NSW Schools - Trial Games and Selections 2014

[Hugh Jarse]

NSW COUNTRY SCHOOLS 1st XV 2014
(vs CHS 2nd XV)

1. Lachie CUMMINS, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour
2. Tom BLANCH, Christian Heritage School, Port Macquarie
3. Tom NEWMAN, St Francis Xavier, Maitland
4. Jayson HOVI, Hunter Valley Grammar
5. Lachlan MACK, The Armidale School
6. Tim FARMER, Hunter Valley Grammar
7. Hayden SHEPHERD, The Armidale School
8. Joel COOPER, Bellingen High School
9. Brendan POWER, The Armidale School
10. Ryan GRAHAM, Hunter Valley Grammar
11. Ben CASKEY, The Armidale School
12. Angus McTAVISH, Farrer Memorial Agricultural High School
13. Joshua CARSON, Hunter Valley Grammar
14. Brayden GREHAN, McCarthy Catholic College
15. Daniel MALLOY, Singleton High School

16. Jock BARRY, Hunter Valley Grammar
17. Joe DAWSON, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour
18. Sam HUNT, William Cowper Anglican College
19. Angus THOMPSON, William Cowper Anglican College
20. Ryan WITHERDIN, McCarthy Catholic College
21. Ryan PRENTICE, McCarthy Catholic College
22. Arek WERSTAK, John Paul College, Coffs Harbour
23. Jackson ANSHAW, St Joseph's Aberdeen


Coach: Alan JONES, The Armidale School
Assistant Coach: Jason LINCOLN, The Armidale School

Manager: Jim PENNINGTON, The Armidale School

 

[Top Cat]

is there any reason why Illawarra players aren't considered for country teams or is it just because very few ever try out because of the distances to trials

Maybe, unlike the NSW Country selectors (not Country Schools), the NSW Schools team selectors do not believe they make the grade.

There are nine Illawarra players in the U17's NSW Country Team and yet in the past six years Illawarra have never made the finals of the NSW Country Championships. Nor have they even come close to beating the Hunter in that comp or the NSW State Championships.

Hunter have made all six finals of the NSW Country Championships having won three and lost the other three by very close margins. Yet they have always struggled to get players selected in the NSW Country teams. This year they they have six players selected having lost 5-0 in the final to Central Coast.

Strangely, back five years ago when this age group were first eligible for NSW Country selection, it was Central Coast that had the majority of players selected with nine yet they didn't even make the finals that year. They didn't make the finals for the following three years either yet had the majority of players selected.

As for the schools selection, last year we had village club players who didn't even make the Hunter team yet they were selected for NSW Schools teams, yet other village clubs had players who had been selected for both Hunter and NSW Country yet they couldn't make selection for NSW Schools.

In my opinion, and not that it counts for much, the NSW School selectors are closer to the money than the NSW Country selectors .

Great to see the lad that I made a point about not being selected for the JGC on another thread get selected for CHS II .

 

[tavytoo]

Maybe, unlike the NSW Country selectors, the school team selectors do not believe they make the grade.

There are nine Illawarra players in the U17's NSW Country Team and yet in the past six years Illawarra have never made the finals of the NSW Country Championships. Nor have they even come close to beating the Hunter in that comp or the NSW State Championships.

Hunter have made all six finals of the NSW Country Championships having won three and lost the other three by very close margins. Yet they have always struggled to get players selected in the NSW Country teams. This year they they have six players selected having lost 5-0 in the final to Central Coast.

Strangely, back five years ago when this age group were first eligible for NSW Country selection, it was Central Coast that had the majority of players selected with nine yet they didn't even make the finals that year. They didn't make the finals for the following three years either yet had the majority of players selected.

As for the schools selection, last year we had village club players who didn't even make the Hunter team yet they were selected for NSW Schools teams, yet other village clubs had players who had been selected for both Hunter and NSW Country yet they couldn't make selection for NSW Schools.

In my opinion, and not that it counts for much, the NSW School selectors are closer to the money than the NSW Country selectors .

Great to see the lad that I made a point about not being selected for the JGC on another thread selected for CHS II .

In the under 16s schools teams for next weeks championships at knox there are at least 6 current or past illawarra players spread through the cas ,presidents 1 and 2, aices and CHS teams with much of the skill now in sydney schools. well done to all the boys who honed their craft in the country sides

 

[Hugh Jarse]

ISA 1st XV 2014


1. Will McRAE St. Augustine's College
2. Jack NETTLETON St. Augustine's College
3. James PARTRIDGE Oakhill College
4. Emerson ADCOCK St Andrews Cathedral School
5. Liam ROBSON Oakhill College
6. John WALKER St. Augustine's College
7. Lachlan ANDERSON Oakhill College
8. James LOUGH St. Augustine's College
9. Harrison GODDARD Oakhill College
10. James DAY Oakhill College
11. Jordan THOMAS St. Augustine's College
12. Luke LOUGH St. Augustine's College
13. Brandon BURNS St Stanislaus' College
14. Ben FONTAINE St. Augustine's College
15. Fraser TOOHEY St Pius X College

Coaches:
Mr H BARRETT Kinross Wolaroi School
Mr A CARROLL Oakhill College

Manager:
Mr S BOWLES Oakhill College

 

[sarcophilus]

I don't know if TC is referring to the cohort born in 1997 or just every u17 age group over the past 6 years. these selections are from schools affiliated in some form of school association and not club land.

you will notice the other representative teams are from school associations and not club land

you will notice the players named in the country team above are from predominantly non government schools. There were lads that represented country in club comps at state cup and representing NSW from the 1997 cohort playing for CHS today, there are plenty of others named in the GPS teams for one reason or another

If Illawarra has a suitably qualified school that would join and participate in the country schools association, however that is affiliated, they could possibly qualify for this elite enterprise, otherwise they are stuck with CCC CHS. The ISA is an open circle that would welcome many and seem to travel for a game

you will also notice one of the school associations has selected four rep teams for six schools, which makes it more difficult to not be in a team than be in a team. this leaves the difficult task of telling players they missed out up to the higher authorities.

the country schools team is often not strong as it does not seem to include the ISA teams. I don't know what association Goulburn is part of now it is not AAGPS. It too might fit comfortably into the ISA bosom.

it may take an energetic co-ordinator with some political nous to consolidate the dive for south coast representation in any of these associations as those in charge of spreading the rugby word are busy engineering an inverted Cleopatra's needle rather than a pyramid

 

[Hugh Jarse]

ISA 2nd XV 2014


1. Adam CILONA St Patrick's College
2. San THOMAS St Stanislaus' College
3. Cody WALKER Kinross Wolaroi School
4. Jonah TAYLOR St Stanislaus' College
5. William BRUSH Oakhill College
6. Elia FAATUI St Augustine's College
7. Declan MOORE St Andrews Cathedral School
8. Alexander IRONSIDE St Pius X College
9. Joshua OXLEY St Stanislaus' College
10. Ben MARR St Augustine's College
11. Jakobi ROBSON Kinross Wolaroi School
12. Ned YEOMANS Kinross Wolaroi School
13. Lachlan BURLAND Oakhill College
14. Bailey HILDER Kinross Wolaroi School
15. Joshua NORAH St Patrick's College

16. Benet JAMES St Patrick's College
17. Andrew GRAHAM Oakhill College
18. James DONATO St Stanislaus' College
19. Faaoli TITIE-ANETELEA St Gregory's College
20. Visiano VAOHEA St Gregory's College
21. Jayden FA'AVAE-ELI St Gregory's College
22. Matthew JENKINS St Patrick's College
23. Ben MARKS St Stanislaus' College

COACHES:
Mr K LENE Redlands
Mr T HART Redfield College

MANAGER
Mr S GARDNER All Saints College

 

[I like to watch]

I thought the 7&12, from ISA 2's were unlucky not to be in the 1's.
If memory serves,the 7 was picked in this side last year and excelled when he came into the 1's.

 

[Top Cat]

I don't know if TC is referring to the cohort born in 1997 or just every u17 age group over the past 6 years. these selections are from schools affiliated in some form of school association and not club land.

Hi Sarcophilus, yes I was just referring to players born in 1997.

 

[Top Cat]

In the under 16s schools teams for next weeks championships at knox there are at least 6 current or past illawarra players spread through the cas ,presidents 1 and 2, aices and CHS teams with much of the skill now in sydney schools. well done to all the boys who honed their craft in the country sides

And good luck to them Tavytoo as I wasn't referring to that age group.

 

[Monty Python]

Players of the game were
CHS- no.12, no.8
ISA- no.12, no.6, no.13

Asked some snouts who were at the game and heard the CHS no 8 made a number of good busts, but lost the ball at the tackle/ruck/maul more times than he retained possession. I also heard he came off with a knee / ligament injury (maybe ACL?), so he may not be back this season.

I hear Vatuvei was a bit quiet this game, as was Craig, though both boys were regarded as their best forwards and I believe they are being looked at closely by the selectors for higher honours. I hear the CHS backs did relatively well when they had the ball in hand, but their numbering up in defence left overlaps time and time again, and the ISA backs were a class act.

Koheleti was probably best CHS back, and Ridgway did a good job at no 9.

The standout forward for ISA I'm told was no 6 (Walker), along with J.lough and Anderson, who did an exceptional job on the ball and stifled the CHS go-forward. Best ISA backs I'm told were L.Lough, Burns and Toohey.

Will be keen to hear how next Friday goes... Or get down to Knox myself for a bit of R&R hopefully.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Results Summary (with Historical Comparison [FWIW])

Sunday 3 June 2014 (3 way round robin - Half games only)
CCC def CHS 2 : 17-5
CHS 1 def CHS 2 : 12-5
CHS 1 def CCC : 17-7 (2013 CHS I 56 CCC 7) [2012 CHS I 34 CCC 3]

Thursday 5 June 2014
CAS II 26 CHS II 26 (2013 CAS II 36 CHS II 26) [2012 CAS II 38 CHS II 10]
CAS I 28 CHS I 19 (2013 CHS I 25 CAS I 10) [2012 CAS I 29 CHS I 0]


Sunday, 15 June 2014
CHS II 55 NSW Cnty 10 (2013 NSW Cnty 25 CHS II 19) [2012 NSW Cnty 24 CHS II 10]
CCC 27 ISA II 24 (2013 ISA II 38 CCC 38) [2012 ISA II 15 CCC 14]
ISA I 41 CHS I 24 (2013 ISA I 43 vs CHS I 22) [2012 CHS I 20 ISA I 19]


To Come

Tuesday, 17 June 2014 - The Scots College
GPS (White) v GPS (Blue) @ 12.45pm
GPS 2 V CAS 2 @ 2pm (2013 GPS II 31 CAS II 0) [2012 GPS II 36 CAS II 25]
GPS 1 V CAS 1 @ 3.15pm (2013 GPS I 29 CAS I 14) [2012 GPS I 35 CAS I 12]

Friday 20th June - Curagul Field, North Turramurra
CAS II v Country 9:00am (2013 CAS II 72 AICES 5)[2012 NSW Cnty 64 AICES 5]
ISA II v GPS (Blue) 10.15am (2013 ISA II 31 NSW Cnty 19) [2012 CAS II 29 ISA II 21]
CCC v GPS (White) 11.30pm (2013 GPS III 50 CCC 21) [2012 CCC 17 GPS III 14]
CAS I v ISA I 12:45pm (2013 CAS I 39 ISA I 12) [2012 CAS I 47 ISA I 7]
CHS II v GPS II 2.00pm (2013 GPS II 67 CHS II 0) [2012 GPS II 38 CHS II 7]
CHS I v GPS I 3.15pm (2013 GPS I 57 CHS I 5) [2012 GPS I 47 CHS I 3]

 

[Hugh Jarse]

ISA would be well advised not to get too carried away with the todays result against CHS.

CAS after a warm up game against CHS, then a lesson in rugby from GPS, are typically a different proposition on the Friday game against the ISA. A number of key players from CAS 2013 are back, and they will be supplemented by in-form players from the Cranbrook 2014 machine.

Country were competitive last year, but look rather weakened this year, and it looks like they will go out with more of a whimper than a bang.

There was a lot of interest last year in the competition for the #2 slot with a few posters keen on Ed Craig who went on to make Combined States 2013. The competition is likely to be more intense this year. Matt Serhon (New, NSW1) is back. Evan Pritchard (View) is in red hot form. ISA have contributed NGS lad nuggety Jack Nettleton. Lurking in the wings, nominated as props but very competent hookers, are Hosea Fotokava (View) and Jakob Sedgeman (Scots). Jono Burke (Kings) will not be giving any of the above a free go at the #2 jumper, and lets not forget the Try-Whisperer Widders-Leece (Knox). While Craig has a degree of inside running being an incumbent for Combined States, it will be tough for him to be back at Nationals in 2014.

 

[woods rugby]

where is the games this friday for the under 18's being played ?
The nsw schoolboys website says curagul field - north turamurra but the recent posts have being saying Knox college.
Just wondering if they are the same location or if not, where will the games be played at?

 

[Boof]

I don't know if TC is referring to the cohort born in 1997 or just every u17 age group over the past 6 years. these selections are from schools affiliated in some form of school association and not club land.

you will notice the other representative teams are from school associations and not club land "


Most Country players would play a lot more club rugby than school except for TAS, there is simply not enough school rugby outside of the metro areas to develop players, they are club players seeking another pathway, the honor of a country jersey, the possibility of an OS tour and a few days of school.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

where is the games this friday for the under 18's being played ?
The nsw schoolboys website says curagul field - north turamurra but the recent posts have being saying Knox college.
Just wondering if they are the same location or if not, where will the games be played at?

For the last umpteen years, the Friday games (U18) have been played on Knox Grammar fields at Curagul Field in North Turramarra - a couple of klicks down the Bobbin Head road from the School. There is no reason to think that it will be any different this year. Many posters use the terms Curagul Field & Knox Grammar interchangeably.

PS. Be careful when referring to Knox Grammar School as Knox College. For some reason, it can upset some of the more pedantic of our readers. I made that mistake once.

 

[sarcophilus]

is there any reason why Illawarra players aren't considered for country teams or is it just because very few ever try out because of the distances to trials

Just to follow up on what i prattled

It seems an u18 country team played and were beaten soundly by ACT u18. the country reporters noted this was a team missing players playing in Sydney this weekend. so this small pool of players is split in three directions or four if you count those that end up in the Qld public school system

so to make it to the schools tourney the Illawarra lads need to
1. go to the right non government school that encourages participation in the country schools trials (last year that, for u16, was a carnival held the same June long weekend the Junior state cup)
2. find a government school that has a rugby interested sport master or coach and head of to the CHS trials
or
perform really well at u/15 city v country mtch/nsw club selection and wait for the magic to happen

 

[Hugh Jarse]

@saccophilus, the Country Schools Association have announced that this is their last year of operations.

This was on the basis that the Country lads now have pathways through CCC, CHS and to a very small degree ISA. AICES seem on the verge of pulling out of Under 18 rugby.

This works well for those lads going to a public high school, a private catholic high school, Stannies, Kinross, All Saints, Oxley or Chevalier, or boarding at one of the Sydney High Schools. If they don't attend one of those, then the lad from the bush has no show of getting known by the Clipboards. The JGC programme is about the only ray of hope.

The magic may happen, but it is in short supply.

 

[Boof]

Just to follow up on what i prattled

It seems an u18 country team played and were beaten soundly by ACT u18. the country reporters noted this was a team missing players playing in Sydney this weekend. so this small pool of players is split in three directions or four if you count those that end up in the Qld public school system

so to make it to the schools tourney the Illawarra lads need to
1. go to the right non government school that encourages participation in the country schools trials (last year that, for u16, was a carnival held the same June long weekend the Junior state cup)
2. find a government school that has a rugby interested sport master or coach and head of to the CHS trials
or
perform really well at u/15 city v country mtch/nsw club selection and wait for the magic to happen

Illawarra boys need to do no more than any others boys in country NSW, it is up hill for all of them. It doesn't matter what school you go to private, public or catholic you are eligible for NSW Country Schools if you are in a regional area and it is non GPS, CAS or ISA school ( which is highly likely ).

 

[Boof]

"Players from New England, Central North, Far North Coast and, Mid North Coast will face each
other in both the 16s and open divisions, with Illawarra also fielding a team in the 16s, and
Hunter, in the opens."
Looks like Illawarra actually sent a team of 16s last years to the TAS carnival

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Illawarra boys need to do no more than any others boys in country NSW, it is up hill for all of them. It doesn't matter what school you go to private, public or catholic you are eligible for NSW Country Schools if you are in a regional area and it is non GPS, CAS or ISA school ( which is highly likely ).

Except TAS is GPS and they have kids in it