NSW AAGPS Rugby 2013

[gpsoldboy]

2013 predicted table finish:

1. Joeys/Kings/Newington
4. Scots
5. Shore
6. Iggies

Leaning towards Joeys and then Kings only because of their depth. Newington have a great team on paper but lack depth which will tell when injuries arise over the longer home and away season. Scots will go well but lack of depth will tell with them too.

 

[rugbyscribe]

2013 predicted table finish:

1. Joeys/Kings/Newington
4. Scots
5. Shore
6. Iggies

Leaning towards Joeys and then Kings only because of their depth. Newington have a great team on paper but lack depth which will tell when injuries arise over the longer home and away season. Scots will go well but lack of depth will tell with them too.

Joeys will be very solid and there will be great competition for positions in the 1sts and when this is happening it usually means that we will be very, very competitive. I agree that Newington have a good team on paper but they have lost a lot of talent in their front row with OPL, Vea etc leaving and in the years that they have recently won the title they have had very strong front rows with Allatoa, Roach etc. They have a very talented back line and good loose forwards like Morris and Cannell but look thin up front. Kings also have a lot of talent in their backs and have a potentially good front row with Bateman and Burke but don't look like they will be otherwise very big in the forwards. Overall Joeys are looking like favourites with their depth and talent across the park and will be very well lead by Matt Sandell. Don't be surprised if Shore cause a few upsets like last year as they have some excellent young players coming through.

 

[Quick Hands]

And ditto for a 1st XV game between Joeys and Riverview which was started early so the old boys would still be sober.

Which proves again the the major problem with GPS rugby doesn't lie with the parents, the teachers or the students, but rests with that section of the old boy community which wants to relive past glories by watching the 1st XV win. Living vicariously through the lives of childen is sad. In most cases these past glories are more imagined that real, which make it all even sadder.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

And I'd wager that most of the old boys who do the playing up do very little to contribute to the school by way of fundraising, pastoral support, volunteering, donations etc.

 

[ld2b]

You'd easily win that wager as most of the "offenders" aren't earning a wage at university!!!

 

[Inside Shoulder]

You'd easily win that wager as most of the "offenders" aren't earning a wage at university!!!

I clicked "like" and then I thought "hold on, why is offenders in inverted commas" - there's no dispute that it's offensive so what could this mean?

 

[CTPE]

Joeys will be very solid and there will be great competition for positions in the 1sts and when this is happening it usually means that we will be very, very competitive. I agree that Newington have a good team on paper but they have lost a lot of talent in their front row with OPL, Vea etc leaving and in the years that they have recently won the title they have had very strong front rows with Allatoa, Roach etc. They have a very talented back line and good loose forwards like Morris and Cannell but look thin up front. Kings also have a lot of talent in their backs and have a potentially good front row with Bateman and Burke but don't look like they will be otherwise very big in the forwards. Overall Joeys are looking like favourites with their depth and talent across the park and will be very well lead by Matt Sandell. Don't be surprised if Shore cause a few upsets like last year as they have some excellent young players coming through.

It's not always about size in the forwards - skill, aggression and work rate are more important and King's will have plenty of that in their players stepping up from last year's 2nd's and 16As.

 

[ld2b]

Nothing cryptic, it's just that the rest of us are way past having any desire to make such fools of ourselves.

 

[Playmaker]

It's not always about size in the forwards - skill, aggression and work rate are more important and King's will have plenty of that in their players stepping up from last year's 2nd's and 16As.

CTPE, if this is the case, then why have Newingtons front row been so successful in recent years, you cant tell me that their success was not affected by their size!

 

[Inside Shoulder]

CTPE, if this is the case, then why have Newingtons front row been so successful in recent years, you cant tell me that their success was not affected by their size!

Assuming that the scrum laws are enforced there is a limit to how much can be made of size unless it is coupled with mobility.
This, I think, is the SJC theory so it may be in decline in terms of results.

 

[CTPE]

CTPE, if this is the case, then why have Newingtons front row been so successful in recent years, you cant tell me that their success was not affected by their size!

Can't see the word Newington in my post

 

[Playmaker]

Can't see the word Newington in my post

Correct, however when talking about the impact of size, one of the most successful forward packs in the last 3-4 years is generally tossed up.

 

[Quick Hands]

Even in schoolboy rugby and even when U/19 laws are rigorously enforced, size is a factor. The opposition still have to exert energy over 70 minutes holding a bigger scrum and holding their ground at rucks, breakdown and mauls. Speed, skill and technique also come into play, getting the the breakdown first etc, so it will depend on the balance in each pack.

A bunch of athletic, skillful, lightweight forwards can certainly dominate a heavy, slow pack, but if the bigger pack also has a few fast, athletic skilful players they can often finish over the top of the smaller team. This is particularly so when the bigger guys are replaced by other big guys in the 2nd half.

As with most things in rugby, balance is the key.

 

[GPS Observer]

""Newington will be our big challenge as they have a lot of very good players from last season's 1st's still available this year plus it's their 150th or 175th anniversary (?) so there's a lot at stake for them but over 10 rounds I can't see them having the depth we have as injuries etc take their toll. With OPL, Ahosi and Vea having left they will still have their great backline with Tepai, Milne, Abrahams, Lussick etc but they might be a bit light on up front""

Comment:
With them going into 2013 as defending champions in their Sesquicentenary year, and with their talented backline and loose forwards, I cant see them letting it slip on a weak front.
I have no connection to the team, I know nothing, but I suspect the front row has already been sorted.

 

[Quick Hands]

""
Comment:
With them going into 2013 as defending champions in their Sesquicentenary year, and with their talented backline and loose forwards, I cant see them letting it slip on a weak front.
I have no connection to the team, I know nothing, but I suspect the front row has already been sorted.

I think you're right with that. They've been doing off season and pre season skills and strength work from what I hear.I'm not saying they'll win, but they'll be very hard to beat.

I just hope they start concentrating on their age group teams as well. From what I read on the other thread, Scots 13 ABC put 300 points on the New counterparts last season. Considering New get about 1/2 their boys from their prep schools, this indictes that the coaching there and in 13s need attention.

 

[Gristlechewer]

""Newington will be our big challenge as they have a lot of very good players from last season's 1st's still available this year plus it's their 150th or 175th anniversary (?) so there's a lot at stake for them but over 10 rounds I can't see them having the depth we have as injuries etc take their toll. With OPL, Ahosi and Vea having left they will still have their great backline with Tepai, Milne, Abrahams, Lussick etc but they might be a bit light on up front""

Comment:
With them going into 2013 as defending champions in their Sesquicentenary year, and with their talented backline and loose forwards, I cant see them letting it slip on a weak front.
I have no connection to the team, I know nothing, but I suspect the front row has already been sorted.

The intense pressure on the Newington 1st XV team this year will be an interesting exercise to sit back and watch. Training Camps already? Atho's hasn't even started yet. Cricket and rowing are the sports at school ATM. As soon as a key injury occurs, will the Newington faithful turn on themselves? this has occurred before. The young men will be put in cotton wool, seeing sports scientists and psych's (Not the nasty types I hope). visiting the new decompression chamber that has been installed in the new building. I just hope for these fine young men remember that they also have a HSC or IB to sit this year. Also that the younger guys from the 2's 3's and 16A's know the patterns down pat

 

[Inside Shoulder]

visiting the new decompression chamber

Is deep sea diving a GPS sport now?

 

[gpsoldboy]

The intense pressure on the Newington 1st XV team this year will be an interesting exercise to sit back and watch. Training Camps already? Atho's hasn't even started yet. Cricket and rowing are the sports at school ATM. As soon as a key injury occurs, will the Newington faithful turn on themselves? this has occurred before. The young men will be put in cotton wool, seeing sports scientists and psych's (Not the nasty types I hope). visiting the new decompression chamber that has been installed in the new building. I just hope for these fine young men remember that they also have a HSC or IB to sit this year. Also that the younger guys from the 2's 3's and 16A's know the patterns down pat

They aren't the only school to commence their training so early as I know Scots are into their own specific program and a Kings connection has told me they are already doing thrice 2-3 weekly gym sessions and some enduro training as well.

On Newington I saw in an earlier post that to celebrate their 150th anniversary this year one of their GPS games is going to be a curtain raiser to a touring British Lions game. Is this correct and if so is it the game in Sydney v the Wallabies at ANZ or the game v the Tahs at the SFS?

 

[random2]

They aren't the only school to commence their training so early as I know Scots are into their own specific program and a Kings connection has told me they are already doing thrice 2-3 weekly gym sessions and some enduro training as well.

On Newington I saw in an earlier post that to celebrate their 150th anniversary this year one of their GPS games is going to be a curtain raiser to a touring British Lions game. Is this correct and if so is it the game in Sydney v the Wallabies at ANZ or the game v the Tahs at the SFS?

I heard it was Newington vs Kings before the Tahs vs Lions game. Newington are down to host Kings in round 2 on June 15th which is the same day as the Tahs game so thats probably right.

 

[wreckless]

I heard it was Newington vs Kings before the Tahs vs Lions game. Newington are down to host Kings in round 2 on June 15th which is the same day as the Tahs game so thats probably right.

I heard that TKS pulled out - happy to be corrected!