Newcastle Hunter Rugby Union

I think Luke Burgess from the Maitland Blacks might disagree with that. Good list though as I haven't seen some of those names before.

And on the Hunter players missing out from having a crack on Tuesday I'm with you all the way. Newcastle-Hunter pride is a big thing with our mob (so to speak) & I think it would've given us more passion to throw us over the line if we had more players from our area in the playing team. It always has to be a great thing for a player to come back to an area that is connected to their upbringing & past - opportunity missed there. Looking at how Genia played I'm lamenting the missed opportunity to play Nic White!

Well said.could not agree more.

Rhys Dombkins - Nelson Bay, NSW Country age teams, NSW Schools, Aus A, Aus Schools, Manly 1st Colts
Max Jones - Singleton, NSW Country age teams, Norths 1st Colts
Andrew Wadsworth - Singleton, NSW Country age teams, NSW 17's, Norths 2nd Grade Colts
Chris Smith - Waratah, NSW Country age teams, CHS Opens, Norths 1st Colts

White & Vuna

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/rugby-union/white-and-vuna-make-the-grade/2583915.aspx

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...ers-to-claim-another-prize-scalp/2593160.aspx

An article on the Roos upset win over the Wanderers! (above)

Uni Women beat all the odds to beat Wanderers 24-12 away at Wanderers home ground without their regular jumper & another player jumping ship.

Hamilton women get a very close victory over Merewether-Carlton 29-27.

Lake Mac have signed former Waikato Chiefs lock Mark Burman. Excellent signing, as the article says he was a part of an extended AB's squad at one time before a knee recon. Below is the article - there are two links because the Herald posted pretty much the same story twice & has 2 different lots of comments (sometimes there is some usual info in the comments):

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...o-chiefs-lock-mark-burman/2596131.aspx?page=1

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...-waikato-chiefs-lock-mark-burman/2595814.aspx

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...ahs-recruit-a-long-way-from-home/2597958.aspx

Article on Waratahs new recruit from the US.

As a sydneysider with clients in Newcastle, I love the vibrancy and history of the local rugby scene. That new stadium looks very nice indeed. I cannot believe the mangos and soccer zealots are trying to move in to something that the rugby community has built.
I love the Hawthorne club and the passion that all fans and ex-players have towards their clubs. It is something to be cherished and protected. How is the growth of the juniors and schools rugby going in Newcastle? I spent a bucks weekend with a lot of ex uni players. Their songs were great

Cheers Crashy.

I've stated this in the past & I'll state it again that my real 'expertise' if I may be so bold as to put it that way is Mens Premier 1 Rugby & Women's Rugby (I still play in the women's comp & I've seen a lot of the premier 1 as it is before the women run on plus it is the most published grade here in Newcastle - so in the last 11 or so years that's where my main knowledge is).

I don't know an enormous amount about Junior boys or school boy & school girl rugby. I know they exist but at this stage I am not directly involved. I do know though through word-of-mouth from those directly involved that participation is apparently up for both (I don't have numbers though). I do know that the numbers from women's rugby here helped Newcastle Rugby gain sponsorship from Maccas (but how much the girls get out of this I don't know).

Recently at the Aus v Scots game we had sevens school boy & school girl rugby games played before hand. One of the boys teams was SFX (my old school) & both girls teams were from Newcastle.

Looking at the Junior Rugby Webpage for Newcastle it appears that the inner Newcastle clubs of Wanderers, Hamilton, & Merewether-Carlton are the best represented with some fielding more than one team in the same grade. For numbers Maitland is the best club out West which is no surprise at it is a large club. Waratah may be down on numbers as I remember them having more junior teams. Nelson Bay up Port Stephens way has representation in almost every grade. There are good contributions from Lake Mac & Southern Beaches. Pokolbin out west has a few grades, Medowie also have a few teams although some have argued that Nelson Bay should be the main team up Port way (some Medowie players may argue against that).

Easts were kicked out of seniors but still have a few juniors sides. University tried a few years back to get an U16's team but were a few short, the idea has not died. Personally I would love my club to have juniors. Currently we have a number of players whose children play for other clubs at junior level who I am sure would love to have them playing for Uni now.

The link to the list of Juniors are here:

http://hunterjuniors.rugbynet.com.au/default.asp?id=193070

This is just a video I came across of the Wallabies when they came into Newcastle for their fan day prior to the infamous Scots test (well, the 2nd infamous Scots test).

For the round coming up in Premier 1 we have:

Singleton v Southern Beaches (Tip: Beaches to win, the Bulls haven't been going too well).

Hamilton v Maitland (Tip: Hamilton - after seeing them destroy most of my clubs men's teams I think they will get up easily here).

Lake Mac v University (Tip: Lake Mac - oh boy, Lake Mac & Uni will both be smarting from their losses, Lake Mac would have been expected to beat Nelson Bay & Uni should of at least been more competitive on the score board. Uni still have some players out. Update: Confirmed that we Uni do indeed have a number of players out, more than last week - damn Uni holidays!).

Wanderers v Nelson Bay (Tip: Nelson Bay, this is my upset of the round with word spreading that Wanderers are in a bit of a disarray at the mo, the big question is whether NB can pull two results in a row, they have gone close. Wanderers are capable of a bounce back).

The Waratahs v Merewether Carlton (Tip: Slime, I'm not sure if the Waratahs have the fire power in attack or the defence to stop the likes of Kevill & Wade).

Women's Rugby:

As far as I know Hamilton will play Wanderers Saturday but due to the Merewether-Carlton ball Sat night the Uni V Slime game will be Wed night next week. This means Uni will have to back up again after Wed to play Wanderers Sat & the Slime will do the same against Hamo.

Awesome training session at Newcastle Uni tonight - we had a visit from Todd Louden! He took us for a thorough session & it was interesting to learn from him.

I liked how Louden stated in defense that we should 'violate the opposition', lol. We did do an attacking drill at the beginning but then went into defensive drills around the ruck & dealing with the overlap in the open. We also covered some blind side defense. Another aspect was the use of what he called 'the hunter'. These are areas our P1 men's team has had some issues with given what Louden identified watching the recorded games.

All in all a great night & experience!

The Herald does a story on a new bloke of Kiwi extraction playing for the Gropers, good story:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...son-bays-kiwi-import/2614023.aspx?storypage=0

Women's Rugby last night saw Uni defeat Merewether-Carlton (I do not have the score at this point). Merewether have a very large team & true to form they used their big girls to hit it up. They were leading 12-10 at HT. But the superior fitness & mobility of the Uni team wore them down & came out the eventual winners.

This week sees Hamilton take on Merewether-Carlton at the Greens home ground. Wanderers play at home against Uni, I thought I'd be playing on the main Wanderers ground but due to ladies day we are playing earlier (1:30) out the back of No.2 on No.5.

Men's Premier 1 Round 12:

Wanderers v University (Tip: Wanderers, I talked to our club capt for Uni at Tues nights training & we are struggling with players out through injury - including himself with a broken arm. We also have players away back at home during Uni hols plus a number of players away at Uni games. Wanderers to win well unfortunately but I hope our boys pull off an upset. We are playing for the Brad Nichols Cup, named after a Wanderers player who died of a heart attack during a Wanderers home game against University a few years ago).

Maitland v Lake Mac (Tip: Maitland as they are at home & tend to do well there).

Singleton v Hamilton (Tip: Hamilton by a large margin).

Southern Beaches v The Waratahs (Tip: Southern Beaches).

Nelson Bay v Merewether-Carlton (Tip: Merewether, Nelson Bay with a max effort can go close but the Slime are building some momentum).

STOP THE PRESS!

“THECOMEBACKOFEASTSRUGBYCLUB!”

It’s well & truly on the cards now people. It is not 100% but the vibe from the Herald article is that they will return to the Premier comp in 2013. This will make Premier Rugby an 11 team comp. Many involved in Newcastle Rugby have said to me that if the Easts v NHRU debate went to the Supreme Court (which is where it was headed) that NHRU would have been defeated as Easts had a very good case. The back down from NHRU confirms for me that this was no rumour. There is some anger within various clubs that so much money has been used by the NHRU for the fight it has had with Easts.

I’m Uni through & through but given my father & his brothers played for “Mayfield East/Eastern Districts” back in the 80’s after coming over from the bush - I’m happy to see the club back. They have survived playing wise through juniors. I can imagine some former Easts players who have been playing elsewhere since they were booted may be heading back to them next year.

The major questions are whether they will be at Dangar in Mayfield or Hexham which is where they re-located & formed a partnership with Hexham bowling club. If they return to Dangar it may see Griffins Rugby club turfed out – who moved in to Dangar when Easts were turfed out themselves. Personally I think this would be quite rough towards Griffins.

Another big question is will Easts be able to meet the criteria which was what lead the NHRU to boot them in the first place. The argument is that other clubs also had failed to implement much of the criteria themselves but did not get the same treatment. That being said Easts have had some social issues in the past. Police were regulars at Easts home games & not generally because they were fans of Rugby. Some referee’s refused to officiate due to the abuse they would cop. Some fights, according to word-of-mouth reports I’ve received were started due to Easts players copping racial abuse. Other teams stated that it was Easts that started the fights. Issues will need to have been stamped out.

Another big question is whether this will decrease the quality of the Newcastle comp by having another team to stretch player depth? Will another team be dropped? Will May East merge with Waratah? (that is also on the rumour mill) – only time will tell!

The Herald article to this story is below:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/rugby-union/easts-prepare-for-comeback/2615321.aspx

And the latest News for the upcoming round tomorrow & more:

http://www.portprint.com.au/rugbynewsissue12/

Some sad news with the passing of another promising young player this time from Southern Lakes, Josh Hickson-Benson, he was aged 22.

Cessnock Greyhounds are also mourning the passing of Paul King who is said to be one of their favourite sons.

Interestingly it appears in the prior round that Wanderers were under strength but that the Gropers gave away too many penalties which allowed to Two Blues to get further ahead.

A bit of joy for my club, Uni won the Men's Rugby 7's at the Uni games out of 20 teams. They did also have a go at League 7's too I believe.

Premier 1 men's results:

Wanderers 48 v University 10 (I was there to watch, Uni tried hard throwing the ball around being adventurous but Wanderers too good)

Maitland 27 v Lake Mac 21 (Lake Mac lost but if the score is anything to go by that's a solid effort at the Blacks home ground)

Singleton 7 v Hamilton 77 (no surprises there)

Southern Beaches 30 v The Waratahs 0 (no surprises here either)

Nelson Bay 5 v Merewether-Carlton 45 (picked the Slime but certainly got the scoreline wrong as I thought the Gropers would have been closer)

Round 11 Women's results:

Wanderers 12 v University 10

This was a game where the team that dominated the set-piece, territory & possession for about 90% of the game still lost. It was a game I walked away from as a player thinking "How the hell did we lose that?". Our coach summed it up best "That's footy". I'm very proud of the passion shown by my team Uni & I'm confident we will be doing better next time. I don't like to make excuses but I can't help but wonder whether the mid week game on Wed against Merewether contributed to a bit of an intensity drop late in the game. My legs certainly were tight in later parts of the game - I really enjoyed my recovery session at the beach today! Wanderers to their credit were very good in defense, they were yellow carded x3 though so obviously some discipline problems there. Credit must go to the young man who refereed the game as he had a lot of women complaining throughout the entire match trying to milk penalties.

Merewether-Carlton 19 v Hamilton 12

Given my game was early I was able to get back to watch the Uni men's teams play then head out to Gibbs Bros (Merewether's Juniors & back up ground) to watch this clash. Merewether won their first game of the season & sent one of their retiring long term players out with style. Hamilton gave away some really dumb penalties & copped a few yellow cards. That being said they had some good moments when they used their faster players out wide to spread the Slime defense. Hamilton forwards also did well but gave away too many penalties, some were justified but some were a bit excessive. The referee performance summed up by one Harps supporter with "Hasn't she blown the pee out of the whilst yet?". That being said the female referee in question is quite well regarded within NHRU & HWRU - lord knows we need more like her.

MEDIA RELEASE - EASTS & NHRU

PUBLISHED ON MONDAY, 09 JULY 2012 04:13

The NHRU is pleased to announce that the NHRU and Easts Rugby Club have successfully resolved their dispute through mediation which provides a pathway for Easts to qualify for eligibility for Premier Rugby in season 2013. As with all mediations, the terms are confidential, but the NHRU would like to express its pleasure at the possible return to rugby for the suburbs of Newcastle that Easts have historically drawn upon for players, supporters and juniors.

Latest News from the Herald:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...tenance-two-months-after-opening/2623869.aspx

Latest Rugby News Mag:

http://www.portprint.com.au/rugbynewsissue13/

Interesting article inside about "The Bundy Cup" played between Hamilton & Waratah in honour of a dog called Bundy who was a regular at Rugby games involving the Hawks (owned by one of the Hawks) for many years. Could possibly be the first cup where humans are playing to honour mans best friend?

The latest from the Herald:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...-make-new-home-at-southern-beach/2635903.aspx

Latest Rugby Mag:

http://www.portprint.com.au/rugbynewsissue14/

VERY IMPORTANT! For those wishing to see the finals games, there has been some amendments due to the unavailability of No.2 sportsground. So of you are going check the Rugby Mag posted above (locations & times for the finals are near the back).

Turf & overuse are being blamed for the situation at No.2. It is a little embarrassing that a ground which all involved know is going to be heavily used by a large number of Rugby teams is going to need turf that can cop some punishment. Hopefully it is sorted soon.

A bit early but 29th Sept 2012 will be Rugby Charity day. I have to say I've been involved for over 10yrs & have never known of this event. I believe it has been organised very informally in past years but thanks to Facebook it is going to be more accessible to more players/supporters. I will look to attend this & encourage anyone in the Newcastle/Hunter area to come along. The following current details of it are below, I shall add more as new info comes in:

"HWRU and the Waratah Old boys have played a charity match for a number of years now. This year we are looking to boost the profile of the event, increase numbers and exposure, and ultimately make it a fun and family atmosphere.

A charity auction is held at the Hamilton Bowling Club, major sponsor of the HWRU, after the Rugby. Everyone is encouraged to donate items to this auction, everything from memorabilia to an old video collection is welcome; essentially anything that would be worth a buck. SIDs andKIDs is the charity to which all money raised on the day will go.

This year in addition to the main event; HWRU women v Waratah Old boys, we are looking to invite other Golden Oldie teams to play and for the first time the HWRU is looking to establish an Old Girls team. Anyone interested in being a part of this team is encouraged to make it known on this page. Exhibition junior girls and boys games are also looking to be scheduled.

Off the field the HWRU aims to have plenty of activities for the entire family. There will be face painting, jumping castles (to keep the kids happy) food, drink, raffles and whatever else we can think of will be available.

More details will be posted as the event draws closer."

Latest from the Herald:

http://www.theherald.com.au/news/lo...ake-an-impact-in-comeback/2639621.aspx?page=2

The article above is on the come back of Easts next year. The most interesting part is actually the comments section. Their return could mean changes for the local comp structure.