Schmidt (V). Probably not well known outside View supporters. Big (well over 100kg) athletic and aggressive. Made Presidents B last year. Can play 4, 5, 6, 8 and probably 7. Wouldn't be surprised if we see a bit of him during rep season, because of his ability and utility value.
.