NSW AAGPS 2024
- Thread starter Joker
- Start date
Dr Wright, Headmaster of Shore from 2003 to 2019, didn't agree with (and I will choose my words VERY carefully here) the direction that other GPS schools were taking in regard to their rugby programs, leaving Shore with less skilled players, inferior coaching staff and inferior facilities.
This, in turn, put Shore at a severe disadvantage in the competition. It was quite embarrassing being at GPS functions and being the laughingstock of the GPS.
However, Dr Wright's tenure as Shore Headmaster ended and Dr Petterson took over in 2020. Immediate changes saw Masters in Charge of Rugby resigning, along with the opening of the R A I Grant Centre (which are the best facilities in the GPS), new professional coaching staff, a different approach to how players were trained, and the following of other GPS schools in their approach towards the rugby program. Shore have also made Rugby not only a sporting priority but the main sport of the school. The main sport has typically been rowing.
These changes, along with strong younger age groups at the time of which the changes occurred, continue even after the sacking of Dr Petterson in 2022. They have allowed Shore to become competitive once more. They are no longer just free competition points.
Also, the school's belief in their team has helped drastically. In 2022, Shore beat Riverview at Northbridge. Their first win in 6 years at that point in time. For myself, that was the day that Shore Rugby truly changed.
Though, I didn't believe this until two weeks later, when Shore took on Scots at Bellevue Hill. I will say that I was in my final year at Shore in 2022 and so I made it a mission to go and support my school at every Rugby match that season. I knew that Shore COULD beat Scots on that day, having beaten Newington the week before, but I had an inkling of a feeling that it was too big of an ask.
It was one of the great schoolboy rugby matches. Shore played a brilliant second half that ended with Daimon Pin, the flyhalf, nailing an insane drop goal from close to the touchline. I remember all of us rushed onto the field to jump on all the boys, thinking the match was over. Turns out the match was, in fact, not over (we got a stern talking to the week after and I believe an apology was issued to The Scots College), but Shore still managed to hold onto the win.
That season was the catalyst for the school now believing in their rugby team and their chances of finally tasting GPS glory.
Last edited:
thesolicitor
Peter Burge (5)
Shore school is doing well to improve their rugby and at the same time come 24th in the hsc in 2023
"We're never gonna stop, from Riverview to Scots!" Never heard this one before and I like it a lot. Any Shore supporters heard this one?
Yeah, that probably had a positive impact but come on, we all know it’s about recruiting the best players in a variety of ways. Shore recently had a change in policy, or one that started to work. Also, winning a close game at home round 2 after a loss round 1, isn’t something to get too excited about just yet. A very close comp with probably joeys being a small step ahead atm.
Close there are 3 in the seconds
Where's the beef
Allen Oxlade (6)
Was at the Joeys Scots game at the park. Congrats to scots on a well deserved win in 2nds. It was earnt and all respect goes to that team. Joeys has some work to do to reverse that at the hill. A number of the scots 2nds I thought played with for heart than there counterparts in the 1sts. On 1sts, This joeys side is lean and mean. They were dwarfed yesterday by the scots boys but from the first tackle the big bodies got hammered. The scoreline was reflective of the result. For scots the standout was their 13. The battle of the number 8's was clearly won by Joeys as was the 7's. The heart and guts award goes to the joeys prop who had something go wrong in the shoulder, stumbled back to the line with Scotts pressing for the before half time try and then made 2 crucial takles and a steal to shut it down. when he went up to the sheds to be assessed the joe boys showed their appreciation. The scots team individually had talent, but joeys matched that particularly in the backs. Both teams have some gas to burn there. Bring on the next round.
The Chairman
Alex Ross (28)
There are a number of factors I think most people have layed them out already but:
1. Appointment of David Mason-Jones as Master in Charge
2. Focusing on improving the younger years (15, 16A 2019, 13A 2023, 14A 2021)
3. Win over SIC
4. Improved culture at games (Credit to the Cheer Captains)
5. Building of a proper off-season program
6. Departure of Dr Wright
7. Development of the new facilities
8. Improved training schedule and game tactics.
brumbiesrugby
Trevor Allan (34)
At what exactly? Cricket and Rowing. But not Rugby, at least not yet. But good to see things turning around!
Ian Macintosh
Frank Row (1)
@Joker Are these the only results from the day?
The Chairman
Alex Ross (28)
Results from Shore A Ground yesterday.
Shore 16B 19-7 King’s 16B
Shore 16A 29-5 King’s 16A
Shore 7ths 10-15 King’s 7ths
Shore 6ths 19-10 King’s 6ths
Shore 5ths 17-0 King’s 5ths
Shore 4ths 17-15 King’s 4ths
Shore 3rds 21-0 King’s 3rds
Shore 2nds 15-19 King’s 2nds
Shore 1sts 31-24 King’s 1sts
Shore 16B 19-7 King’s 16B
Shore 16A 29-5 King’s 16A
Shore 7ths 10-15 King’s 7ths
Shore 6ths 19-10 King’s 6ths
Shore 5ths 17-0 King’s 5ths
Shore 4ths 17-15 King’s 4ths
Shore 3rds 21-0 King’s 3rds
Shore 2nds 15-19 King’s 2nds
Shore 1sts 31-24 King’s 1sts
ItsNotPink
Alfred Walker (16)
3rd XV Trial 4 Report
The final trial has been completed and we are ready to launch into the 3rd XV competition next week.
Scots 3rd XV 24 d Joeys 4th XV 12
A very competitive match at Hunters Hill where Joeys 4ths put on a good show against a confident Scots 3rds team. The score was 7-7 just before half time but Scots skipped away with three excellent tries. They have their patient pick and drive working well again this year and will be tough to beat as they endeavour to keep the Col Windon Shield at Bellevue Hill. Joeys scored an excellent final try to bridge the gap but made too many mistakes at key times in the match. Scots are definitely ready to start the competition.
Joeys 3rd XV 79 d High 1st XV 0
The following game on Joeys #1 field was unfortunately an absolute walkover. A bigger, stronger, faster Joeys team scored at will in the first half and High did not even touch the ball. It was 55-0 at half time. High came out better in the 2nd half and showed that they can actually play if they get the ball, but even then were severely overpowered by the Joeys defence. The ref ended the match with 8 minutes remaining on the clock, otherwise a score over 100 would have been possible, and I note that it's only 25 minutes halves and Joeys missed most of their conversions.
I want to say that the High 1st XV showed great determination, courage and commitment - they tackled all day and did not give up. Good on them, they should be proud of their efforts. But they were just massively outclassed and it does raise the question of the sustainability of their position in the 3rd XV competition. With Newington 3rd XV knocking on the door, the AAGPS has some thinking to do going forward.
Riverview 3rd XV 26 d Newington 3rd XV 7
It was almost exactly the same winning score for Riverview over Newington as the previous week by Joeys over Newington at Stanmore. Riverview are clearly ready to fire and Newington have put down a couple of solid performances that would indicate they are at the right level for this competition.
Shore 3rd XV 21 d Kings 3rd XV 0
A great result for Shore after their very close loss to Riverview last week. They would be very happy to knock Kings off in this last trial. Kings on the other hand have some work to do without a trial win before the main competition. Kings will be taking on Grammar next week so that will give us a better indication of where both teams are at.
St Patricks 1st XV 29 d Grammar 1st XV 0
I thought that Grammar would fare better here, but the Ghost of Raelene reminded me on this forum that St Pats are a very strong ISA team who would trouble Grammar. And they did. This is not to say that Grammar are down and out for the competition, but they will need to reverse losses against Pius and St Pats starting next week when they face Kings at Gowan Brae. I will be interested to see how they go.
Very exciting now as we look forward to the first competition round next Saturday June 1:
Scots v Joeys
Riverview v High
Kings v Grammar
Shore v TAS
INP
The final trial has been completed and we are ready to launch into the 3rd XV competition next week.
Scots 3rd XV 24 d Joeys 4th XV 12
A very competitive match at Hunters Hill where Joeys 4ths put on a good show against a confident Scots 3rds team. The score was 7-7 just before half time but Scots skipped away with three excellent tries. They have their patient pick and drive working well again this year and will be tough to beat as they endeavour to keep the Col Windon Shield at Bellevue Hill. Joeys scored an excellent final try to bridge the gap but made too many mistakes at key times in the match. Scots are definitely ready to start the competition.
Joeys 3rd XV 79 d High 1st XV 0
The following game on Joeys #1 field was unfortunately an absolute walkover. A bigger, stronger, faster Joeys team scored at will in the first half and High did not even touch the ball. It was 55-0 at half time. High came out better in the 2nd half and showed that they can actually play if they get the ball, but even then were severely overpowered by the Joeys defence. The ref ended the match with 8 minutes remaining on the clock, otherwise a score over 100 would have been possible, and I note that it's only 25 minutes halves and Joeys missed most of their conversions.
I want to say that the High 1st XV showed great determination, courage and commitment - they tackled all day and did not give up. Good on them, they should be proud of their efforts. But they were just massively outclassed and it does raise the question of the sustainability of their position in the 3rd XV competition. With Newington 3rd XV knocking on the door, the AAGPS has some thinking to do going forward.
Riverview 3rd XV 26 d Newington 3rd XV 7
It was almost exactly the same winning score for Riverview over Newington as the previous week by Joeys over Newington at Stanmore. Riverview are clearly ready to fire and Newington have put down a couple of solid performances that would indicate they are at the right level for this competition.
Shore 3rd XV 21 d Kings 3rd XV 0
A great result for Shore after their very close loss to Riverview last week. They would be very happy to knock Kings off in this last trial. Kings on the other hand have some work to do without a trial win before the main competition. Kings will be taking on Grammar next week so that will give us a better indication of where both teams are at.
St Patricks 1st XV 29 d Grammar 1st XV 0
I thought that Grammar would fare better here, but the Ghost of Raelene reminded me on this forum that St Pats are a very strong ISA team who would trouble Grammar. And they did. This is not to say that Grammar are down and out for the competition, but they will need to reverse losses against Pius and St Pats starting next week when they face Kings at Gowan Brae. I will be interested to see how they go.
Very exciting now as we look forward to the first competition round next Saturday June 1:
Scots v Joeys
Riverview v High
Kings v Grammar
Shore v TAS
INP
shaquille_oatmeal
Bob McCowan (2)
To be honest most of these factors can come down to the improvement in younger years, it's far harder to materialise a title winning team in year 11/12 than it is to build them up properly, you can see this even with the teams who import lacking strong team synergy as they haven't played together for years. The younger teams comprise your future 1sts, it's crucial to give them that attention and development to have a competitive side.
TheMaulester
Banned
Might just be my opinion but does no one else think Riverview are doing so well purely due to the home ground advantage. I think they are playing great footy but honestly I don’t think that they won’t be able to pull it off against the better teams especially at away games. I don’t know but the trail matches are still in the back of my mind. Hope they prove me wrong but it has to play a major factor in their early season success.
Interested to hear others thoughts.
Fully agree. Mason-Jones is brilliant.
Will be interesting to see. Certainly hard to say at this point. But it goes without saying that playing at home with enormous support from the boys definitely helps.
rugbyAU
Arch Winning (36)
overall when you factor in sport and academics etc.
rugbyAU
Arch Winning (36)
Might also add with Dr Wright that under him sport was just referred to as 'games' (emphasis wasn't on winning just participating) and they didn't have a year round training and proper pre-season program until a few years back