2015 Schools Rowing

[behindtheshed]

it takes a lot to win the HOTR irrespective of the other activities carried on at all schools.
Most (99.9%) kids in the other GPS schools could attend grammar but they wouldn't be cut much slack with their academic performance: that's the real difference.

Of course it takes a lot to win HOTR as it does to achieve anything in a school. It takes, as I posted earlier, the right cohort of students attending at the same time as the right coach, the perfect school culture to encourage that activity and a parent body/school council willing to fund it.

In the late 1980s you could not find a better choir school than Newington in Sydney, its program was unparalleled due to the ideal mix of students and staff and leadership which helped it to flourish. These days the school doing that is Barker, again due to a serendipitous confluence of staff and students. leadership has sniffed the wind and poured money into it.

Meriden has spent time and money becoming the go-to school for elite sportswomen. Again, students came through who needed pathways and the school was willing to invest in it. Once that began, it gained a name and attracted more.

Loreto Normanhurst wrote their own curriculum and had it approved by Board of Studies about 15 years ago, focusing on holistic and pastoral care. That paid off as they are now one of the top performing academic schools.

I only ever had two points to make, IS:

1.It's interesting to compare the populations of schools in a variety of ways, not just size of cohort

AND

2. The success of a school in any venture (academic, sporting, music) depends on an ideal combination of staff, students and culture, and that inevitably waxes and wanes over the years.

I've been around a lot of schools for a lot of years and the picture is never one-dimensional.

Let's turn our minds again to rowing, as the first regatta is only a few weeks away. Camps have already begun. Anyone willing to predict their box trifecta for HOTR yet?

 

[Major Rennie]

1. Joeys
2. View / Scots or Shore (each way bet)

boys in cerise and blue deserve this win (and am in the Shore camp)

 

[Inside Shoulder]

No one "deserves" to win the HOTR - that is disrespectful to the other crews.

 

[behindtheshed]

No one "deserves" to win the HOTR - that is disrespectful to the other crews.

Or you could take a different perspective and say that every crew deserves to win.

I think it's very gracious of MR to make that comment about Joeys, given his Shore affiliation.

 

[fpiglet]

1: joeys 2: Riverview 3: Shore
I think Newington and Scots will struggle.
Shore 2nd VIII to win.

 

[Major Rennie]

Looking fwd to seeing the results this weekend and whether any crews can close the gap to Joeys.Unless they do they will win pretty comfortably. First race back is generally a good indicator where they sit.

Bigger question is whether Joeys are good enough for Scotch at the Nationals. Hope they are they though me thinks wont be as strong.

MR

 

[behindtheshed]

Looking fwd to seeing the results this weekend and whether any crews can close the gap to Joeys.Unless they do they will win pretty comfortably. First race back is generally a good indicator where they sit.

Bigger question is whether Joeys are good enough for Scotch at the Nationals. Hope they are they though me thinks wont be as strong.

MR

I have to admit, despite encouraging others to declare their predictions, I am hedging mine until this weekend; possibly even until the following as Hen+ Chicken is not necessarily a clear indicator of form. Sometimes it's a Stephen Bradbury affair.

 

[Spieber]

Big shake up in Shore's crew. Only two in same seat as last year, with 2 dropped.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Big shake up in Shore's crew. Only two in same seat as last year, with 2 dropped.

Yowsers

 

[Major Rennie]

Yowsers alright. Shuffle of the deckchairs on SS Titanic or a crew ready to test Joeys et al. Jennings doesn't take losing lying down so hopefully the latter.

MR

 

[Spieber]

Yowsers alright. Shuffle of the deckchairs on SS Titanic or a crew ready to test Joeys et al. Jennings doesn't take losing lying down so hopefully the latter.

MR

Word from the shed is that the boys have settled in well and like their boat speed. Let see what happens in the wilds of Hen & Chicken on Saturday.

 

[showpony]

Some expected and unexpected results today -

1st joeys
2nd shore
3rd grammar

Fairly low winds and minimal washes, a rare sight in h & c bay.

 

[John Sitback]

Definitely unexpected.

looks like grammar's beginning to send the big one's down

 

[behindtheshed]

Conditions were almost unbelievably, spookily good. take a look at last year's times for the equivalent regatta (High;first week back, H+C) and times were about 30 seconds slower across the board.

Shore crew definitely looked more competitive after the shake-up. Could be that if this crew clicks, they stage a comeback equivalent to Kate Jones.

Meanwhile what kind of voodoo is being practised this week over at Hunters Hill? Lots of new faces in the 2nd VIII, but they all wore the same devastated and dismayed expression. Was this a one-off to punish miscreants or something? They have gone from neck-and-neck finishes with Shore and Scots to looking like KT put something in their drinks. Anyone got the inside dope on that situation?

Other than that, although I shan't make any firm prediction yet for March 7, 2015, I will boldly predict that the school showing depth in Year 9 quads is Riverview and I predict that in 2 - 3 years' time they will be up in the places in 1st and 2nd VIII.

 

[lincoln]

Could be that if this crew clicks, they stage a comeback equivalent to Kate Jones.

Or at least equivalent to the Shore 2005 crew, although those seat changes were less than two weeks out from HOTR.

 

[Major Rennie]

Good hitout though let's see results this weekend at SIRC.

Joeys still the crew to beat though Shore hopefully closing the gap. Two horse race, Grammar a long way off and wont challenge. Riverview probably most disappointing crew on Saturday so hopefully can turn it around as thought would push Shore and Joeys.

Scots 2nd Eight a jack in the box though Shore biting at their heels so will need to keep improving as Shore will. Bet your life on it.

MR

 

[fpiglet]

There must have been some crazy tactic employed by Joeys (maybe to intentionally edge out Riverview in the heat??) Think if Riverview was in the 'A' Final they could have put more pressure on. Always tough to row like there's no tomorrow in a two horse 'B' Final. Joeys picked up a quick 20 secs in the Final, so dunno.... feels like they were sticking to a race plan in the heat or they thought, 'gee... that was shit. We better pull our fingers out!'.

Joeys 2nd VIII have seem to have made some major changes with ex 2nd VIII crew members appearing in the fours.... Word is there is still some seat racing etc for final selections, so it may have been a case of doing a Jennings and dropping people to get them to lift their game?

As always, SIRC is the best barometer for how things are really going. Nasty starters, finicky aligners and madly waving white flag officials. The whole box and dice.

 

[showpony]

There must have been some crazy tactic employed by Joeys (maybe to intentionally edge out Riverview in the heat??) Think if Riverview was in the 'A' Final they could have put more pressure on. Always tough to row like there's no tomorrow in a two horse 'B' Final. Joeys picked up a quick 20 secs in the Final, so dunno.. feels like they were sticking to a race plan in the heat or they thought, 'gee. that was shit. We better pull our fingers out!'.

Joeys 2nd VIII have seem to have made some major changes with ex 2nd VIII crew members appearing in the fours.. Word is there is still some seat racing etc for final selections, so it may have been a case of doing a Jennings and dropping people to get them to lift their game?

As always, SIRC is the best barometer for how things are really going. Nasty starters, finicky aligners and madly waving white flag officials. The whole box and dice.

How could joeys singlehandedly edge out view in a heat where the top 3 out of four progress?
Certainly no doubt that they held back in the heat to attack the final, but it seems ridiculous to think that this was some plot to eliminate riverview - there is no logical connection.

 

[fpiglet]

How could joeys singlehandedly edge out view in a heat where the top 3 out of four progress?
Certainly no doubt that they held back in the heat to attack the final, but it seems ridiculous to think that this was some plot to eliminate riverview - there is no logical connection.

You think holding back in the heat to run third to attack the final is a better or more reasonable plan? That's just as crazy as my first supposition (I did also suggest they had a shit row...) Irony is lost here......

 

[behindtheshed]

You think holding back in the heat to run third to attack the final is a better or more reasonable plan? That's just as crazy as my first supposition (I did also suggest they had a shit row.) Irony is lost here..

Mmmmm.....don't really get fpiglet's point or his tone......but I think the evidence points to a poor race plan either way.