Sydney Colts - 2014

[Cattledog]

Week 2 with Penrith Colts......West harbour at emu park. These were a couple of good games with some pretty fearsome collisions. I don't know what the pointy heads in the backs from both teams were thinking about but at times the ball handling from both sets of backs was pretty ordinary. However, it's pretty hard to catch a ball when your wondering if the 456 express bus to Penrith via concord is going to clean you up.

In seconds the game was a good contest with west harbour kicking away in the last 15 mins to take the match. halftime score in 2's was 10 - 7 to west harbour.

In colts 1 basically the match came down to west harbours superior ability to get 3 on 1 or 4 on 2 in the back line by bringing in the fullback and the extra man. Penrith backs were not reading this at all. However, they will learn from the experience.

Big win of the week was having 39 players at the ground for Penrith colts. This also had a direct influence on the results. Especially when the big Penrith forwards started to tire as having several fresh reserves made a big difference to the score line.

Next week ....bus trip to Eastwood.

 

[couldabeen]

Week 2 with Penrith Colts..West harbour at emu park. These were a couple of good games with some pretty fearsome collisions. I don't know what the pointy heads in the backs from both teams were thinking about but at times the ball handling from both sets of backs was pretty ordinary. However, it's pretty hard to catch a ball when your wondering if the 456 express bus to Penrith via concord is going to clean you up.

In seconds the game was a good contest with west harbour kicking away in the last 15 mins to take the match. halftime score in 2's was 10 - 7 to west harbour.

In colts 1 basically the match came down to west harbours superior ability to get 3 on 1 or 4 on 2 in the back line by bringing in the fullback and the extra man. Penrith backs were not reading this at all. However, they will learn from the experience.

Big win of the week was having 39 players at the ground for Penrith colts. This also had a direct influence on the results. Especially when the big Penrith forwards started to tire as having several fresh reserves made a big difference to the score line.

Next week ..bus trip to Eastwood.

Thanks for the report Cattledog. Keep at it, both reports and working at Penrith Colts.
Must have been some serious thunder in the tackling!!

 

[Tah and feathered]

Southern Districts put in a good performance against Warringah winning all 3 grades. 3rds and 2nds were hard fought games with good scrambling defence and great commitment from Warringah made getting points difficult and they have some good young players.
Firsts was a bit different with Souths playing at a very high tempo and scoring very early in the game and going on from there
Souths had a pretty much controlled the break down with Brandon Amosa dominant and the backs just cut loose with a number of tries long range efforts.
Damon Brown and Trent winterstein played very and this was off a dominant pack that didn't have Gibbon, Hemopa and Rhaboni playing.
Unfortunately the games were played on the front field as school games had the main field. Not sure if this is common but if schools get priority over colts then as a Warringah player I wouldn't like to be playing every 2nd week on the front paddock.
Big game next week against Norths and there seems to be some feeling between these 2 clubs and I heard that both were on the same flight from the Gold Coast on there pre season camps and some words from both sides were being thrown around on the plane.

 

[I like to watch]

What's wrong with the front field at Rat Park?
It's in great nick,and in better condition than what many clubs will have on offer during the year.
Or is your point more about playing second fiddle to a School team?

 

[Tah and feathered]

What's wrong with the front field at Rat Park?
It's in great nick,and in better condition than what many clubs will have on offer during the year.
Or is your point more about playing second fiddle to a School team?

What's wrong with the front field at Rat Park?
It's in great nick,and in better condition than what many clubs will have on offer during the year.
Or is your point more about playing second fiddle to a School team?

The field was fine but no shade or protection from the weather
Food and drink is a hike away
Seating is the metal rail around the ground
Was there video of the games that every other colts club provide
As a spectator I won't go there again
I understand that some clubs have overlaps with cricket which is no problems and of course wet weather causes issues with main grounds I just think colts deserve to play on clubs number 1 grounds
Better for players and mums and Dads and spectators.

 

[I like to watch]

Norths play on N/S 2 all year.
Manly played at Keirle Park last week and again yesterday.
Uni play on a cow paddock.
Randwick are often at Latham Park.
That surface is actually better than many other clubs no 1 oval.
Where's the shade at Southern Districts?

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Ditto for St Pauls oval, Latham Park, and Millner #2, and plenty of others.

Best to have a couple of those el-cheapo fold up chairs you get from bunnings at about $20 in the car boot, if standing is too much.

I reckon the hike to food and drink under Rat Park grandstand would be more efficient than what you face at SFS during super rugby games. Now that schemozzle, at the showcase of our game, is administered by alleged professional caterers. Clubland canteens (even colts offerings) sh!ts all over that, and profits are going back into the grass roots.

 

[stonecutter]

With all the banter regarding the points cap and talent dispersion currently taking place, I was interested in overhearing the thoughts of a club coach regarding these issues recently.

His view centred around giving credit to district clubs who put time and effort into developing a junior system and penalising those who seek to raid them at a later date. Understanding that no one wants to stand in the way of a player moving clubs, the thought was to attach the right balance to a players worth and the previous playing history.

Didn't get all the details but if a player has a base rating of 4 points and he has represented Gordon from U14's to U16's he gets a discount of 3 points for the years played making him a 1 point player. This is now the level where the vultures become interested through Junior squads and at State Championships and is why many boys end up at GPS schools on bursaries that were unattainable in the previous couple of years. If he plays in the 17's as well he gets an extra credit discount but if he moves to Randwick at the end of school he carries penalty points as such. He also carries extra points for representation at schools level (4 for National and 2 for State).

So if our theoretical player who is from Lindfield juniors and plays for Gordon from 14's to 16's and then onto Australian schools level before turning up to Gordon as a senior player comes with a points rating of 5 points. If he somehow ends up at Randwick or Uni he is an 11 point player.

Remember that most of the raiders work on the theory that to deny another club of a player is just as good as if he actually can play. In going down this path it would make them think more clearly about the value of who they actually need and not just stockpile talent as many wouldn't get a game if their points are too high.

Other issues such as the cap limit and how to rate other category players was also mentioned but I only got snippets. Having reflected on this viewpoint I can see merit in it. The main problem with the current situation is that talent is ending up in 2 or 3 clubs and those trying to build from within are being harshly penalised in comparison to the clubs who bring in talent from other areas. This idea seems to go someway towards balancing out some of the problems in my opinion.

 

[the baz]

Randwick v norths.
Tough day for randwick, losing 3's and 2's pretty convincingly, and drawing in ones. Randwick used the big boys to steam roll the smaller norths sides, but ran out of steam in 3's and 2's, with most of the norths tries coming from width. Norths should have wrapped up ones as they dominated the first half, but switched off in the second (or randwick switched on) and randwick dominated. A draw was a fair result, but both teams have plenty to work on. It was an entertaining game, and plenty of spite in the 2's and 3's (not impressed with one player spitting on another as they were scored against). Would be interesting to be a fly on the wall at either clubs training this week.

 

[Cattledog]

What's doing with Gordon vs Eastwood colts 1 game?

 

[the baz]

What's doing with Gordon vs Eastwood colts 1 game?

Eastwood won 44-17 in ones and 55-12 I think in twos.

 

[Cattledog]

Eastwood won 44-17 in ones and 55-12 I think in twos.

Thanks Baz in the scores posted yesterday it was blank and on the Shute shield results page (as of Sunday arvo) the scores are blank too. Just looked a Bit funny. Thanks for the update.

 

[Constantine]

Anyone know what's become of Henry Clunies-Ross? He did well for NSW under 20s in the last fortnight but hasn't yet shown up for University.

For some reason he wasn't in Unis team lists for Easts but played for Uni seconds with half a game for the Firsts.

 

[Blackers13]

Anyone see the Manly V Parra game? I hear it was a ripper.

 

[Schoolofhardknocks]

It shows the depth Southern Districts has in their colts side this season.

When they have players out and draw from the 2nd's with what seems just as good talent from the lower grades, they where rock solid in the scrums all day and the No.9, No.15, No.7 and No.3 where all standouts on the day.

At the end of the day they all stood out with the score line at 71 to 7 and great to see quite a few of the 2nds get a run towards the end of the game.

The Southern 2nds played a great game, I thought it was the best side for Warringah on the day, plus another great game for the Southern 3rds it will be good games at Forshaw next Saturday against North's.

When I was a kid we used to drive from manly to go to the tip where Pittwater rugby park is now smelly old place with an old woman they use to collect everyone's discarded rubbish.

When I played for the Rats that feels like another life time ago, it use to rain for days on end and you play on the main field. My god you used to end up with infection all over your cuts from all the seepage from the old tip coming to the surface no OH&S in those days you just played in any conditions.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Player Points Check Round 2.

Before I even start checking out the numbers properly in the Jarse-o-meter, the first game I casually browse at is Randwick vs Norths Colts 1 and what do I find?

Randwick have declared their team as 41 points out of an allowable 40 points.
That is a good start.
In doing so they have Kamp (a 4 point player - declared as a "-" ) and not counted in their 41 points, neither is the starting winger Crafts (minimum 1 point player). This team as listed is 46 points, and there is one or two boys I think are more than the points they have been calculated at.

Penrith still have players at 0 points and "-" points.

Many teams are yet to have their team sheets added to the website.

 

[Eyes and Ears]

For some reason he wasn't in Unis team lists for Easts but played for Uni seconds with half a game for the Firsts.

Grade not Colts?

 

[Bruce Ross]

Grade not Colts?

Yes, Grade. He's rated very highly at Uni and looked the goods in Ones yesterday in a very physical match.
.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Player Points Cap Round 2
Some clubs have improved their accuracy. The 50% maximum deduction still seems to be missed by some clubs.
How effective is a points cap scheme when 30 player points Rats Colts I lose to 24 point points Hobbits Colts I by 64 points?
One Club is over the limit by their own declaration, yet the match is still recorded as a draw.

Oh well, having started a bit of a commentary on the whole points thing here is Hugh's Round 2 observations:
Colts 1 Round 2
Souths - Improvement on last week, with no 0 point players, although Brandon P-A can only be reduced to minimum of 2 points.
Parra - No team as yet. No Comment.

Penrith. Improvement.

Gordon. Still 6 players reported at 0. With these players at 1 point mimimum, Hugh's adjusted score is 26. Still well within the points cap.

Norths. 4 ) point players. With a minimum of 1 point, The Hugh-o-meter reckons they come in at 29 declared + 4 = 33 points.

Wicks. 41 Declared points and in breach by their own admission. The Hugh-o-meter reckons Kamp is 4 points not "-", O'Donaghoe is minimum of 3 points not 1, and Crafts is awarded 2 points for the "-" on the team list. The actual score for the team as listed is assessed by the Hugh-o-meter as 41 + 4 + 2 + 2 = 49 points. They have overshot the target by 22.5%. Have they employed the Obeid family as their scrutineers?

Rats. Same issues with 0 point players. Assuming the 8 of these are at 1 point the Hugh-o-meter assesses them at 30 points. HTF can a 30 point team lose to a 24 point team by 64 points?

Colts 1 Round 1
While some clubs have improved the accuracy of their reports in Round 2, not much has been done to amend the cluster that round 1 was.

Wicks have listed their missing 2nd rower, but even though Rudolf is a junior from Wickland, he still attracts 1 point not "-". They still have no full back listed, and the same issues remain over Kamp, O'Donaghoe points. Katsouskis is still over declared at 6 points and he should be 3. Even with all those issues, they should be within the 40 points.

Rats. Have added a prop and changed previous listed prop to the bench, in doing so adding 2 points to their total. The Hugh-o-meter calculates their score at 26 declared + 6 @ 1 point not 0 = 32.

Colts 2 Round 2
No team lists from Parra, Norths, Uni or Eastwood, so no comment.
Souths. Good Improvement.

Rats. Still have 11 players at 0 points. The Hugh-o-meter has them at 11+11 = 22. Still plenty of space.

Penrith. Improvement in the 1's has not flowed throough. They have 1 @ 0 and 3 at "-" . From a declared 19 points, the Hugh-o-meter assesses an extra 1 + 3@2 points to make the total of 26.

Wicks. Katsouskis is beleived to be a reasonably loyal junior so should have a max 3 point dedcution to 3. Hugh-o-meter score should be 22 not the declared 25 points.

Gordon fall foul of the Fresh Reserves rule. All their squad should count for the points cap if they have taken the field, which the Hugh-o-meter has assumed happened. With 9 players incorrectly assessed at 0 and one at "-" then they may have maxed out at 21 declared + 9 @1 point and 1 @ 2 points = 32 points.

Colts 2 Round 1
Wicks have added a previously unreported #10.
Parra still appear to have taken the field with no left centre, but 3 reserves were listed.
Wests have named their fullback and this brings them to 29. Phew.

I hope I have less to report after round 3.

If the problem is with myrugbyadmin as has been suggested by @Belly2 Blues, then here's hoping that SRU are talking with the technical boffins at ARU to fix the issue.

 

[Big Lebowski]

Hey sorry to jump a bit off topic here, but I was just looking all over the net but wasn't able to find any records of past colt championships in 1s, 2s and 3s aside from last year. Would anyone happen to know if there are records of this out there, or have any knowledge of the topic..

Cheers.