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Continued decline in Sydney Junior Rugby

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JuanBarn

Herbert Moran (7)
So the SJRU have just sent out a request for all registered players in the u11-14 age groups for their height and weight data. Changes in the wind? Maybe just want to get an idea of the size of the outliers. Never actually saw any letter regarding weight dispensations as mentioned earlier in the season. I do know that Canterbury u14A team moved up to u15B and seem to be managing pretty well in that comp. With all the bad press, I'm glad to see that they are at least doing something.
 

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Runner

Nev Cottrell (35)
Perhaps kids get put off when they look at how teams are selected for National honours and say perhaps league and AFL have a better system
 

JuanBarn

Herbert Moran (7)
One of the tries from our Semi Final on the weekend. Sorry about quality, my older boys DLSR is great for stills however I don't think I had it setup right to do video. Tried to copy camera setup etc from some of the good GPS videos however I could not get high enough at Ryde Oval as the trees blocked the view. Was also an excited spectator so making sure the camera was always pointed at the action was an afterthought.

Now if only the Wobblies could put together something like this.

 

WTF?

Tom Lawton (22)
One of the tries from our Semi Final on the weekend. Sorry about quality, my older boys DLSR is great for stills however I don't think I had it setup right to do video. Tried to copy camera setup etc from some of the good GPS videos however I could not get high enough at Ryde Oval as the trees blocked the view. Was also an excited spectator so making sure the camera was always pointed at the action was an afterthought.

Now if only the Wobblies could put together something like this.


Jeez JB, that Assistant Referee of yours needs to keep up with play a bit better.

Its like watching a statue....

Maybe Grant thinks whenever Joey touches the ball it is a forgone conclusion :)
 

JuanBarn

Herbert Moran (7)
Jeez JB, that Assistant Referee of yours needs to keep up with play a bit better.

Its like watching a statue..

Maybe Grant thinks whenever Joey touches the ball it is a forgone conclusion :)


He wasn't assisting in the second half. I think he was worn out after the first. Plus a paid Ref turned up for a later game and insisted on running a line.
 

WTF?

Tom Lawton (22)
His wife had the right idea with a chair, perhaps he could have used one whilst running the line too....
 

JuanBarn

Herbert Moran (7)
Wooods Barbarians got up over Canterbury in the U13A Grand Final this morning at Concord.
image.jpg
 

JuanBarn

Herbert Moran (7)
We were anticipating a much tougher game today, after loosing a few of our recent games. The boys all certainly clicked and got things right today. Canterbury certainly never gave in, and as always they are a great bunch of boys (and supporters) to play against. Looking forward to continued competition in 15s and 7s.
 

Ozzie Bob

Charlie Fox (21)
We were anticipating a much tougher game today, after loosing a few of our recent games. The boys all certainly clicked and got things right today. Canterbury certainly never gave in, and as always they are a great bunch of boys (and supporters) to play against. Looking forward to continued competition in 15s and 7s.


JuanBarn, i'm an an ex Beecroft boy from a long time ago! Just wondering what impact the name change had this year in terms of player numbers and other junior clubs in the Eastwood district. Did Eastwood only have Barbarians and Dural in most age groups?
 

JuanBarn

Herbert Moran (7)
Ozzie Bob, hard for me to Comment on the Northern Barbarians. My boy played with the Epping Rams to 11s. Last year we had to put a combined team together with Hillview Rugby and then this year Epping and Hillview became Central Eastwood. Only about 6 boys registered with Central Eastwood this year in the 13s so Beecroft/Cherrybrook (now the Northern Barbarians) offered to take the the u13 boys in a joint venture "Woods Barbarians" team. We ended up with two teams, A and D grade. I believe that the 'Northern Barbarians came about as the catchment for Beecroft/Cherrybrock has grown to include, Eastwood, West Ryde, Denistone, Pennant Hills, Thornleigh, Westliegh, Castle Hill etc.

As for other teams in the age group I think Dural are still doing Ok, I think they played two grades in the 13s as well.

From there I think it depends on who has a strong team and I think local players migrate to the clubs with the largest numbers. In the Eastwood area Northern Barbarians, Central Eastwood, Dural, and Ryde seem to be the strongest, I'm not sure about Dundas.
 

Runner

Nev Cottrell (35)
Sorry about putting up whole article but its behind a paywall.


Bledisloe Cup failure shows outdated private school system letting Wallabies down

Phil Lutton




The post-Bledisloe analysis of recent Wallabies woes has been extensive; worthy in some quarters, hysterical in others. Yet none of it has delved deeply enough into the roots of Australian rugby's woes, which go well beyond coaching and selection at the top level.

It goes beyond clubs, as well, which is what most refer to when talking about the "grassroots" of the game. The elephant in the room is a system of talent production based on elite schools, a model which has proven to be outdated and largely incapable of feeding the needs of the Wallaby machine.

Bledisloe misery continues for Wallabies

This is emotional stuff for many in the game and even those in the media, plenty of whom have ties to their former halls of education and recall their battles on the field with understandable fondness. But the rose glasses blur a flawed system that now sees rugby as the only mainstream Australian sport that relies on schools, rather than clubs, to deliver its next generation of stars.

It's hardly an indictment of the schools themselves. The boys under their care could scarcely want for better coaching or facilities. Nor should it be interpreted as a class argument, although despite the ARU assuring fans it was expanding its reach beyond the cloisters, the XV-a-side game appears to be as exclusive as ever.

What should concern rugby fans and its governing body is the enormous amount of talent being snapped up by rugby league and AFL with virtually no competition.

Of course, both sports are played widely in schools but any serious talents have years of club football behind them well before they hit high school. Meanwhile, club rugby has continued to bleed numbers, struggles for funding and leading voices, like Brett Papworth, are engaged running warfare with the governing body.


The fix won't be easy and would require an enormous cultural shift as well as some heavy finance and sharp-minded prime movers in the right places. School rugby occupies such a sacred place among its constituents that the various First XV seasons are given slick, Hollywood-style previews that wouldn't look out of place amid the significantly brighter lights of US college football.

The evolution of the sport in Australia has seen those schools become the prime talent incubator for Super Rugby and beyond. Yet Australian Schools Rugby has no direct governance ties to the ARU, while the predominantly metropolitan locales have managed to alienate most of the regional and rural areas that have gifted some of the very best players to the rival winter codes.

Converted star: Israel Folau.

That's not even scratching the surface of Australian rugby's startling inability to attract any Indigenous talent, when rugby league and AFL can offer up a host of Indigenous players among their modern greats. None of this is new stuff but the pace of change has been alarmingly glacial.

Those high up in the ARU know the urgency of the scenario but only need to look at the latest Wallaby match-day squad to realise the vast amount of work that must be done to broaden the game. Of the 23 players, only six were from state schools, one of those being Israel Folau who played league at the time.

Rare country product: Adam Ashley-Cooper.

And only two players were from areas outside of capital cities, with Kane Douglas (Maclean) and Adam Ashley-Cooper (Central Coast) giving the group at least some semblance of a regional flavour.

Reece Hodge was one of the feel-good stories as a genuine club product but, alas, his story appears to be the exception and not the rule. Back in 2012, he was one of just three players outside of the GPS system to be part of that year's Australian Schoolboys squad.

Melbourne Rebel Reece Hodge has trained so well with the Wallabies he has retained his place in the squad.

Four years later, the same squad has ... wait for it ... three players from non-traditional rugby schools. One of those is from Pakenham in Victoria, one from Erindale College in Canberra and the other from Keebra Park on the Gold Coast, the rugby league school that played Sevens for fun back in 2010 and cut a swathe through rugby's finest.

Clubs are the logical way in to the pathway system for the overwhelming majority of rugby players not in the right school but those in the bush, in particular, are struggling to stay afloat, let alone unearth rugby's version of Johnathan Thurston.

Given that only 35 per cent of Australian students attend independent schools and that a much smaller percentage of those schools do the heavy lifting in terms of elite rugby programs, perhaps the narrative around the Wallabies should be that they are punching above their weight, rather than failing to live up to expectations.

 

Dave Beat

Paul McLean (56)
Reece Hodge was one of the feel-good stories as a genuine club product but, alas, his story appears to be the exception and not the rule. Back in 2012, he was one of just three players outside of the GPS system to be part of that year's Australian Schoolboys squad.

Melbourne Rebel Reece Hodge has trained so well with the Wallabies he has retained his place in the squad.

Four years later, the same squad has . wait for it . three players from non-traditional rugby schools. One of those is from Pakenham in Victoria, one from Erindale College in Canberra and the other from Keebra Park on the Gold Coast, the rugby league school that played Sevens for fun back in 2010 and cut a swathe through rugby's finest.

Clubs are the logical way in to the pathway system for the overwhelming majority of rugby players not in the right school but those in the bush, in particular, are struggling to stay afloat, let alone unearth rugby's version of Johnathan Thurston.

Given that only 35 per cent of Australian students attend independent schools and that a much smaller percentage of those schools do the heavy lifting in terms of elite rugby programs, perhaps the narrative around the Wallabies should be that they are punching above their weight, rather than failing to live up to expectations.


This is the point that should not be missed.

Few pages back there are the Manly Rugby Camps, and others that have been referenced. I have also touched on three stages;

Minis - Participation.
Juniors - Development.
Seniors - Retention.
But one of the biggest points is OPPORTUNITY!!!!

8 Weeks ago we found out Australia's Premier 7's Event the Central Coast 7's was having a youth comp (U17's).

So we put it out there - boys wanted to play and we have 2 teams, the best thing about it the kids come from the alphabet of schools CASGPSCHSISS, and the team manager is Graeme Hodge (dad of Reece), very lucky group of boys having his passion, experience, and still wanting to provide opportunity.

mm.jpg
 

Hugh Jarse

Rocky Elsom (76)
Staff member
Didn't Manly recruit a team of "Facebook Mates" to participate in the Junior State Champs U17's a few years ago.

Run on the smell of an oily rag and coached by an injured U17 player, they went on to win the 2012 (or 2013 - I CBF looking it up) Junior State Championships.

Keep it up Marlins. Love your work. Others should follow the MMM example where they can.

Grass Roots Rugby and Junior Rugby is all about Participation not elite programs. The elite cream will rise to the top through Participation.

Good to see the MMM focusing on Participation, not some Quixotic Tier 3.5 breakaway competition to try and reestablsh some credibility for some past players who are actively involved in Club Administration.

Grass Roots is Grass Roots, not 8 First Grade Teams from 4 Brisbane and Sydney Clubs. Since when do 320 Male First Grade Premier Club players (8 squads of 40) represent the Grass Roots.

Last time I looked there are over 100000 boy and girl junior club players across Australia, not to mention umpteen thousand Subbies Club "Social" players and Female players who are not aligned to any of the 8 "breakaway" Premier Clubs.

Do Papworth, Dwyer and Poidevin consider these folk to be Grass Roots, and what will they do to foster their participation in our great game.
 

Dave Beat

Paul McLean (56)
Didn't Manly recruit a team of "Facebook Mates" to participate in the Junior State Champs U17's a few years ago.

Run on the smell of an oily rag and coached by an injured U17 player, they went on to win the 2012 (or 2013 - I CBF looking it up) Junior State Championships.

Keep it up Marlins. Love your work. Others should follow the MMM example where they can.

Grass Roots Rugby and Junior Rugby is all about Participation not elite programs. The elite cream will rise to the top through Participation.

Good to see the MMM focusing on Participation, not some Quixotic Tier 3.5 breakaway competition to try and reestablsh some credibility for some past players who are actively involved in Club Administration.

Grass Roots is Grass Roots, not 8 First Grade Teams from 4 Brisbane and Sydney Clubs. Since when do 320 Male First Grade Premier Club players (8 squads of 40) represent the Grass Roots.

Last time I looked there are over 100000 boy and girl junior club players across Australia, not to mention umpteen thousand Subbies Club "Social" players and Female players who are not aligned to any of the 8 "breakaway" Premier Clubs.

Do Papworth, Dwyer and Poidevin consider these folk to be Grass Roots, and what will they do to foster their participation in our great game.


Yep, and the same group of U17's team is at it again now in the U20's, they have been training the same night as the above U17's team.

Great day today boys had a ball of fun, Brumbies took it out on the day.

Thanks to Emma and Sharni for dropping by to chat to the boys, show their gold medal, and their photo with the Marlins.

Create opportunity;

s.jpg
 

Dave Beat

Paul McLean (56)
Sorry for clogging this up with some Manly stuff, just trying to reverse the topic of this thread. Yeah above 25 Seniors school boys have some fun.
& now;
Some great junior camps these school holidays with some Waratah involvement - giving back to the kids and growing our game from the
GRASS ROOTS level​
Flyer - Allambie Junior Camp-page-001.jpg
Flyer - Denzil Joyce Camp-page-001.jpg
 
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