Backintheolddays
Bob Loudon (25)
Good day out for Augustine’s, congrats. Nice to see CCGS on the up.
Greg’s as hosts were fantastic and the GF concept implemented by ISA worked extremely well.
Agree. The fields were in immaculate condition (especially 1 & 2). Lots of space to warm up. The finals format is way more interesting for the boys and creates a much better finale for the season. It would have been nice to have a trophy for each competition winner. Build some history.Would you say that's the general consensus Runner? I was hesitant at first about it but I haven't heard a bad word said about it so far
Probably more their retention program to be fair. Have just had two ex students in year 11 named in Aus u18 which is no mean feat.Questions need to be asked about Oakhills Rugby program. The teams seem underdone on there skills, fitness and most important discipline.
Maybe this is something to look at and examine this summer.
It's been a really enjoyable experience and would agree that the way ISA is tracking, it could be well be sitting in No2 spot soon enough. But I suppose from my perspective, whether it's 2 or 3 is less important as to how the games are played and their competitiveness. I would argue that depth has improved at many schools and it's improved the comp as a whole.More Importantly.
Big thanks this year too @DaSchmooze for keeping track of the whole competition through all ages and providing valuable insight and knowledge. As well as @Ziggy for the information on the new competition (CAS/ISA).
Big congratulations to Auggies, taking out the 1st XV comp for the third year in a row after another miraculous season only recording one loss im pretty sure. Very dominant, and as a whole taking out the Schools Shield. There program is doing very well and returning to greatness like earlier in the 2010s.
For the competition as a whole it’s good to see it strengthening. Giving a good crack against the CAS schools. Possibly becoming the 2nd premier Division now??
Thank you to all contributors to the ISA forum this year, it has been great. LLPS
I enjoy visiting the ISA forum, insightful and balanced with limited muppet factor. I wouldn’t get bogged in ranking across the associations. ISA is fantastic as both a development and top tier rugby factory. GPS has the greatest depth albeit shrinking and relies on the ISA nursery. CAS is challenging where is you take out Waverley (as a generalisation) you really lose depth which is critical and everyone understands how some schools support their Opens programs.
Would like to see a resurgence from Wolaroi and Stannies but they remain a victim of distance and consistently lose their top 2-3 per age group to Sydney which makes a disproportionate difference when operating much smaller programs.
Love to see ISA competing at rep week
Da-S, Totally agree with your comments on Pats & Pius 1stXVs. Don't forget Pius were leading in the semi final with minutes to go in both 1st XV and 2nd XV. Could have easily been an Auggies vs Pius final in both grades. They were that close at Bathurst. Credit goes to their coaching staff. I also agree with what you said about the opportunity for the smaller rugby programs to participate in the finals ...... what about the folks at Central Coast Grammar ? Their 13s won Div 2 beating Auggies' 13Bs , and they also had their 16s and 15s involved in the Finals as well. I know the people at Central Coast work very hard to keep rugby relevant & strong up there - the finals must be a huge boost for them. As for Auggies ..... well, the gap between them and Oakhill is now even wider than last year. Don't think Oakhill is going backwards but Auggies is just surging ahead with their program. And the gap between Oakhill and the rest is getting narrower.ISA Season Wrap Up:
What a great season it has been. New initiatives being met with (almost) universal praise and injecting new life into our competition.
Highs:
1) Lesser lights taking the spotlight - predictions for Pats and Pius were pretty dire this year with some pundits predicting a bottom of the table outcome for both sides. Pius in particular were having a day out each Saturday and well done to them. I'm cranky I didn't get to see them play but from what I hear, they were really confident with ball in hand and had the forwards to back up a more expansive play. The amount of close losses these guys had must have been frustrating but their convincing wins over old rivals would have been very gratifying. Pats were predicted to be wooden spooners in 1sts so seeing them get up to take 4th spot was a surprising result. They were big enough to hold their own in the rough stuff and their backs had a crack when the opportunity arose. A great result for them in a post Conti/Woods world.
2) The CASISA Cup - certainly from this observer's position, this was a success. Whilst the actual 3 week block suffered from the wet weather, the speculation and intrigue surrounding each program's performance shed a light on how each school is progressing as a whole. It was great! Taking a closer look at things on the other side of the fence was also an eye opener - there could be many things rotten in the state of Denmark!
I hope this gets up again next year and we get some dry tracks to play on.
3) The Grand Finals - now that ISA Div 1 and 2 are combined, having a GF day is a good outcome and permits all schools to potentially reach the top of their grades. Not only that, but having a system whereby some of the more lowly programs can actually submit their lower grade teams into a grade that matches their ability (rather than a forced match up) is pragmatic and takes a holistic approach to the sport. It was great hearing @HeatherWick tell us all about the mighty Kinross 3rds getting up for a win in a GF and that's not normally something you're going to hear about from a lower grade team. Great concept ISA - keep it going.
Lows:
1) The Weather - blluuurrrgghhhh! The term 3 weather didn't do anyone any favours and put a dampener on what should have been a great end of season comp. Not a lot we can do about it - especially when council grounds are in play.
2) Lack of jeopardy/award/outcome for CASISA - It's early days yet, but anecdotally, I'm hearing various perceptions as to what the crossover is or is for. I commend both CAS and ISA for taking the time to explain the rationale on their websites, but I don't know if the message is getting across. I'd be genuinely keen to hear from our CAS friends as to what they thought of the crossover games down at the coal face. Was it a "nice to do" or was there really passion in play for these matches? What's the chatter from the players themselves?
3) The ISA Website - I appreciate it's new and they're still ironing out the bugs, but it would seem that the new site only works marginally better than the old one. Pages failing to load, error messages, slow refresh times. It's not good enough. Test this stuff before it goes live and if Clipboard integration cant handle it then go to a provider who can.
I think that's all I have to say on season 2025. I'll look back fondly on it and all the games I got to watch. Pats v Waverley definitely a season highlight for me and was such a great example of how schoolboy footy should be played - take the risks and back yourself!
Cheers everyone
Da-S, Totally agree with your comments on Pats & Pius 1stXVs. Don't forget Pius were leading in the semi final with minutes to go in both 1st XV and 2nd XV. Could have easily been an Auggies vs Pius final in both grades. They were that close at Bathurst. Credit goes to their coaching staff. I also agree with what you said about the opportunity for the smaller rugby programs to participate in the finals ...... what about the folks at Central Coast Grammar ? Their 13s won Div 2 beating Auggies' 13Bs , and they also had their 16s and 15s involved in the Finals as well. I know the people at Central Coast work very hard to keep rugby relevant & strong up there - the finals must be a huge boost for them. As for Auggies ..... well, the gap between them and Oakhill is now even wider than last year. Don't think Oakhill is going backwards but Auggies is just surging ahead with their program. And the gap between Oakhill and the rest is getting narrower.
I think that was 3rd v 4th tooThoughts on the u16 Grand final on saturday. Big score.
Yeah, 44-0. That age will be very interesting to predict, especially once they hit 2027.I think that was 3rd v 4th too
Greg's getting up in the semi against Oakhill would have been one for the ages. A massive upset on good on them for causing it.Yeah, 44-0. That age will be very interesting to predict, especially once they hit 2027.