Continued decline in Sydney Junior Rugby

[Quick Hands]

The good administrators eventually get jack of farting against the thunder of the Self Interest Lobby and either join them, or realise that they have better things to do with their time than to try and hold back the tide, and they depart the scene. Thus the cycle perpetuates itself.

Correct. The self-interest lobby nearly always win. Most of us have better things to do with our lives than spend it arguing with these type of people, so unfortunately they win.

The whole shooting box is nearly as bad as the NSW political system.

It's worse mate, far worse.

 

[In the lineout]

Some positive news I think for junior rugby yesterday.

Last round for most teams in the comp and we get a washout called. Boys from Northern Beaches Rats U16A and Dural are keen to play as for many of them this would be their last game of junior rugby for their local club.

The two coaches were keen and it came together. A big thank you to Wakehurst Rugby Club who run their own field so no local council concerns.big puddles of water all over the field and the boys were itching to get out there for a "friendly".

The game was played in fantastic spirit, there were rolling substitutions, no score kept, plently of rucks forming in the mud puddles.

At the end of the game both teams formed their tunnels and cheered each other off.

For me, it was rugby great to see rugby being played for what it is, a game...

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Saw a bit of the future of gps rugby today at boronia park..under 14s lindfield v hunters hill . Featuring some of newington, joeys and shores future stars . Including the likes of Farr-jones junior and Wallace junior . However the real talent was on the lower field in the blacktown under 14 team . Which looked more like an under 16 team

IMHO If australian rugby is ever to compete with the kiwis, the likes of Farr-jones might need to work out how we retain these blacktown giants rather than have them lost to the code .

Some more positive news from another thread.
Look to the West, SJRU. Not all the 2014 U14 A Grade players will be playing GPS Rugby next year and beyond.

 

[S'UP]

This could take hours, but I'll be brief.

<Sorry deleted everything else>

There was also a very big push in Western and Southern zone to switch to Sundays as the Northern zone comp was graded and Southern and Western where not. Which meant that the parents in Southern and Western were not happy that little Johnny was being run over by the big islander boys every second week. As it wasn't graded you have kids of A grade quality playing against kids of D grade quality depending on the size of your club.

 

[Thomo77]

Thanks for the kind words HJ and SDW

Interestingly enough, on that thread it was quickly beaten down to a 'it's just because they're big' argument.... being involved with the team, I'd probably suggest it might have something to do with how hard they work, or how they play for each other, or how solid their defense is, or how much they love playing... but I digress...

As you know, my lad plays in that team and yesterday's game was played in some pretty average conditions... the boys had a ball and Lane Cove put up a hell of a fight. Scoreline probably didn't do the closeness of the game justice.

I thought I may put a bit of a 'westies' perspective on the issue of moving the competition from Saturday to Sunday. Here's what I've observed:

1. We've been able to increase participation - particularly by bringing kids across from league (many of whom have rugby loving parents), the primary comp out our way is played on Saturday and we have a large number of kids that play both (and, in fact, play reps in both codes).
2. The kids have had access to a much better standard of rugby. Without sounding silly about it, there are probably only 4 teams that 'compete' in the 14 A's comp - the remaining teams either don't have the size, skill or numbers - but in the village comp, that number was 2 and was likely to have been 1 by 14's.
3. The lack of numbers across the district creates a quandary of what to with kids that aren't quite at the standard of some of their peers. More depth would help lots here. No club in our district has more than one team.
4. The kids have enjoyed their rugby and personal development more since the change. When they 'made the switch' they got flogged for weeks... they tried harder, trained harder and low and behold, made the finals 1st year in... there was a great sense of achievement for them.
5. The boys have had to lift their skill levels significantly. Being big helps, but if you can't get the ball, or can't tackle, size is irrelevant. Teams ran around us last year. This year they have mostly tried to kick over us... in each case, new skills have had to be developed. Backline defense was a major weakness last year, this year it is a match winner. Plenty of work still to do... but they are 14 and, thankfully, many have access to a variety of coaching at club level, through the reps program, the SJRU team and the JGC.
6. GPS rugby, rugby league and other sports don't interfere with what we are doing out there. If kids are enjoying their rugby and parents have the inclination, they play both.
7. Dedicated coaches and a strong family culture keep teams together. The boys coach and many of the parents put many kms on their cars each season picking kids up, taking them home etc. etc. without that dedication from them, many of those boys may be playing league instead due to personal circumstances. They aren't Robinson Crusoe in the rugby world, but it's a big contributor to having such a close team.

That's just my observation. As I've mentioned before, above all, they are a great bunch of kids, relatively free of chips on shoulders and super-star mind sets. I'm sure there will be comments about how many of these kids will be 'lost to league' etc etc and I probably agree.... but prefer the idea of 'having a go', rather than giving up before you've started.

 

[Quick Hands]

I understand that the SJRU have put forward/are about to put forward a proposal that teams in the open age group are to play as district teams aligned with the Shute Shield colts in the relevent districts

Has the penny finally dropped?

 

[Inside Shoulder]

I understand that the SJRU have put forward/are about to put forward a proposal that teams in the open age group are to play as district teams aligned with the Shute Shield colts in the relevent districts

Has the penny finally dropped?

Great.
Makes for some interesting possibilities.

 

[Quick Hands]

Great.
Makes for some interesting possibilities.

I also think that the day is not far off when the 13A, 14A, 15A competitions will be district based - if not in name, then certainly on a defacto basis. I suspect that the 16s will follow the opens into a district based competition aligned with Shute Shield colts teams.

Thus the current June long-weekend State Championships will become defunct - they are already an anachronism.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

I also think that the day is not far off when the 13A, 14A, 15A competitions will be district based - if not in name, then certainly on a defacto basis. I suspect that the 16s will follow the opens into a district based competition aligned with Shute Shield colts teams.

Thus the current June long-weekend State Championships will become defunct - they are already an anachronism.

You could have under age NRC teams - 13s, 15s and turn JGC U17s into NRC under 17s.

 

[Quick Hands]

You could have under age NRC teams - 13s, 15s and turn JGC U17s into NRC under 17s.

Played at the end of the season so that club rugby is not interrrupted by the rep stuff.

The fiasco of the 16As competition this year may well have brought things to a head.

 

[Shane Smeltz]

Semi finals for a lot of the Junior teams today. Out at Windsor where the sun shone, the cows mooed and the grounds were dry.
In the 15As there were two semis: Clovelly v Harbord and Hunters Hill/Campbelltown v Coogee, and although the GF is not until this weekend coming I would to call it early and congratulate HH/C on their win next weekend v Clovelly. Which will be a win.

A pity that a quality team such as Coogee, arguably the second best 15A team in Sydney, with NSWRU players in it, couldn't come near HH/C with Buddha showing a result of 55-5 (meaning the actual score was probably around 60/70-5. Yes Coogee were mercy-ruled by the looks of it. I left at half-time and the score was 38-0 then.

If the second best team in 15As in Sydney, with their star players in attendance today, can lose like that to the top team, then what incentive do other U15 players to play U16 A-grade rugby union in 2015?

Well played, HH, well played.

 

[Quick Hands]

Semi finals for a lot of the Junior teams today. Out at Windsor where the sun shone, the cows mooed and the grounds were dry.
In the 15As there were two semis: Clovelly v Harbord and Hunters Hill/Campbelltown v Coogee, and although the GF is not until this weekend coming I would to call it early and congratulate HH/C on their win next weekend v Clovelly. Which will be a win.

A pity that a quality team such as Coogee, arguably the second best 15A team in Sydney, with NSWRU players in it, couldn't come near HH/C with Buddha showing a result of 55-5 (meaning the actual score was probably around 60/70-5. Yes Coogee were mercy-ruled by the looks of it. I left at half-time and the score was 38-0 then.

If the second best team in 15As in Sydney, with their star players in attendance today, can lose like that to the top team, then what incentive do other U15 players to play U16 A-grade rugby union in 2015?

Well played, HH, well played.

Hunters Hill/Cambelltown? Is that a fair dinkum team?

 

[Shane Smeltz]

No it's not - that's my point.
If the boys in the team were from the Hunters Hill area that would be another matter.

 

[Quick Hands]

No it's not - that's my point.
If the boys in the team were from the Hunters Hill area that would be another matter.

Thought not, just checking.

So this tends to blow the argument out of the water that a Sydney wide competition is needed to prevent mismatches.

If as you say the best 15A team beats the 2nd best by a big score, things don't look good for 16s do they? Get these older kids out of the clutches of juniors and into the colts set-up as soon as possible.

 

[Surfs Up]

Clovelly actually finished second, Coogee fourth. So GF is one v two and a repeat of last years GF

 

[Shane Smeltz]

That's why I said Coogee is arguably the 2nd best team.
Often the ladder doesn't show the real story. Coogee had to forfeit two games due to too many players on red cards (I said they were good players, not angels), if they had played those two games they could have potentially been in second place instead of Clovelly.
When Jordan and Justin are in good form, they are very, very good.

But it's a moot point now: one of the Clovelly parents said miserably today, I suppose we're going to get smashed next week.
In the 15As the difference between the team in first place, and every other team, is one of the reasons why this 'thread' is current.

 

[I like to watch]

Hang on, having to forfeit 2 games due to too many players on red cards in the 15's?
Fark me,am I the only one that thinks something is not right with this?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

SJRU Competition Rules have declared that 2 Red Cards for a Team represents an Unacceptable Number of Suspensions (12.1(G)i. ) and thus automatically on probation.

One hopes that the Competition Manager followed through with the provisions of Rule 12 with respect to probation conditions and any breaches of probation (if there were any) by the team or the Club.

 

[Quick Hands]

SJRU Competition Rules have declared that 2 Red Cards for a Team represents an Unacceptable Number of Suspensions (12.1(G)i. ) and thus automatically on probation.

One hopes that the Competition Manager followed through with the provisions of Rule 12 with respect to probation conditions and any breaches of probation (if there were any) by the team or the Club.

One would hope so, but events in the 16As would suggest perhaps not.

 

[Shane Smeltz]

HJ, On the 15th June I personally witnessed two team members from the same team, brothers in fact, from Hunters Hill 15As get given red cards for telling the ref at the end of the game to his face whilst players were shaking hands, that he was the 16th player on the field for the opposition that day. Witnessed by most of the players and people nearby.

Are you suggesting the team should have been in probation for this?
Because they did play 22nd June as Buddha shows.