Division 3 Summary 2023
Beecroft 1886 points - 1st Grade (2nd), 2nd Grade (1st) Colts (3rd)
The club champions of the division will be happy to walk away with open trophy but will be ruing not coming away with at least one more. The 1st grade side looked unbeatable in the first half of the seasons before Europe season and injuries shook that image. They were up their all season and only lost the GF after the bell to the only side in the comp that could rival them in Oysters. Having a 2nd grade win the division who is a very nice achievement when your 1st grade makes the grand final and shows the depth the club is starting to produce. The colts had some very classy backs and and solid pack and were strong throughout the year. What is promising for Beecroft is their colts have been playing in the finals series for at least 5 years and this has started flowing through to the grades. A club which is on the rise and should be competitive although probably not dominant in div 2.
Knox 1412 - 1st Grade (4th), 2nd grade (5th), Colts (2nd)
Will be happy to finish 2nd as club champions but disappointed they couldn't do more then that. Their 1st grade started slow but were really building nicely before a upset 1st round loss in the quarter finals. Their 2nd grade should have been playing finals football but late end of seasons forfeits changed that and is a worrying sign for the club that they are struggling to maintain players. Similar to last year their colts are their strong points and will be heart broken they couldn't convert their minor premiership into a gf win, if they can convert their colts into grade players then it will be a bright future, but the colts seem very separate to the rest of the club and their was not a lot of backing up. Hopefully the colts stay and hopefully the more positive results should keep players around for another crack at whatever div 3 looks like.
Sydney harbour 1210- 1st grade (1st), Eastern Suburbs 5ths 2nd grade (2nd), Gordon Colts (5th) (no idea how cc points worked with them)
They posses a dominant 1st grade team, that can attack like no other and they put cricket scores on other clubs, the only problem is that is the extent of Sydney oysters. Their 2nd grade side is easts 5ths and their colts is Gordon. They are putting subbies in a tricky spot can you promote a a one club team and then try and fill the other grades and colts which is hard or do you keep them in the same division and let them continue to beat everybody. Would love to see them try and put a 2nd grade club on although am cautious of this as its not very successful, otherwise Div 3 might be their celling for the time being.
Sydney Harlequins 1158 1st grade (3rd), 2nd grade (3rd), Colts (Eastern Suburbs 1st)
1st grade was strong and did well to make the semi-final however we always a class below the top 2, the same can be said about 2nd grade with both sides suffering decisive losses in the preliminary final. Harlequins however did have their moments including beating Beecroft in 1st grade and were tied in 2nd grade at half time in the PF, so they were clearly have talent, if they can elevate a little bit they can win the division next year, and with Beecroft possibly gone they should push their way to the grand final in 2 grades. The player depth is their as they have numbers, would love to see them find a colts team though.
Old barker 926 1st Grade (5th), 2nd grade (4th), Colts (7th).
It was a regressive year for the BOBS, their 1st grade were respectable in 2nd div last year making the finals and this year in an easier division they failed to do so. Their 2nd grade came fourth but this achievement should be placed in the context of they were the best team to not forfeit multiple games this years, they never really looked threat. Their colts as has been the case for the past few years have struggled and since this has happened the club has only been moving backwards. In what should have been a good division for them with local rivals in the form of Knox, iggies and closely located beecroft, I thought an improvement would have been on the cards. However applause must be given to the boys from Hornsby for fulling their divisional requirements week in and week out.
Old Iggies 262 1st grade (6th), 2nd grade (6th), colts (7th)
A year to forget and the sooner the better, because if they don't there will be no team next year for this club. The seasons started so promising with wins against Knox and then just went downhill from their with the club only fielding 1st grade by the end of the year, and the 1st grade side was getting trounced week in week out, they even loss to manly savers.. Need to rebuild during the offseason, I hope someone is at the school telling them how strong this club once was and how fun subbies rugby can be, because otherwise this club may become a relic of the past.
Manly Savers -10 1st grade (7th), 2nd Grade (non existent), Manly premier Colts (4th)
Didn't have the player numbers or the quality for this division. I don't know what happened this year to them but it was not pretty. Its a tough gig to set up in the same suburb as a successful premier side, it was to tough for manly.
Summary Div 3
The division finals were great and had exciting finishes in particularly 1st grade however this papered over alot of the problems in the division. At the end of the season their were 5 competitive teams in 1st grade, 4 teams not forfeiting in 2nd grade and only 3 clubs with subbies clubs. The byes made everything worse in this division as with forfeits teams were playing only once or twice a month on several occasions. More clubs are needed for this division to be viable. If Beecroft (and myself) move only 2 of the clubs will have colts, so maybe this division should drop colts and try for a third grade.
