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Sydney Subbies 2025

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Footyhead67

Stan Wickham (3)
footy_footy said:
Only whispers and understand things aren't as bad as I was told - love the Subbies rumour mill! I think there will be a gap in the Colts Div 2 draw with Sydney Irish though. Unsure whether that will be a bye or a Radford team will fill it.
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I don't think a 'Radford' team for 2025 will fill it considering they are the clubs with 1 Grade and 1 colts. A massive mismatch. Hopefully Hunters Hill or Colleagues who have had second colts teams over the past few years, could fill. Would be a much better match.
 
O

Odyssey_Park the 2nd

Chris McKivat (8)
Pfitzy said:
Liked just for this comment. ;)

Remains to be seen whether Canterbury stack their 2s again - the logic is that these guys don't train, therefore aren't going to be selected for First Grade. :rolleyes: TBH I don't think those guys care if it means winning another trophy at a canter.

If these are the final divisions, so be it. The issue with 6-club Divisions has always been the 3 rounds - particularly if you get a strong club at their ground twice. C'est la vie.
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Ideally one of the 9 teams in Division 6 currently would be able to pull together a 2nd team and fill that spot giving us

Div 1-8
Div 2- 6
Div 3- 8
Div 4- 7 (technically 6)
Div 5- 7 (assuming someone comes up)
Div 6- 8 (Assuming Sydney Harbour don’t turn back up)

If Subbies had known the state of things earlier I wonder if they would have pushed Newport up and kept the top two divisions at 7? Tough for Newport not to be promoted on the back of a number of really strong seasons.

You could also have a split of 7 teams across the lower divisions if one of the Div 3 clubs that say they have a colts fall over before Rd 1. Would make for a much more even distribution of teams….
 
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Odyssey_Park the 2nd

Chris McKivat (8)
footy_footy said:
Only whispers and understand things aren't as bad as I was told - love the Subbies rumour mill! I think there will be a gap in the Colts Div 2 draw with Sydney Irish though. Unsure whether that will be a bye or a Radford team will fill it.
Click to expand...
Interesting that depending on how Irish go this year and if they don’t have a colts side. They could go from Div 2 fielding possibly 3 sides to Div 5 next year as it will be the only place they fit without a colts….
 
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Here To Do

Herbert Moran (7)
Updates from the Subbies website for Div 2 with the full draws (sans kick-off times) released:

All clubs have 3 grades (Barraclough, Stockdale, Blunt) - all except Irish also have a 4ths (Richardson), replaced by Waverley's 6th XV

Reports of Forest's demise are (so far) greatly exaggerated as all but Irish are fielding a Robertson Colts - Irish will be replaced by Burraneer's Colts.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out come August (or even April).
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Odyssey_Park the 2nd said:
Div 4- 7 (technically 6)
Div 5- 7 (assuming someone comes up)
Div 6- 8 (Assuming Sydney Harbour don’t turn back up)

If Subbies had known the state of things earlier I wonder if they would have pushed Newport up and kept the top two divisions at 7? Tough for Newport not to be promoted on the back of a number of really strong seasons.

You could also have a split of 7 teams across the lower divisions if one of the Div 3 clubs that say they have a colts fall over before Rd 1. Would make for a much more even distribution of teams….
Click to expand...

Nope. No uneven numbers this year - byes are happening for Easter, Kings Birthday, and Tahs v Lions followed shortly thereafter by Wallabies v Lions.

If you're copping another BYE in there and have two weeks off it could kill momentum.
 
T

The Ghost of Bernie

Herbert Moran (7)
KentwellCup>ShuteShield said:
Can someone please explain the downfall of St Ives too me?

Great area in terms of rugby demographic and great facilities (i.e clubhouse) and if memory serves me correctly strong jnrs section?
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Bloody hell, two flat out days at work and trying to fit in sleep, eating, rugby training (in no particular order), so it's a day or two since you check this page and it blows up.....

I played with St Ives in 2023 as part of the Lane Cove/St Ives joint venture and I must say, even though it wasn't hugely successful year, it was one of the most enjoyable years of rugby I've had in a long time.
I think like a lot of north shore subbies rugby clubs it is down to demographic, changes in lifestyle, cost of living etc.

Perhaps I'm over simplifying things but in speaking to some of the former players from the 2000's the clubhouse itself acted as a starting point for the Saturday night 'activities'. Come the advent of the mobile phone as more than just device to call and text, the need to meet up at the clubhouse declined, which in turn may have led to a gradual decline in player numbers. Combined that with an increase in house prices in the area which changed the demographics for the area.

Currently there's a core group of former players keeping the club going. And doing the best they can to attract players. They have recently changed to Tuesday night training in order to build a stronger link with the U18's.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
Odyssey_Park the 2nd said:
Interesting that depending on how Irish go this year and if they don’t have a colts side. They could go from Div 2 fielding possibly 3 sides to Div 5 next year as it will be the only place they fit without a colts….
Click to expand...

Keen observers would note that Robertson Cup has a 6th team listed as Burraneer Colts
 
S

SticksXI

Bob McCowan (2)
Pfitzy said:
Remains to be seen whether Canterbury stack their 2s again - the logic is that these guys don't train, therefore aren't going to be selected for First Grade. :rolleyes: TBH I don't think those guys care if it means winning another trophy at a canter.
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I'll give you some insight to this. That team basically told the club they wont play if they don't get to play together, forcing the club to basically say yes so they could have 2 teams. They couldnt commit to training due to a range of factors but also didnt want to bother with 1st grade, despite having ex NRL 20's players, a 4th grade Pirates player and a bunch of athletes.
 
Pfitzy

Pfitzy

Nathan Sharpe (72)
The league player thing explains why we got one of our guys dumped on his head last year, I suppose.
 
T

The Ghost of Bernie

Herbert Moran (7)
Ozzie Bob said:
Wow this makes interesting reading.

On first glance:

* Div 3 What has happened to Sydney Harbour?
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Also no sign of their 2nd grade partners Alexandria Dukes.
Personally I don't think Dukes ever recovered after going down in the last play of the 2017 Noice Cup GF (with apologies to Mango-man if he's still around).....Look it up.
 
H

Here To Do

Herbert Moran (7)
Unless I'm missing something, we've lost 11 clubs (in one form or another) since the end of 2019 according to the annual reports.

UOW were involved in Subbies but, as soon as COVID hit, have had no presence since then.
Engadine, Dee Why/Terrey Hills haven't played since 2020 (although Terrey Hills ran a Halligans in 2023).
Menai missed 2020, came back in 2021 and 2022 but haven't been seen since.
Combined Forces joined in 2020 but haven't been seen since 2021.
HAC left in 2023, Camden played Halligans that year but didn't in 2024, Rockdale came and went in 2023 too.
If both Harbour and Dukes are gone, that's nearly 2 Divisions of clubs lost.

Then you look at teams like Wakehurst/Brothers and LCOI who essentially take 4 clubs down to 2, only gaining (on a permanent or hopefully-permanent basis) Georges River and Penrith, it's not a good sign.

tl;dr - 56 clubs have played in Subbies in one form or another since 2019, 11 no longer do.
 
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