QLD GPS Rugby 2016

[Getwithme]

I'm putting my money on TGS to be honest. Good age group with some standouts playing firsts last year with Mack (Qld 16 League) back from injury this year. TSS huge pack of 18 year olds and good group of classy returning backs should book them in 2nd and 3rd to be fought between BBC,NC and BSHS. BBC and BSHS to start well and Nudgee to finish strong with there depth.

Churchie in next for me followed by what will be a much larger and improved BGS led by McReight at 6,7 or 8. GT's will slide in next with possibly a scalp or two and IGS to not win a game.

 

[Countryjack]

Good call.
TGS do not travel all that well and play TSS and BBC away.
But any team that plays them up the mountain will be shittin themselves.

 

[Monday's Expert]

Gee Country Jack, the TGS defeat in 2015 of eventual premiers ACGS at ACGS with a very vocal home crowd fully expecting a Vikings win sure does lend weight to your "TGS doesn't travel well" contention.

 

[Countryjack]

Gee Country Jack, the TGS defeat in 2015 of eventual premiers ACGS at ACGS with a very vocal home crowd fully expecting a Vikings win sure does lend weight to your "TGS doesn't travel well" contention.

Correct. Can I say then "inconsistent" away from home.

But then how do you explain getting pumped/thrashed by GT away from home last year? ?
and the year before that very inconsistent away from home.

 

[DarkSide]

I think it is also important to remember one of the team lost his father the week BBC played GT. To say that impaired preparation would be an understatement as the boys were focused on more important things such as supporting their grieving mate and grieving themselves.

Please remember as well we are discussing schoolboys here so probably best not to describe them as "rubbish". It would be more beneficial to point out specific areas of their play that you think could be improved.

As Blue & White says, the BBC backline has potent attacking players in every position. If they had a bad game that week, it probably wasn't the end of their world. I imagine they are a team that is confident in their ability to get the job done and I hope they are humble enough to know 1st XV premierships are not won in year 8, 9 or 10. Success along the way helps to build confidence, which can be a useful thing, but they need to keep working hard and developing their talents.

Sad to here that, and fair points.

When I say rubbish I refer to a few things, their entire game plan, defense, line out, scrum, and breakdown.

BBC kicked most of their ball away, sat back on their heels in defence, lost too many of their own line outs, and even lost their own scrums. It wasn't until GT became tired that BBC found some broken play to score late. They also let GT play at pace barely contesting any breakdown. You could be excused for thinking no one had run hard at BBC all season.

I have no doubt the BBC boys will barely shed a tear over one match, but they're going to have to fix a lot of things to repeat their previous success. So much changes between year 9 and 10.

 

[DarkSide]

There was a youtube video of the GT v BBC U14 match from last year posted here. BBC looked rubbish and were out-played by GT almost everywhere. I cannot understand how IGS and BSHS didn't also beat BBC based on that video. Then again GT were playing well, so perhaps they just made BBC look ordinary.

They certainly were not rubbish when they pumped NC by over 25 points & GT and NC played a draw. That BBc backline was electric.
I looked at scores last year-you are judging a season by one game.
From what I see BBC beat every other school by margins far greater that GT did.

GT lost 3 of their best players against NC, so I am sure that had a lot to do with it. It was also at the end of the season in the traditional GT v NC grudge match and that does lift both schools.

I don't know why you think you can judge teams on scores, I mean I know IGS only lost to BBC on the final whistle and BSHS were missing boys from their BBC match. So maybe those two games would have been different too?

 

[DarkSide]

Gt offered full fee relief PLUS a uniform is what I hear.Welcome to the club.

This is not what I heard, I've also been told GT do not offer full fee relief, unless the new principal has changed things.

 

[DarkSide]

My Bold predictions for premierships in 2016;

13A GT
14 A BSHS
15 A BBC
16A too close to call/too many variables
2nds TSS or NC
1st TSS

Agree with some except:
15 - Probably not worth picking a winner, but I'd back BSHS.
16 - NC
2nds - TSS
1sts - Heart says TGS, Head says NC.

 

[Jack Hardy]

Losing players to injury is not uncommon and having depth to cover them is necessary for success. All teams are affected by this at some point. Surely BBC were missing boys at different stages of the season as well. This is why winning the comp is so special. There are so many variables that influence the outcome. Along with hard work, talent, good strategy and the discipline to implement it, fitness, stability in team selection, depth to cover injury or unavailability, the right weather conditions, a host of things that influence the mindset of the players (schoolwork, relationships, family stuff), you also need a little luck. Like George Gregan used to say "The harder we worked the luckier we seemed to get".

Speculation about what might have happened is not useful.

Analysis of gameplay and assessment of skill and technique execution is useful and interesting.

On another tangent...

Schools miss the point when they focus all of their efforts and resources on A teams or 1stXV. I know 1st XV premierships are important to schools and old boys and I am not knocking that but a premiership should be the culmination of a program that beginnings in Year 7 or earlier. It is not something you start planning for when a 'good team' pops up in Under 16.

Some programs overlook the fact that the kid in the C's who might be new to the game or who might not have had great coaching might be languishing but with the right input and opportunities could contribute meaningfully in a higher team. At the very least they can make significant improvements and gain confidence.

You hear coaches lamenting all the time "I hope we don't have any injuries" because they are not confident in the abilities of the players in the "lower" grades. A good program would develop these players so they are capable of answering a call up if needed.

A good program will also develop coaches. Many rely on young old boys to coach, particularly in lower teams. I understand this is necessary because people aren't queuing up to take on these roles but these are the kids who would benefit most from good coaching. These young coaches, often in their first year out of school, need quite a lot of guidance and mentoring to be effective. They are often keen and very enthusiastic but need help with technical aspects of coaching.

 

[phatmik]

Well written Jack Hardy

 

[DarkSide]

Some programs overlook the fact that the kid in the C's who might be new to the game or who might not have had great coaching might be languishing but with the right input and opportunities could contribute meaningfully in a higher team. At the very least they can make significant improvements and gain confidence.

** Edited your post so there isn't a wall of test **.

I agree with you, but for me this is perfect world stuff.

A school needs 30 coaches (2 per team) just for A,B, and C teams and only for the senior school. 30 coaches across the 8 schools is 240 coaches for GPS schools alone. I'm sorry, but you're not going to get quality.

Schools get what they can for an A coach, and then they just fill the rest. It's hard enough getting them let alone developing them. The school is too busy organising hundreds of kids, buses, gear, for training and games before anyone is thinking of development of anyone.

I do see a few schools doing their best with a top down approach, the whole school playing the same rugby. But that's different to developing coaches.

As for kids in the Cs who have talent. I could write an essay on this, but there is usually a reason talent languishes in the Cs and I've only seen that change when the kid themselves improves on their own back, with or without encouragement. I wish it could be different, but I can't fathom the effort a school would need to go to in order to cover all the bases.

On the other hand, aren't the B's down really for enjoyment? For health and fitness and personal development? The As are for the kids who want to play rugby seriously and all the effort that brings. So of course the schools put a little more resources into the As.

 

[Happy to Chat]

To early yet- but with 7 back plus new number 8'-even my mate the cricket coach at TSS is confident .
Will know after round 2 where we play BBC at home on old boys day.
Not sure our backline will match NC or BBC but our forwards will up to it.good depth this year.

There ain't no new #8 at TSS. He is last years #6. In fact they don't have much in the line of new blood at all, no tour for 2016. Pretty average chance of a top 4 this year for TSS.

 

[Getwithme]

TPretty average chance of a top 4 this year for TSS.

They have a new prop who is a man mountain. TSS will not finish outside of the top 4 this year

 

[Countryjack]

There ain't no new #8 at TSS. He is last years #6. In fact they don't have much in the line of new blood at all, no tour for 2016. Pretty average chance of a top 4 this year for TSS.

Please please please-can we bet on this.?
No new number 8. Who is the new monster I saw at training Tuesday?. Makes Guttenbeil look only average size!

 

[Countryjack]

This is not what I heard, I've also been told GT do not offer full fee relief, unless the new principal has changed things.

You are way out of date-talk to their Dir of Coaching !

 

[Stripes]

Each year they hold trials to select 3 GPS teams who will then trial for the 2 QLD schoolboys teams. Has anyone heard when or where the trials for the 3 GPS teams will be? Last year the first trial was on 23rd May at TSS.


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[Garry Owens]

This is not what I heard, I've also been told GT do not offer full fee relief, unless the new principal has changed things.

It's now full hand relief not full fee relief

I think that's where the confusion came from

 

[DarkSide]

You are way out of date-talk to their Dir of Coaching !

Doesn't the gentleman's agreement around the firsts mean you can't be a discounted student to play? If so, why would you offer a full fee discount to a kid who cannot play firsts?

 

[Oldschool]

Each year they hold trials to select 3 GPS teams who will then trial for the 2 QLD schoolboys teams. Has anyone heard when or where the trials for the 3 GPS teams will be? Last year the first trial was on 23rd May at TSS.


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21st May at TSS again

 

[Dark Shark]

Howard is the poster boy for why rowing is bad for your rugby. At least in my opinion anyway. He would have to have done some serious work in the off season to play 6 for GT, but he's also a talent worth developing.

I saw the above and another post by BraveandGame stating:

"I could be very wrong as I haven't seen him since mid last season but I would have thought Howard would be lucky to be 85 Kg's - I can't see a 80+kg 16 year old in a First 15 front row."

And I didn't think that was fair for a number of reasons but I have waited to get the facts before shooting off.

First, I am a big supporter of rowing and love my rugby. I believe the two sports at schoolboy level are the most complimentary sports you can get. I have coached from time to time and the biggest issue I see for schoolboys and schoolgirls in high school is a massive deficiency in core strength. Rowing develops this for its athletes like no other sport except gymnastics I believe.

Rugby players need core strength, particularly for getting over the ball and being strong and then balance, particularly in contact and probably another dozen reasons. Cross training through rowing can only be of greatest benefit.

Then I see comments about rowing stripping too much weight and players coming into season without any bulk. Well, I think I would prefer a 10kg lighter player who is carrying no fat, developed strength with great cardio to a player still carrying a bit of muffin around the hips and struggling to keep up with the play.

Now I was able to follow up on the boy Howard. I have seen him over the years in the BBC v GT games. From what I saw he goes more than ok. I saw him in trial and regular season game last year. I was able to ask some people in the know last night about this age group at GT. At the moment Howard weighs around 95kg - and not an ounce of fat (they reckon he went past 85kg in grade 9). On top of that he rowed in same crew last year as four First XV players. He was stronger than all except Pat Carrigan, who he was a touch behind and I don't think rowing harmed Carrigan's game last year.

So I do think rowing and rugby can work together at schoolboy level. I think BBC will be good for it this year. I think the Sanix tournament making it a very long season was the biggest factor in their season results last year.

By the banter, I reckon it is most open season in Qld GPS for a very long time.