• Welcome to the Green and Gold Rugby forums. As you can see we've upgraded the forums to new software. Your old logon details should work, just click the 'Login' button in the top right.

NSW AAGPS 2024

Leave my boats behind

Frank Nicholson (4)
Thought I'd give a little early preseason prediction heading into the 2024 season before logging off for Christmas. Keen to see how right this will be and is based across all AAGPS, CAS, and ISA respective competitions

My top 10 1st XV's heading into next season:
1. Scots - Abundance of star players in years 11 and 12 next year
2. Joeys - Extremely strong and I believe undefeated year 11 cohort next year? The year 12 also has some strong players.
3. Knox - Will top CAS and has a good group of returning players next year.
4. Shore - Large part of their 2023 squad is returning and has shown glimpses of the standard they can play too, look no further than their Riverview game this year.
5. Auggies - Great 9 and 10 punch combination returning, has the potential to knock off teams above them as well.
6. Waverley - Some stars returning in Poitaha and Aboud, will lose a large part of their backline and forward pack but will nevertheless be contending Knox keenly.
7. Riverview - The likes of Grover and Hartman will certainly assist this team in the coming year, forwards need cohesion for momentum for them to create any damage.
8. Barker - The lads in red will be disappointed with their season last year finishing 4th, will need to step it up and take on Knox and Waverley from the get-go to have a shot at the premiership
9. Oakhill - A good amount of year 12's returning, maybe the additions of their strong 15s group will provide some punch and allow them to knock off some heavyweights in the trials before having a shot at ISA.
10. Newington - They just seem to not get it right every year, they need to review their preseason and training and make changes, if so, they maybe could creep up as far as the top 5 provided the right coaching, they have the talent.
Idk about this but cheers for keeping the convo interesting
 
Thought I'd give a little early preseason prediction heading into the 2024 season before logging off for Christmas. Keen to see how right this will be and is based across all AAGPS, CAS, and ISA respective competitions

My top 10 1st XV's heading into next season:
1. Scots - Abundance of star players in years 11 and 12 next year
2. Joeys - Extremely strong and I believe undefeated year 11 cohort next year? The year 12 also has some strong players.
3. Knox - Will top CAS and has a good group of returning players next year.
4. Shore - Large part of their 2023 squad is returning and has shown glimpses of the standard they can play too, look no further than their Riverview game this year.
5. Auggies - Great 9 and 10 punch combination returning, has the potential to knock off teams above them as well.
6. Waverley - Some stars returning in Poitaha and Aboud, will lose a large part of their backline and forward pack but will nevertheless be contending Knox keenly.
7. Riverview - The likes of Grover and Hartman will certainly assist this team in the coming year, forwards need cohesion for momentum for them to create any damage.
8. Barker - The lads in red will be disappointed with their season last year finishing 4th, will need to step it up and take on Knox and Waverley from the get-go to have a shot at the premiership
9. Oakhill - A good amount of year 12's returning, maybe the additions of their strong 15s group will provide some punch and allow them to knock off some heavyweights in the trials before having a shot at ISA.
10. Newington - They just seem to not get it right every year, they need to review their preseason and training and make changes, if so, they maybe could creep up as far as the top 5 provided the right coaching, they have the talent.
You have nailed precisely why Scots will not be anywhere near as successful as that.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

Andrew Slack (58)
Thought I'd give a little early preseason prediction heading into the 2024 season before logging off for Christmas. Keen to see how right this will be and is based across all AAGPS, CAS, and ISA respective competitions

My top 10 1st XV's heading into next season:
1. Scots - Abundance of star players in years 11 and 12 next year
2. Joeys - Extremely strong and I believe undefeated year 11 cohort next year? The year 12 also has some strong players.
3. Knox - Will top CAS and has a good group of returning players next year.
4. Shore - Large part of their 2023 squad is returning and has shown glimpses of the standard they can play too, look no further than their Riverview game this year.
5. Auggies - Great 9 and 10 punch combination returning, has the potential to knock off teams above them as well.
6. Waverley - Some stars returning in Poitaha and Aboud, will lose a large part of their backline and forward pack but will nevertheless be contending Knox keenly.
7. Riverview - The likes of Grover and Hartman will certainly assist this team in the coming year, forwards need cohesion for momentum for them to create any damage.
8. Barker - The lads in red will be disappointed with their season last year finishing 4th, will need to step it up and take on Knox and Waverley from the get-go to have a shot at the premiership
9. Oakhill - A good amount of year 12's returning, maybe the additions of their strong 15s group will provide some punch and allow them to knock off some heavyweights in the trials before having a shot at ISA.
10. Newington - They just seem to not get it right every year, they need to review their preseason and training and make changes, if so, they maybe could creep up as far as the top 5 provided the right coaching, they have the talent.
Yeah, not sure either but it’s purely my opinion. Good effort on the write up.

I reckon Oakhill would back themselves to knock off a few listed above them. Auggies problem is they always have a couple 10/10 players but are in the same team as a 3/4.
 

Crashy

Arch Winning (36)
And today they have announced they are going Co-ed.
Barker college have a good girl's rugby program which ties into Sydney uni - hopefully Newington do similar.
 

RedOrDead

Charlie Fox (21)
And today they have announced they are going Co-ed.
Barker college have a good girl's rugby program which ties into Sydney uni - hopefully Newington do similar.

Very hopeful that they have a strong women rugby program too. With Cranbrook doing the same hopefully we ca start towards a strong women competition. At the moment there is literally no competition for the Barker. It is incredibly frustrating for the girls when Barker's firsts often play their seconds in the final, and their thirds more often than not beat other 1sts teams.
 

Rudderless

Ron Walden (29)
And today they have announced they are going Co-ed.
Barker college have a good girl's rugby program which ties into Sydney uni - hopefully Newington do similar.


We write to you today to share the outcome of the extensive strategic review into the future of our school, conducted by the Newington College Council. The review considered what is best for the long-term future of Newington and each one of the young people we educate.

We first talked to our community about this in February 2022, when we shared that we were specifically assessing three overlapping elements – how we maintain and build our diversity and inclusiveness amid significant socioeconomic and cultural shifts in our local area; whether co-education is a preferable model for Newington given the evolving demands and opportunities of society and work now and into the future; and whether the College should become larger at either the senior or preparatory schools, or both.

In the months since, the Council has undertaken a thorough investigation of the ELC-12 education landscape in Australia – and specifically Newington College’s place in it. We sought to understand what demographic mix of students, within a contemporary context, would best deliver our overall vision to empower students with great hearts, inspired minds, and strong wings, ready to make a positive contribution to society and the future.

A commitment to Newington’s core values, rich history, much-loved traditions, and to an ongoing excellent experience for our current students, were the bedrock of our considerations throughout.

THE OUTCOME

With this review formally concluded, we are excited to announce that Newington College will build on its 160 years of education by beginning a phased transition to co-education and growing the senior school, which will see the College become fully co-educational by 2033.

The Council has made this important decision because we aspire to build on Newington’s strengths, heritage and values, and because we recognise that diversity, inclusiveness, belonging and life-readiness in today’s context is enhanced by giving boys and girls the opportunity to learn, think and thrive together.

We believe this decision is best for the long-term future of Newington, and especially the futures of each of the young people we educate now, as well as those students who will join us in the years to come.

INPUTS AND CONSULTATION

To ensure an inclusive and well-considered process throughout, the Council sought feedback and input from our Newington community – from students, parents and carers to teachers and staff, from our alumni of all ages to future parents and carers, and from the wider community. We sincerely thank everyone who contributed to and positively engaged in this process.

We also benefited from expert, robust qualitative and quantitative research to help the Council understand the drivers of success in education and key enablers to achieving long-term sustainability for our school. We also considered the learnings of schools around the world that have transitioned to co-education, and those that have chosen not to, and then digested the relevant insights from their lived experience.

We wish to be open about our rationale so our community can understand why we are making this change. More information detailing our process, the key reasons that led to our decision and other considerations can be found here.

IMPLEMENTING THIS DECISION

The Council has worked closely with the Headmaster and College’s executive management team throughout this process. Now the decision is made, we have asked them to form a project team to manage implementation in a disciplined and phased way, while remaining focused on the current operations of the College and the progress of our boys.

Implementation will, of course, be handled with a view to there being no disruptions or diminution to everyday school life for our students. We are ready to invest in the appropriate resourcing and professional development of our staff to successfully implement this decision and simultaneously deliver on our commitments to current students and families.

Enrolments

From 2026, we will welcome boys and girls as students in Kindergarten and in Year 5 at Wyvern and Lindfield. Enrolments for boys and girls will then be opened for the first time at our senior school, for entry into Year 7 in 2028. A number of places will also be opened for female students in Year 11 from 2028. This staged approach will see the College become fully co-educational by 2033.

Facilities

Consistent with our masterplan, the College will continue to develop our facilities over the next decade. Our plan ensures the quality of our facilities and enables more students to attend the senior school in the future without compromising any of our much-loved green space. Our preparatory schools are not anticipated to increase in size though there are enhancements planned at those campuses, too.

Maintaining our values

We are committed to our enduring promise to prepare all students to contribute positively to society, just as we are resolute about evolving Newington’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity.

We know Newington will continue to instil in current and future generations of children – including daughters and granddaughters of Old Newingtonians – our core values of inclusivity, courage and kindness as well as academic rigour and a healthy dose of curiosity.

We have also been transparent in consulting openly with the Uniting Church (UCA) throughout this process. The UCA acknowledges and supports the intention behind Newington’s decision to transition to co-education, providing gender diversity and inclusiveness in the future, consistent with our long-standing UCA ethos.

We will expand our existing means-tested scholarship program in partnership with the Newington Foundation. This will allow more students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to attend the College. We thank all our donors for their much-appreciated support.

Sport and co-curricular

We have considered wide-ranging aspects of life at Newington’s senior and preparatory campuses and we are steadfast in our commitments to the AAGPS and our breadth of co-curricular programs.

OUR FUTURE

We are committed to ensuring that our current students continue to thrive at Newington over the next decade and beyond, with our strategic focus on developing their great hearts, inspired minds and strong wings. And we will continue to be there for each student, walking alongside them as they grow, achieve and discover what’s possible – this is the essence of our Newington way.

Newington College is already a great school, yet we are ambitious for our future. Ultimately, we aim to be one of the best co-educational schools in Australia. We are proud of our present and passionate about our vision for the decades ahead. We hope you can feel the energy behind that ambition.

We understand our community may have questions about the details associated with this announcement. Information about some of these matters can be found here. We also welcome your questions and invite you to email these to ourfuture@newington.nsw.edu.au.

NEXT STEPS

In closing, we would like to again thank our community - the hundreds of parents and carers, alumni, students, teachers, staff and friends of Newington, here and overseas, who have helped the Council with this endeavour. We sincerely appreciate all your contributions.

We are full of optimism and confidence as Newington College begins this next, exciting chapter. We will keep our community up to date with developments through further announcements in early 2024.

Tony McDonald (ON 1976)
Chairman

On behalf of the Council of Newington College
 

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Thought I'd give a little early preseason prediction heading into the 2024 season before logging off for Christmas. Keen to see how right this will be and is based across all AAGPS, CAS, and ISA respective competitions

My top 10 1st XV's heading into next season:
1. Scots - Abundance of star players in years 11 and 12 next year
2. Joeys - Extremely strong and I believe undefeated year 11 cohort next year? The year 12 also has some strong players.
3. Knox - Will top CAS and has a good group of returning players next year.
4. Shore - Large part of their 2023 squad is returning and has shown glimpses of the standard they can play too, look no further than their Riverview game this year.
5. Auggies - Great 9 and 10 punch combination returning, has the potential to knock off teams above them as well.
6. Waverley - Some stars returning in Poitaha and Aboud, will lose a large part of their backline and forward pack but will nevertheless be contending Knox keenly.
7. Riverview - The likes of Grover and Hartman will certainly assist this team in the coming year, forwards need cohesion for momentum for them to create any damage.
8. Barker - The lads in red will be disappointed with their season last year finishing 4th, will need to step it up and take on Knox and Waverley from the get-go to have a shot at the premiership
9. Oakhill - A good amount of year 12's returning, maybe the additions of their strong 15s group will provide some punch and allow them to knock off some heavyweights in the trials before having a shot at ISA.
10. Newington - They just seem to not get it right every year, they need to review their preseason and training and make changes, if so, they maybe could creep up as far as the top 5 provided the right coaching, they have the talent.
King's, the current GPS premiers not worth a mention?
 

DaSchmooze

Syd Malcolm (24)
Very hopeful that they have a strong women rugby program too. With Cranbrook doing the same hopefully we ca start towards a strong women competition. At the moment there is literally no competition for the Barker. It is incredibly frustrating for the girls when Barker's firsts often play their seconds in the final, and their thirds more often than not beat other 1sts teams.
There is -they just dont want to play in Term 3

Pymble, Loreto Normanhurst, Abbotsleigh, Brigidine, Monte, Ravenswood, Frensham. They all play Chloe Dalton Cup in Term 3
 

Backintheolddays

Bill Watson (15)
We write to you today to share the outcome of the extensive strategic review into the future of our school, conducted by the Newington College Council. The review considered what is best for the long-term future of Newington and each one of the young people we educate.

We first talked to our community about this in February 2022, when we shared that we were specifically assessing three overlapping elements – how we maintain and build our diversity and inclusiveness amid significant socioeconomic and cultural shifts in our local area; whether co-education is a preferable model for Newington given the evolving demands and opportunities of society and work now and into the future; and whether the College should become larger at either the senior or preparatory schools, or both.

In the months since, the Council has undertaken a thorough investigation of the ELC-12 education landscape in Australia – and specifically Newington College’s place in it. We sought to understand what demographic mix of students, within a contemporary context, would best deliver our overall vision to empower students with great hearts, inspired minds, and strong wings, ready to make a positive contribution to society and the future.

A commitment to Newington’s core values, rich history, much-loved traditions, and to an ongoing excellent experience for our current students, were the bedrock of our considerations throughout.

THE OUTCOME

With this review formally concluded, we are excited to announce that Newington College will build on its 160 years of education by beginning a phased transition to co-education and growing the senior school, which will see the College become fully co-educational by 2033.

The Council has made this important decision because we aspire to build on Newington’s strengths, heritage and values, and because we recognise that diversity, inclusiveness, belonging and life-readiness in today’s context is enhanced by giving boys and girls the opportunity to learn, think and thrive together.

We believe this decision is best for the long-term future of Newington, and especially the futures of each of the young people we educate now, as well as those students who will join us in the years to come.

INPUTS AND CONSULTATION

To ensure an inclusive and well-considered process throughout, the Council sought feedback and input from our Newington community – from students, parents and carers to teachers and staff, from our alumni of all ages to future parents and carers, and from the wider community. We sincerely thank everyone who contributed to and positively engaged in this process.

We also benefited from expert, robust qualitative and quantitative research to help the Council understand the drivers of success in education and key enablers to achieving long-term sustainability for our school. We also considered the learnings of schools around the world that have transitioned to co-education, and those that have chosen not to, and then digested the relevant insights from their lived experience.

We wish to be open about our rationale so our community can understand why we are making this change. More information detailing our process, the key reasons that led to our decision and other considerations can be found here.

IMPLEMENTING THIS DECISION

The Council has worked closely with the Headmaster and College’s executive management team throughout this process. Now the decision is made, we have asked them to form a project team to manage implementation in a disciplined and phased way, while remaining focused on the current operations of the College and the progress of our boys.

Implementation will, of course, be handled with a view to there being no disruptions or diminution to everyday school life for our students. We are ready to invest in the appropriate resourcing and professional development of our staff to successfully implement this decision and simultaneously deliver on our commitments to current students and families.

Enrolments

From 2026, we will welcome boys and girls as students in Kindergarten and in Year 5 at Wyvern and Lindfield. Enrolments for boys and girls will then be opened for the first time at our senior school, for entry into Year 7 in 2028. A number of places will also be opened for female students in Year 11 from 2028. This staged approach will see the College become fully co-educational by 2033.

Facilities

Consistent with our masterplan, the College will continue to develop our facilities over the next decade. Our plan ensures the quality of our facilities and enables more students to attend the senior school in the future without compromising any of our much-loved green space. Our preparatory schools are not anticipated to increase in size though there are enhancements planned at those campuses, too.

Maintaining our values

We are committed to our enduring promise to prepare all students to contribute positively to society, just as we are resolute about evolving Newington’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity.

We know Newington will continue to instil in current and future generations of children – including daughters and granddaughters of Old Newingtonians – our core values of inclusivity, courage and kindness as well as academic rigour and a healthy dose of curiosity.

We have also been transparent in consulting openly with the Uniting Church (UCA) throughout this process. The UCA acknowledges and supports the intention behind Newington’s decision to transition to co-education, providing gender diversity and inclusiveness in the future, consistent with our long-standing UCA ethos.

We will expand our existing means-tested scholarship program in partnership with the Newington Foundation. This will allow more students from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds to attend the College. We thank all our donors for their much-appreciated support.

Sport and co-curricular

We have considered wide-ranging aspects of life at Newington’s senior and preparatory campuses and we are steadfast in our commitments to the AAGPS and our breadth of co-curricular programs.

OUR FUTURE

We are committed to ensuring that our current students continue to thrive at Newington over the next decade and beyond, with our strategic focus on developing their great hearts, inspired minds and strong wings. And we will continue to be there for each student, walking alongside them as they grow, achieve and discover what’s possible – this is the essence of our Newington way.

Newington College is already a great school, yet we are ambitious for our future. Ultimately, we aim to be one of the best co-educational schools in Australia. We are proud of our present and passionate about our vision for the decades ahead. We hope you can feel the energy behind that ambition.

We understand our community may have questions about the details associated with this announcement. Information about some of these matters can be found here. We also welcome your questions and invite you to email these to ourfuture@newington.nsw.edu.au.

NEXT STEPS

In closing, we would like to again thank our community - the hundreds of parents and carers, alumni, students, teachers, staff and friends of Newington, here and overseas, who have helped the Council with this endeavour. We sincerely appreciate all your contributions.

We are full of optimism and confidence as Newington College begins this next, exciting chapter. We will keep our community up to date with developments through further announcements in early 2024.

Tony McDonald (ON 1976)
Chairman

On behalf of the Council of Newington College
Ballsy move, great for their future students. No doubt old boys will focus on diluting sport, whereas this should be recognised as a comprehensive all round education. Too many misogynistic spoilt brats who objectify women still coming out of entitled private boys schools.
 

The Ghost of Raelene

Andrew Slack (58)
Newington face demographic changes to their local area that have been pretty dramatic over the last 25 years. Only Kings have a bigger shift IMO but I don't see this on their horizon with girls school affiliations already existing. I think Newington find themselves with an economic opportunity over anything else.
 

GPSlads

Chris McKivat (8)
Newington face demographic changes to their local area that have been pretty dramatic over the last 25 years. Only Kings have a bigger shift IMO but I don't see this on their horizon with girls school affiliations already existing. I think Newington find themselves with an economic opportunity over anything else.
What’s the demo shift @ kings? … I’m more familiar with joeys view and shore
 

The Ghost of Raelene

Andrew Slack (58)
The local population around Parramatta has boomed and a there is a large amount that want to send their boys to Kings.

Kings maintain a big boarding house which is different to others like Newington.
 
Top