3rd tier is back in 2014 [Discontinued]

[Dave Beat]

Heard that Easts and Southern pulled out of JVs with wicks
Not sure of any reason, that's for themselves.
Heard that coaches would be allocated from tahs or ARU
If true , that would possibly mean that players would be chosen from other than just the JVs club. This would broaden the horizon for potential players not chosen by their club coach as being good enough.
Everyone would be surprised if wicks with their current crop could do well in the NRC so outside players would be a must if they win a spot.

I "heard" the same, Terry Smith in yesterday paper suggested that it was because Randwick said they must were green, and must play at Coogee.

BUT, was there much cred to his article?
I had thought the curator would be a little unhappy with the cricket season getting underway.
I had thought the ARU made reference to grounds needing to be conducive to crowds, and TV. Even on a Shute shield day it is difficult.

 

[Bruce Ross]

Carraro came from Sydney Uni, didn't he?

Up Newcastle way, from the central coast comp ( I think)

As I remember it, the family lived on the Central Coast. Matt joined the Sydney Uni Colts program from Joey's, but when he moved into Grade his path as a centre was blocked by Tom Carter and Luke Inman, so he switched to Randwick. He was probably sensible not to wait for Carter to move on.
.

 

[RugbyFuture]

I "heard" the same, Terry Smith in yesterday paper suggested that it was because Randwick said they must were green, and must play at Coogee.

BUT, was there much cred to his article?

I heard it was credible.

 

[Dave Beat]

I heard it was credible.

But he also said Wallaby laden Sydney Uni, there Dave Dennis and Foley who are not regular starters and sometimes on the bench (+ Izzy) that is not laden.

 

[No.8]

Any update on the teams yet? Its getting towards the start of the club season - you think there will be news soon who the clubs will be???

 

[the coach]

Brand Randwick should try and get Brand O'conor to play for them

West Harbour beat us to the punch!

 

[the coach]

Brand Randwick poaching Brand O'Connor - very good.

I don't think JOC (James O'Connor) has ever played a club rugby game in Brisbane or Sydney to my knowledge.

But seriously "Randwick" a brand with world wide exposure please!! They are not Manchester United FGS!!

I hazard a guess that only 1 in 10 (@ best) sports followers in QLD would know what Randwick play and I doubt you could find many Qld Rugby fans who could rattle off a couple of Randwick players names. No disrespect to Randwick or the Shute Shield but quite simply no one in Brisbane gets to see the Brisbane Club rugby (Qld Premier Rugby) on TV let alone the Shute Shield anymore.

Randwick lost me when they played the current Wallaby Captain - Ben Mowen - in reserve grade when he came back from the Waratahs squad when he first moved to Sydney. Maybe it was talent identification like that, that has put them in their current state of success (or lake thereof).

The Ella's have moved on from their playing days and maybe everyone else at the Randwick club should do likewise.

Is Bob Dwyer still the A Grade coach at Randwick??

Has John Maxwell retired yet??

I don't think there will be room for two stand alone clubs in Sydney and if there is one it would have to be Sydney Uni.

I'd be surprised if anyone in Qld has heard of any non-Qld origin sportsmen

 

[the coach]

Up Newcastle way, from the central coast comp ( I think)

Gosford

 

[suckerforred]

I'd be surprised if anyone in Qld has heard of any non-Qld origin sportsmen

But they are all Queenslanders!!!! Beau for example.

 

[suckerforred]

On a serious note, when are we expecting to hear about the clubs and the structure of the comp?

 

[the coach]

Sobering thoughts about the financial state of rugby in Oz and the importance of NRC being successful and not bleeding money as the ARC did:

http://www.theroar.com.au/2014/02/13/the-financial-malaise-plaguing-australian-rugby/

 

[the coach]

On a serious note, when are we expecting to hear about the clubs and the structure of the comp?

According to the ARU website (now that it's up and running again!) we will know "in the coming weeks".

In other words, when they've worked through all the tenders and then ignored them to select the teams they wanted in the first place -- only joking

 

[wamberal]

I'd be surprised if anyone in Qld has heard of any non-Qld origin sportsmen

Not sure about this season, but last season the Shute Shield match of the day was repeated early on Tuesday morning (0230 or thereabouts) on ABC1, nationwide.

So genuine Queensland rugby fans do have the option of watching some Sydney rugby if they want to. Better than nothing, surely.

 

[Quick Hands]

The fact that SU have entered into a JV with that powerhouse of world rugby Balmain is clear evidence that to get in you need to be in a JV with someone. I'm not really bothered about it, but do find it annoying when people connected with Balmain assert that the club has been around since 1873. This is pure fantasy; yes there was a Balmain club in 1873, they merged with Glebe in 1919 to form Glebe-Balmain, which changed its name to Drummoyne in 1931 - in order to be able to play at Drummoyne Oval, where the sign still says Drummoyne DRUFC (incorporating Glebe-Balmain). The current Balmain entity bears no connection to the 1873 version - I'm actually surprised that the powers that be let them call themselves Balmain.

I also understand that having worn down Easts and Souths over insisting that the JV play in green jumpers at Coogee Oval and be called Randwick, they are now have UNSW on board.

Neither of these JVs seem to be equal partnerships to me, but if the parties concerned are happy with their respective deals, go for it.

This leaves us with the northern JV, which seems a more equal partnership between the 4 northern clubs.

Assuming that SU/Balmain, Randwick/UNSW and the Northern JV are in, there must therefore be four teams in Sydney. Surely not even the ARU would allow a situation where only the inner-city, inner-east and northern suburbs are represented?

The simply must be a competitive team encompassing western Sydney.

 

[Dave Beat]

The fact that SU have entered into a JV with that powerhouse of world rugby Balmain is clear evidence that to get in you need to be in a JV with someone. I'm not really bothered about it, but do find it annoying when people connected with Balmain assert that the club has been around since 1873. This is pure fantasy; yes there was a Balmain club in 1873, they merged with Glebe in 1919 to form Glebe-Balmain, which changed its name to Drummoyne in 1931 - in order to be able to play at Drummoyne Oval, where the sign still says Drummoyne DRUFC (incorporating Glebe-Balmain). The current Balmain entity bears no connection to the 1873 version - I'm actually surprised that the powers that be let them call themselves Balmain.

I also understand that having worn down Easts and Souths over insisting that the JV play in green jumpers at Coogee Oval and be called Randwick, they are now have UNSW on board.

Neither of these JVs seem to be equal partnerships to me, but if the parties concerned are happy with their respective deals, go for it.

This leaves us with the northern JV, which seems a more equal partnership between the 4 northern clubs.

Assuming that SU/Balmain, Randwick/UNSW and the Northern JV are in, there must therefore be four teams in Sydney. Surely not even the ARU would allow a situation where only the inner-city, inner-east and northern suburbs are represented?

The simply must be a competitive team encompassing western Sydney.

QH, Dirty Reds agree, despite having a short stint back in first division they have some very nostalgic history. This short stint had them partner up with UTS but were never given the time to develop, interestingly now having a Uni involved is the big thing.

Sydney Uni standing alone, no issues because if any club was in a JV with them I'm sure Uni would dominate in all aspects, so what is Balmain bringing to the table. Well I don't think they are even being called Uni, I think they will be playing out of Liechardt, plus marketing a new brand.

As for Randwick, I've already said it all.

 

[Quick Hands]

I think what Balmain bring is that you need two to tango (or form a JV).

Ditto UNSW

 

[Tah and feathered]

Balmain is a Kentwell club team but what div is UNSW? Barraclough cup?
Should there be a min standard of Subbies clubs to form JV
We could have a situation where SS clubs hook up with Subbies clubs to put through a JV proposal
You could have Wests / Briars, Gordon/ Lindfield, Souths/Oatley
Would that be a good look?

 

[Rugby Central]

Balmain is a Kentwell club team but what div is UNSW? Barraclough cup?
Should there be a min standard of Subbies clubs to form JV
We could have a situation where SS clubs hook up with Subbies clubs to put through a JV proposal
You could have Wests / Briars, Gordon/ Lindfield, Souths/Oatley
Would that be a good look?

What Balmain brings are dollars and a far more suitable ground.

I think it's the University of NSW not UNSW Rugby Club joining with Randwick.

I don't think people would really care who the teams were underwriting the new JV. As long as they met the criteria and were financially capable then that's what works. In the 3 examples you have noted, the finacial position of the Subbies Clubs is.......not great, shall we say. So redundant.

The preference is for Clubs not to stand alone. I don't think there's anything stopping any company joining with a Club. Or even the creation of a new unrelated club. How they would meet the criteria is another matter.

 

[Dave Beat]

What Balmain brings are dollars and a far more suitable ground.

I'm not sure Sydney Uni need the dollars though, I think they will bring charisma and a new spark to how Uni is currently perceived, and also the NRC.

For the people who follow the Tah's, and hate don't like Sydney Uni - well they can still follow and cheer on the same players.

 

[Rugby Central]

I'm not sure Sydney Uni need the dollars though, I think they will bring charisma and a new spark to how Uni is currently perceived, and also the NRC.

For the people who follow the Tah's, and hate don't like Sydney Uni - well they can still follow and cheer on the same players.

I'm not sure if Uni "need" the money but as a government entity there are probably some restrictions on how to spend it. Mr Livingston would have no such restriction.

I think the ground aspect would play a big part as well.