Sydney Colts - 2017

[Gary Owen III]

Sydney Colts – The Finals Countdown!

With only one round left and some unexpected results from round 17, it appears that the Top 6 is still open Colts 1. Where in Colts 2 and Colts 3 they are basically locked for the Top 6 – but in what order?

Colts 1

Funny things can happen to teams at the end of the season with injuries, holidays and the pressure of the impending finals giving up some unexpected results in round 17. Southern Districts and Warringah could not be split playing out a high scoring 33 all draw. Eastern Suburb’s Nick Shannon kicked a last minute drop goal to deny Parramatta a big upset win - again in a high scoring affair 37-36. Eastwood were surprised 10-32 to go down to a rampant Northern Suburbs whose late season form reversal is just a bit too late to make finals.

What it does mean is the Top 6 is far from decided going into the last round.

Sydney Uni (83 - Parramatta) and Randwick (70 – Southern Districts) are secure as positions 1 and 2. But everything else is up for grabs.

Southern Districts (57 – Randwick), Eastwood (56 – Penrith), and Eastern Suburbs (56 – Gordon) are secure in a finals berth and all are still in the mix for the positions 3rd to 5th.
Eastwood and Eastern Suburbs will go into the last round as favourites for their games and expecting to take the maximum points. Both have had the same number of wins but Eastwood do hold the advantage in points for and against. So the match between Southern Districts and Randwick will have a big impact on where these teams all finish. A Southern win with bonus point will secure 3rd place for them, a win without bonus point opens the door for Eastwood (or Easts) and a loss could see Southern slip back to 5th (meaning they would meet Randwick again the following week). So a big game a Foreshaw next weekend.

Warringah (50 – Northern Suburbs) and Manly (47 – West Harbour) are still in a battle for 6th spot and the last finals berth.
On form Manly should probably beat West Harbour and move to a maximum 52 points. Warringah will have their destiny in their own hands as they have to meet Northern Suburbs at North Sydney Oval for a Super Saturday. Northern Suburbs are on a bit of a late season run and will be no easy feat. Ironically they have won more games that both Manly and Warringah this season so far (bonus points being their Achilles Heel. Just about every scenario is on the cards here. If Manly lose then Warringah are safe. Assuming Manly win, then a Warringah win sees them secure 6th place. A Warringah loss could then see the bonus points come into calculations. Both have 8 wins so far so then we look at points for and against – currently only 5 points split the teams. So it will be an intriguing weekend.

Northern Suburbs (43), Gordon (33), Parramatta (32), West Harbour (13) and Penrith (1) will round out the table going into the last round.

Key Games – Northern Suburbs vs Warringah at North Sydney, Southern Districts vs Randwick at Foreshaw, Manly vs Penrith at Manly, Eastern Suburbs vs Gordon at Woollahra.

It is not often you will see Eastern Suburbs and Eastwood cheering for a Randwick victory, nor Manly cheering on Northern Suburbs – but that is the state of play for round 18.


Colts 2

Round 17 games saw Southern Districts do what they needed to do knocking off Warringah in a high scoring match 40-36. Unfortunately for them Eastwood couldn’t return the favour and fell to a Northern Suburbs team 46-12 that secured 4th position for Norths. Easts, Randwick and Uni all confirmed their spots on the table with somewhat comfortable wins. But the highlight of the round would have to be Penrith claiming a third scalp in 4 weeks as they had a somewhat convincing win over Manly 41-17. Well done Emus!!

So our top 6 is confirmed – but in what order?

Randwick (78 – Southern Districts), Eastern Suburbs (75 – Gordon) will fight it out for 1st place this weekend. Both will go into the games as favourites, but remember that Gordon did knock off Easts in their last encounter. Easts could finish as low as 3rd if results fall that way.

Sydney Uni (71 – Parramatta) could finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th dependant on results, but you would expect on form that they account for Parramatta and will be at least 3rd. Northern Suburbs (67 – Warringah) have secured at least 4th place and will be cheering for a Parramatta upset on Saturday. Regardless it is highly likely that they will meet Sydney Uni in the first week of finals either way.

Southern Districts (59 - Randwick) will finish 5th and it is basically in their hands in round 18 to help determine whom they meet in the finals. Gordon (47 – Eastern Suburbs), will be the 6th place side regardless of the round 18 result – they also have their potential finals opponent in their own hands with their round 18 clash.

Warringah (38), Eastwood (39), Manly (19), Parramatta (14), West Harbour (11) and Penrith (11) will round out the table going into the last round.

Key Games – Northern Suburbs vs Warringah, Gordon vs Eastern Suburbs, Randwick vs Southern Districts, Sydney Uni vs Parramatta

Colts 3

Round 17 results were again a mixed bag as some of the heavyweights played true to form with Sydney Uni, Warringah and Eastwood both claiming the points. Parramatta on the other hand provided the 4th placed Easts with a reality check just before the finals with a big 41-10 victory. The Randwick vs West Harbour result has yet to make the website – *so that game is pending.

Sydney Uni (79 – Parramatta) and potentially Randwick (70* – Southern Districts) can both still claim the minor premiership. Randwick have the Wests result to come, followed by Souths. And you just wouldn’t know with the enigmatic Parramatta to play Uni in the last round. Either way these two teams have locked in the 1st and 2nd places.

Eastwood (60 – Penrith) have 3rd place all to themselves regardless of round 18 – but could Penrith claim a 4th scalp and slow the Eastwood train into the finals?

Eastern Suburbs (52 – Gordon), Warringah (51 - Northern Suburbs) and Parramatta (51 – Sydney Uni) will all fight out for the vital 4th spot. Easts have the 1 point advantage and arguably the easier path – but then again they were probably beaten favourites in round 17, so who knows? Warringah and Parramatta can only win their respective games and then rely on Gordon to help them out with an upset.

Gordon (35), Northern Suburbs (34), Southern Districts (32), Manly (26), West Harbour (22) and Penrith (0) will round out the table going into the last round.

Key Games – Northern Suburbs vs Warringah, Parramatta vs Sydney Uni, Eastwood vs Penrith, Gordon vs Eastern Suburbs, Randwick vs Southern Districts..

 

[Gary Owen III]

 

[Gary Owen III]

 

[Gary Owen III]

 

[forwards4ever]

Thanks GOIII. Great analysis of the coming weeks. Glad you've taken up the cudgels now Hugh Jarse has disappeared!

 

[William88]

Thanks Gary. Great info.

 

[Shadow]

With the finals approaching i am wondering how much of an influence the referees are going to have on results
In my opinion the refereeing this season in in colts has been poor with consistsncy in rule intereperations the main concern and that referees go for the yellow card way to easily and with the ruling of 3 yellow catds ( down from 4) in a season means a 1 week suspension how many players who will play in the finals 1 yellow from missing a game.
On Saturday at Rat park there we 5 or 6 yellows and 2 red cards.
All 3 games were played in great spirit and with 2nd and 1st grades scores close there was plenty of physicality snd emotion but nothing spiteful yet the refs found ways to dole out the cards.
I sat there and wondered why we spend so many hours at training when the ref decides who wins the close games.
We had a player in 3rds red carded for a driving tackle and the attackers feet came off the ground. Next game same tackle play on.
Does anyone else feel the refereeing standard is dropping at Colts level.

 

[Gary Owen III]

Super Saturday at North Sydney Oval on Saturday.

Colts 1 are playing on North Sydney Oval at 4.45pm... So with all other colts games completed by then, both teams in the running (Warringah & Manly) will know the equation as to what needs to happen to secure the final spot in the top 6. Norths could decide it for them!

All comes down to last game of the regular season.....

 

[Wood Rat]

If Manly win with a 4 try bonus point Warringah will need
a Draw plus 4 try bonus point or a win
a draw without the points will leave Manly and Warringah even

 

[Dexter]

Randwick stripped of 20 competition points in 3rd Colts for cheating the player points system? Has anyone else noticed or heard this?

If that is the case it's another small step in the right direction. What this penalty hasn't recognised is the impact that this cheating (or 'warehousing') has had on higher grades by stockpiling the ineligible Australian Schools players in 3rd Colts.

I've heard they have a 'return to play' policy that might be used as their excuse. Players returning from injury come back through 3rd Colts... This is a chicken/egg scenario. If they didn't have the depth they do I'm sure those players wouldn't be running out in 3rd Colts on any weekend.

Australian Schools Barbarians will be classified as 6point players for two years from next season I also hear. Another small step in the right direction and this will put some clubs under real pressure next year.

More work to be done in this space moving forward but well done to those making a difference.

 

[Rugby Addict]

The 20 points have been deducted from Randwick 3rd grade Colts on the NSW rugby website - drops them from second to third.

There is no points for 3rd grade colts so it must be for using AUS schoolboy or AUS Barbarian players in Colts 3.

 

[JimmyLan]

Randwick stripped of 20 competition points in 3rd Colts for cheating the player points system? Has anyone else noticed or heard this?-

I've heard they have a 'return to play' policy that might be used as their excuse. Players returning from injury come back through 3rd Colts. This is a chicken/egg scenario. If they didn't have the depth they do I'm sure those players wouldn't be running out in 3rd Colts on any weekend.

Certainly no cheating of a points system as there isn't a points system in 3rd grade colts. Honest mistake of playing 2 players returning from injury who had played Schoolboys Baba's the previous year. One of whom is in Year 12 currently at school. We were not aware of the new ruling introduced that prevents Baba players playing in 3's. One of the games we were deducted 5 points for, the player in question only played 2 minutes before having to come off injured and that game we lost.
Anyway we've copped the points deduction on the chin, but rest assured it was an honest mistake.

 

[Dexter]

It isn't the mistake that is concerning, it is that some clubs have the luxury of being able to make that mistake. At most clubs Aus Schoolboys/Barbarians play 1st Colts or anywhere from 2nd Grade to 1st Grade seniors.

They have no place in 3rd Colts EVER, or in 2nd Colts really outside of a return to play schedule of 1 or 2 weeks MAX. It is in no ones best interest other than the club if this isn't the case.

 

[tooldtoplay]

Randwick stripped of 20 competition points in 3rd Colts for cheating the player points system? Has anyone else noticed or heard this?

If that is the case it's another small step in the right direction. What this penalty hasn't recognised is the impact that this cheating (or 'warehousing') has had on higher grades by stockpiling the ineligible Australian Schools players in 3rd Colts.

I've heard they have a 'return to play' policy that might be used as their excuse. Players returning from injury come back through 3rd Colts. This is a chicken/egg scenario. If they didn't have the depth they do I'm sure those players wouldn't be running out in 3rd Colts on any weekend.

Australian Schools Barbarians will be classified as 6point players for two years from next season I also hear. Another small step in the right direction and this will put some clubs under real pressure next year.

More work to be done in this space moving forward but well done to those making a difference.

About time the big guns got a smack..yes Warehousing players..Heard today that at least 10 colts will not be back at Randwick next year. At least 6 Colts will be going to Bond QLD, and at least 1 OS to the UK. Their Colts program has left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot involved and is bad for Grass roots rugby. Some Wicks old boys, players and parents are not happy.Word about town is that the wicks recruitment will have a hard job next year with a lot of colts not being treated right and not getting what they where sold this year and these boys talk to each other and they are smart to the smooth talking colts directors at Wicks. And another point. When a team goes and plays a team and beats them by cricket scores who benefits ? The winning side? The losing side? What you will find is that if a young colt gets thrashed each week he will end up going to league. and If a colts that can score 3 or 4 tries will not build his skill level. it's just easy. Yes hammer away...

 

[JimmyLan]

About time the big guns got a smack..yes Warehousing players..Heard today that at least 10 colts will not be back at Randwick next year. At least 6 Colts will be going to Bond QLD, and at least 1 OS to the UK. Their Colts program has left a bad taste in the mouth of a lot involved and is bad for Grass roots rugby. Some Wicks old boys, players and parents are not happy.Word about town is that the wicks recruitment will have a hard job next year with a lot of colts not being treated right and not getting what they where sold this year and these boys talk to each other and they are smart to the smooth talking colts directors at Wicks. And another point. When a team goes and plays a team and beats them by cricket scores who benefits ? The winning side? The losing side? What you will find is that if a young colt gets thrashed each week he will end up going to league. and If a colts that can score 3 or 4 tries will not build his skill level. it's just easy. Yes hammer away.

-Completely disagree with your remarks about general unhappiness and I suspect judging from the nature of your posts this season you have an axe to grind with us Wicks staff, (Maybe because a relation of yours is unhappy at the club) Of course you can't please everyone, nature of anything really but we try our very best. We've got a great relationship with our Colts boys. Of course some may leave for whatever reason, that happens with all clubs, but as for recruiting for next year, we're leaving that to the players to bring in their mates.

 

[lightning rod]

The 20 points have been deducted from Randwick 3rd grade Colts on the NSW rugby website - drops them from second to third.

There is no points for 3rd grade colts so it must be for using AUS schoolboy or AUS Barbarian players in Colts 3.

there must be a world shortage in wet lettuce

 

[Wood Rat]

Well played to the Rats today, earned their spot in the semifinals with a good win over Norths

 

[Sam Hunt]

Any idea who was played in the Randwick 3rd colts team for them to be deducted 20 points?
I remember it happening to Sydney uni 2 years ago and you would have though all clubs would have learnt a lesson.

 

[Gary Owen III]

Sydney Colts Round 18 wash-up

Colts 1

Sydney University (88) and Randwick (75) consolidated their top 2 positions with solid victories, while Eastwood (61) and Eastern Suburbs (61) both moved up a spot with their own wins. Southern Districts loss to Randwick sees them slip back to 5th – and this means another clash against the Wicks in the finals. Manly did their job against West Harbour, but it was to no avail as Warringah secured the 6th and final spot with a win over Northern Suburbs.

Finals – Sydney Uni vs Warringah, Randwick vs Southern Districts, Eastwood vs Eastern Suburbs

Colts 2

Randwick (83), Eastern Suburbs (80), Sydney University (76) and Northern Suburbs (72) all had round 18 wins and locked in the their top four placing’s. Southern Districts loss to Randwick had no effect on their ladder position as they already had 5th place sewn up. The same can be said for Gordon whose round 18 loss had no impact on their ladder position.

Finals – Randwick vs Gordon, Eastern Suburbs vs Southern Districts, Sydney Uni vs Northern Suburbs

Colts 3

As speculated, competition leaders Sydney University (79) were upstaged by the enigmatic Parramatta in round 18 – but it didn’t have any effect their placing. Eastwood (65) locked in the second spot on the ladder against Penrith. While Randwick (60) have now slipped back 3rd despite accounting for Southern Districts, due to a 20 point deduction of competition points for a breach. Eastern Suburbs (56) had a close win over Gordon and Warringah’s (56) bonus point win over Northern Suburbs drew them level on comp points but Easts greater number of wins saw them take 4th. And Parramatta (54) locked in 6th place and a rematch with the minor premiers with their big win over Sydney Uni.


Finals – Sydney University vs Parramatta, Eastwood vs Warringah, Randwick vs Eastern Suburbs

 

[Gary Owen III]

The 20 points have been deducted from Randwick 3rd grade Colts on the NSW rugby website - drops them from second to third.

With all due respect to teams involved but considering the depth of Randwick's roster, seems that Eastern Suburbs (4th) are now disadvantaged by having to meet Randwick in the finals instead of Eastwood.

And Warringah (5th) possibly now benefit from meeting Eastwood instead of Randwick.

I do appreciate that you need beat everyone to win the Comp - but considering the highest ranked loser progresses from week 1, this has relevance.