Sydney Junior Rugby Union - 2013

[Man on the hill]

Hopefully they will not need further trials to try and parachute a few special boys into the State Teams.

Read somewhere that State teams will be announced on the day - from the players on display!

 

[Man on the hill]

Juniors U16 and U15 also played a game against ACT JRU in 2012.

Snouts are telling me that the 2013 October long weekend might be a festival of the boot - NSWJRU games V QLD & ACT

 

[Hugh Jarse]

http://nswjuniors.rugbynet.com.au/default.asp?id=150624

NSW Juniors website has NSWJRU vs ACTJRU on Sep 16 at TBC, and vs QldJRU in Canberra on Oct 5/6 (Labour day long weekend).
From the National Club Championships thread, George Smith said:

Huge,
Some of the information you are seeking.

Committee:
President: Paul Taylor (ex NSW & Sydney)
VP: Stuart Watson (NSW Country Pres)

Feeder champs
NSW: State Champs=>Regionals=>City v Country=>AJRU
Qld: State Champs, 23-25 Sep at Sth Pine Sports Complex, Cribb Rd, Brendale =>2013 Champs
[Bris v Ctry for U13/14/15/16/17)- Fri 27 September at Ballymore]

Aust Club Champs
2013 Australian Junior Rugby Union U15 (interstate) & U17 (nationals) will be in Canberra, October 5th to 7th as part of Canberra's 100 Yr celebrations

AJRU Information
https://www.facebook.com/AJRUNationals2012

Seems a little silly to play a trial against one of the competitors in the National Championships, when it appears that there will only be NSWJRU, QLDJRU and ACTJRU involved in the National Club Championships.

Anyone know if VIC, SA, or WA will be represented at National Club Championships?
What about including a LLoyd McDermott team to make up numbers, and to give the Lloydies programme some more games?

 

[Wood Rat]

Some interesting observations
Newport 16a forfeited to Hawkesbury seven rep players out (five playing for Sydney) very difficult to juggle rep and club commitments as well as playing physical school rugby on Saturday. Not through lack of desire to commit to the club the boys have been playing for for a number of years. Or milking the system or picking loopholes, just couldn't do it.
Maybe more reason to look at the way 16-18 year old club rugby is structured

 

[Wood Rat]

Narrabeen Tigers open team of mostly U/17 players have packed up after 5 years of doing very hard yards playing in an a grade comp they were always struggling in. A team of small blokes that kept stepping up in spite of being the meat in the sandwich for Chatswood and Mosman when they were in full flight. They played good rugby when they were allowed to compete in the right division, but rarely got enough chances to get of the mat. A predominantly small u/17 team playing in the 18s comp still found it hard to be graded in an appropriate division
A few die hards moved to Warringah 3rd grade Colts and made great contributions to the teams performance
I know this is not rep player stuff or big picture management theories. It is about loving the game at whatever level you play/coach/ peal oranges for. The 95% that are frequently forgotten.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

. The 95% that are frequently forgotten.

And need to be given a reliable competitive game outside the schools to keep them in the game.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Dave Beat]

Manly Junior Rugby Union Unique State Championship Success
Manly Junior Rugby was represented at the New South Wales Junior Rugby Union State Championships on the long weekend in June and was successful in winning the U11, U12 and U17 ages State Championship Titles. MJRU cannot remember the winning of three Championships by Manly teams in the same year.
Manly was also represented in the U13, U14 and U15 age groups and all three teams performed admirably. Manly teams play districts who select from a much larger pool of players and who are also physically much bigger. Manly had some excellent victories with the U13 age group winning their pool and being beaten by the eventually Champions Illawarra in the quarter finals. Manly also proudly produced two representatives' from these age groups. Will Haskin was selected in an U15 Metropolitan Zone team and Luke Ratcliff was selected in the U14 Sydney team. Congratulations to both players.
In recent years MJRU minis teams (U6-U9) have proved to be extremely popular, successful and very strong in talent. This trend continues and has reflected in the success of our junior ages (U10-12).
Our Manly U11's were unbelievably dominant in winning the State Championship Shield moving through the series undefeated. The Championships were hosted by the Manly Roos club at Kierle Park and the overwhelming feedback was that it was a great success. The skateboard park was a huge magnet and the Victorians and others were more than happy that they could play a game of rugby then go down for a quick surf before the next pool game. Coach Rob Gallacher was very impressed with the attitude of his young rugby players and they dominated every game throughout the weekend. They defeated Eastwood in the semi final 48-0 and the score in the Championship final game of 38-10 over Gordon was decisive. Below the Manly U11 2013 State Champions.

The U12 Marlins team successfully defended their crown to win their second successive State Championship. The Championships were held at Camden and it was a huge weekend for all the teams competing. Manly started slowly against Norths but built momentum and continued undefeated into the quarterfinals. In a hard fought series the Manly forwards constantly outplayed their larger opposition to allow their very talented backs opportunities. They defeated Southern Districts convincingly in the semi final 45-14. Once again in the final the forwards matched the very well drilled Gordon forwards giving the Manly backs ,who had a slight edge, the ball needed to run out winners 26-12. The match was played in a drizzling rain and the standard of play was a credit to both teams and to Manly coaches Boru Kagho and Saia Latu.
Below the Manly Marlins U12's celebrate their Championship win

MJRU do not have an U17 age village club team and the Manly U17 representative team was formed by the players themselves through social media face book. The NSWJRU rules allow players to participate if they have played rugby for a club in the previous two seasons. Manly had the nucleus of a squad that have together represented the District since the U10's in this age group and who have been on the wrong end of a seeding system that has cost them the shot at many a Championship. This year however they were not to be denied. Coach, 17 year old Jared Palmer (a long time member of this squad who was injured and unable to play) along with Captain Will Cronin and several other players organised the team through face book notifications. With the assistance of several players from other unrepresented districts and a couple of 16 year olds they went on to be undefeated in the Championships.
Of course as in all junior rugby there is always a dad behind the scenes and Laurence Cronin who managed the team was instrumental in getting the boys passed the administrative issues that accompany such a series. Manly won the final held at TG Milner Field against Central Coast 10-0 to end most of the boys junior careers on a well-deserved high. Too cap off a great win 8 Manly players were selected in the Sydney U17 team to play Country U17's and battle for higher representative honours.
The boys were:
Ben Crerar Will Cronin
Conor Davidson Harrison Lowe
Declan Moore Scott Moran
Nick Newman Scott Williams.
Manly 17's enjoy the victory below

Congratulations to all players and officials and good luck to those representing.
Gary Paton
VP MJRU Representative Rugby

 

[thecow]

SJRU Grand Finals are this weekend - what are people's thoughts?

 

[BeastieBoy]

My son plays in the SRU junior comp on a Friday night. Its a good comp and the sides are tough which is what you want. The boys skills are impressive as i think most in this comp night play league on a sunday. League are thinking of switching their comp up to U12 to friday night. That would be good for rugby as then all boys up to this age could play in the Rugby sunday comp. However the challenge comes with U13 and the boys growth mean they have to make choices as they are too sore to back up and give up sports and the numbers dwindle. How do we solve it for U13's and above? Move to Wednesday night.

 

[BeastieBoy]

League have bought Touch and are going to promote it in the schools. many private girl schools in my area already play it. This is a good move for Rugby too. It promotes the right skill sets and will get many more students switched on to the benefits of Rugby. This will promote Rugby as an alternative to soccer and AFL. It is also the method to introduce Rugby in the Victorian schools. Its a longer term plan and they should be content to spread the benefits of touch for many years before they try to promote the tackle version.

 

[BeastieBoy]

I suspect except for Sydney Uni every Sydney clubs finances are shot to pieces. We all know we need a comp with attractive rules & finances that may hopefully one day attract the media to fund. Maybe we need the Heinikien model. Let me talk about my club for a sec. We need to change our demographic and where we draw from. We are closeted away in Rose Bay and there just arn't enough junior players in our area. After ww2 we used to play at the showground. We need to reposition our club in Paddington and draw kids from Woollomooloo, Paddo, Waverley, Surry Hills etc as well as the closeted areas we have now. But we need money to do it. We are all waiting for Mr Pulver to solve it. Maybe the Sydney Clubs need to resolve it themselves.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

We need to reposition our club in Paddington and draw kids from Woollomooloo, Paddo, Waverley, Surry Hills etc as well as the closeted areas we have now.

have you looked at the demographics?
I'd be surprised if there are more kids in these suburbs now than after WWII or even than since 1965.
These are DINKS of one type or another, I would have thought.

 

[LucyPomPom]

Really looking forward to seeing some of the best junior rugby talent around on Sunday. Nice to see such a huge variety of different clubs being represented too! We'll be at St Luke's biting our nails....

 

[scaraby]

I suspect except for Sydney Uni every Sydney clubs finances are shot to pieces. We all know we need a comp with attractive rules & finances that may hopefully one day attract the media to fund. Maybe we need the Heinikien model. Let me talk about my club for a sec. We need to change our demographic and where we draw from. We are closeted away in Rose Bay and there just arn't enough junior players in our area. After ww2 we used to play at the showground. We need to reposition our club in Paddington and draw kids from Woollomooloo, Paddo, Waverley, Surry Hills etc as well as the closeted areas we have now. But we need money to do it. We are all waiting for Mr Pulver to solve it. Maybe the Sydney Clubs need to resolve it themselves.

where are we going to play in Paddington?..Bondi, Bays and Mcauley are all based around our home ground at Woollahra. Alot of the juniors already come from Paddo,Bronte and further. The club is strong at a club level but week at rep level where you are right about our number of clubs to choose from.
What you are suggesting is new clubs based at Paddo. Surry Hills etc. Great idea but a massive set up cost etc.
The rep situation will be solved via more clubs as above or a merger at a rep level with another district like Norths or Randwick to become competitve.
There is nothing to stop kids from the areas mentioned getting to Woollahra or lyne park now to play with the existing clubs and unfortunately its hard enough to get oval space anywhere.
Love to see a club based near Moore park to feed the junior,colts at Beastie land and I'm sure if you started proceedings then the powers at be would be happy to help but its a big job.
Ask the Breakers guys. It is still a very young club ...6 years?

 

[Druid]

where are we going to play in Paddington?..Bondi, Bays and Mcauley are all based around our home ground at Woollahra. Alot of the juniors already come from Paddo,Bronte and further. The club is strong at a club level but week at rep level where you are right about our number of clubs to choose from.
What you are suggesting is new clubs based at Paddo. Surry Hills etc. Great idea but a massive set up cost etc.
The rep situation will be solved via more clubs as above or a merger at a rep level with another district like Norths or Randwick to become competitve.
There is nothing to stop kids from the areas mentioned getting to Woollahra or lyne park now to play with the existing clubs and unfortunately its hard enough to get oval space anywhere.
Love to see a club based near Moore park to feed the junior,colts at Beastie land and I'm sure if you started proceedings then the powers at be would be happy to help but its a big job.
Ask the Breakers guys. It is still a very young club .6 years?

Rep situation is very similar out West. Most Rep teams are made up from 1-2 clubs in both the Parramatta and Penrith districts (with some age groups missing and other being made up with kids from other districts), although some of the club sides are still relatively strong. If the situation deteriorates much further it will deny access to rep teams to many kids playing in the area as if there isn't enough numbers to form a rep team in your age group, what do you do? The import rule restricts changing clubs/districts and this just weakens the district further and makes the problem worse. not sure what the solution is.

Hills has 2 * Under 10 age groups, but no other clubs have more than 1 side per Age Group making it difficult for the more talented kids to get exposure to higher quality Rugby week in week out.

Despite this, flying the flag for these district on Sunday are:

Blacktown: U13A's
Hills: U16A1's and U12D2's
Norwest: U13C's
Hawkesbury: Open B's
Western Raptors: U11A2's and U15A2's
Blue Mountains: U10C's and U14C's

 

[Gary Owen III]

Rep situation is very similar out West. Most Rep teams are made up from 1-2 clubs in both the Parramatta and Penrith districts (with some age groups missing and other being made up with kids from other districts), although some of the club sides are still relatively strong. If the situation deteriorates much further it will deny access to rep teams to many kids playing in the area as if there isn't enough numbers to form a rep team in your age group, what do you do? The import rule restricts changing clubs/districts and this just weakens the district further and makes the problem worse. not sure what the solution is.

Hills has 2 * Under 10 age groups, but no other clubs have more than 1 side per Age Group making it difficult for the more talented kids to get exposure to higher quality Rugby week in week out.

Despite this, flying the flag for these district on Sunday are:

Blacktown: U13A's
Hills: U16A1's and U12D2's
Norwest: U13C's
Hawkesbury: Open B's
Western Raptors: U11A2's and U15A2's
Blue Mountains: U10C's and U14C's

Well done to these teams - good luck on Sunday.

Regarding the the Rep situation in the East and West, the imbalance where we see Districts such as Easts and West Harbour only having one feeder club to a Rep team (granted St Pats have now joined West Harbour) is ludicrous. These are basically club sides facing up against the top players from other districts.

On the other hand districts like Gordon have about 20% of all the junior rugby players in the Sydney Metro region all fighting for spots in their Rep teams - so no wonder Gordon junior teams are always so strong. But this creates its own issues within the district. To make a Gordon Rep side you virtually need to beat the same amount of kids that other kids need to beat to make a "Zone" team. So a lot of Rep quality players don't even get the chance to play in the State Champs as they cant make the Gordon top 23.

In the past these players used to go to Norths (when that district was basically only Mosman, before Hunters Hill joined Norths) to aid the weaker Norths Rep teams and still get a chance to be seen. Rep team like Easts and Wests have since become the second chance for these players now.

So the answer is why cant the districts be split to better represent an even amount of players eligible for each district? Would make for a better Rep program and enable all players that are good enough to get a shot.

 

[S'UP]

Some interesting observations
Newport 16a forfeited to Hawkesbury seven rep players out (five playing for Sydney) very difficult to juggle rep and club commitments as well as playing physical school rugby on Saturday. Not through lack of desire to commit to the club the boys have been playing for for a number of years. Or milking the system or picking loopholes, just couldn't do it.
Maybe more reason to look at the way 16-18 year old club rugby is structured

Unfortunately Newport were able to get a side on the field earlier in the season but after the Sydney and Schools sides were named they withdrew from the 16A competition, so maybe they were milking the system or pick loopholes I'm not sure but it is very strange.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

The exact shape of rep teams varies a little from year to year so I'm not sure fixed amalgamation s etc across ages would work.
Secondly a kid not wanted by his rep district can, I understand, trial for another district.
Finally SJRU Can give and do give dispensation for kids to change clubs where there are reasons for doing so even if numbers etc rules are against it.

 

[Druid]

The exact shape of rep teams varies a little from year to year so I'm not sure fixed amalgamation s etc across ages would work.
Secondly a kid not wanted by his rep district can, I understand, trial for another district.
Finally SJRU Can give and do give dispensation for kids to change clubs where there are reasons for doing so even if numbers etc rules are against it.

Many districts have a policy whereby if a player trials for the rep team from the local district, they will automatically get priority over players from other districts as they should. So it is not that easy.

In Under 10s, 11s & 12s this year the number of players in the below respective districts were:

Parramatta: 65, 33, 26
Wests: 24,12,37
Easts: 86, 56, 86
Gordon: 288, 310, 249

So yes the rep team shape won't change from year to year based on the above. However, if the aim is to achieve a strong competitive state championship, this is not going to do it.

 

[Inside Shoulder]

Many districts have a policy whereby if a player trials for the rep team from the local district, they will automatically get priority over players from other districts as they should. So it is not that easy.

In Under 10s, 11s & 12s this year the number of players in the below respective districts were:

Parramatta: 65, 33, 26
Wests: 24,12,37
Easts: 86, 56, 86
Gordon: 288, 310, 249

So yes the rep team shape won't change from year to year based on the above. However, if the aim is to achieve a strong competitive state championship, this is not going to do it.

Anyone think Gordon should divest themselves of some of their clubs?