Aussie Community Rugby
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I really wanted it this year, but I don't know if getting there and losing would be worse than not getting there at all
Considering that last year we scraped into 6th spot for First Grade (finals were top 6) while 2nds missed out altogether (7th), finishing third and fourth and then going through to Preliminary finals is progress. Effectively 3rd in both Grades at this point.
The vibe around the club is good. The prospect of Colts U21 is also stronger for next year. I've had encouraging conversations with the local juniors and want to get into schools to help with that as well - fuck knows NSW Rugby are useless for that.
Players say they want to come back, but of course February is a long way off.
Financially we're still scraping by (one sponsor never paid and we're waiting on another who wants to meet about an MOU but won't return calls right now) but I'd rather have $5k in the bank to buy equipment next year; financials is definitely something we need to work on.
I just never know which way it is going to turn, and need to work on switching off my rugby brain
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might be hard but give yourself a break before wading back into it all again
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https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gPAJYHka9PjKofX2/
if anyones interested the unofficial facebook page got a bit spicy overnight when someone called them out.....having to stop myself piling in for fear of repercussions
@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Community Rugby:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/gPAJYHka9PjKofX2/
if anyones interested the unofficial facebook page got a bit spicy overnight when someone called them out.....having to stop myself piling in for fear of repercussions
should have added to this, quins got beat in the 1st grade premlim, the same guy who got his red against us last week got another yellow....thug, thats two reds and two yellows for the season and no bans
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@NTA we did hear rumour that the refs had all got together to lay a complaint, the judiciary was undermining them
@Kiwiwomble they fucking should.
I'm often a harsh critics of ref as a part-timer (the guy in 2nd Grade cut us off at the knees a couple of times on the weekend) but if a red card is going to be given then unless fairly good footage exists disproving it, most Judiciaries are going to give at least a minor sentence.
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Nice work getting O’Connor qualified for finals
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D E W A R . S H I E L D (1sts)
C H A M P I O N S
L I N D R O T H . C U P (Women)
C H A M P I O N S
M A W H I N N Y . C U P (3rds)
C H A M P I O N S
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@Kiwiwomble was wondering when you'd resurface
@NTA was a long week with presentation night on sat too....and i was nowhere near the worst....our Best and Fairest was last seen posting a story necking a cruiser with the tag "day 8 better than day 7"
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Eastwood rugby club here in Sydney are in a bit of a pickle.
To sum up: their sold their soul a while back because they ran up hideous debts in the traditional vein of couldn't-run-a-chook-raffle old boys who think they know better i.e. rugby people.
The facility they were in (TG Millner) was built on what was the edge of Suburban Sydney in the 60s, and since then the demographics in the area have changed; several rugby clubs in the area suffering a similar fate.
It was slated to be replaced by hi-rise apartments, but lo and behold that is getting pushback from the local council who - under protest from residents - want to keep the green space in a suburb where that is rapidly disappearing.
Just beore COVID hit, they had planned to move out our way and get a new facility built in Castle Hill (the former Pony Club). But yeah... COVID. Follow that with the local residents putting up an absolute stink about the land clearing required for the new facility in an already sports-heavy facility, the concerns over the third field being artificial pitch etc. etc.
Fast forward to this very morning, where I get an email from Eastwood's GM, addressed to my club and a stack of others in NW Sydney, talking about an alliance. This was tried last year and failed due to lack of organisation (duh), so will be interesting to see what happens.
If they 're without a ground, that is peak Premier Rugby
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damn, i feel i said exactly this earlier in the thread...it never gets easier does it
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@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Community Rugby:
damn, i feel i said exactly this earlier in the thread...it never gets easier does it
I have limited sympathy for them. Their financial situation is entirely of their own making, as is the situation around their ground.
The true idiocy is that they're moving into an area - northwest Sydney - which is increasingly becoming high rise living catering to south-and east-Asian immigrants, who won't play rugby for a generation or maybe 2.
I sat down with Eastwood's GM last year and had a couple of starter plays e.g. their U20 colts playing U21 with us for a year, and it went nowhere. Partly because the head coach is a known fwit and the Colts coordinator isn't much better.
This was a club that won back-to-back First Grade (Shute Shield) Premierships a decade ago, and was a powerhouse club in the Sydney scene. Brett Papworth is one of their Directors and one of the guys screaming that club rugby should be prominent like when he was playing
yeah mate before you fucked off to league? -
@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Community Rugby:
damn, i feel i said exactly this earlier in the thread...it never gets easier does it
I have limited sympathy for them. Their financial situation is entirely of their own making, as is the situation around their ground.
The true idiocy is that they're moving into an area - northwest Sydney - which is increasingly becoming high rise living catering to south-and east-Asian immigrants, who won't play rugby for a generation or maybe 2.
I sat down with Eastwood's GM last year and had a couple of starter plays e.g. their U20 colts playing U21 with us for a year, and it went nowhere. Partly because the head coach is a known fwit and the Colts coordinator isn't much better.
This was a club that won back-to-back First Grade (Shute Shield) Premierships a decade ago, and was a powerhouse club in the Sydney scene. Brett Papworth is one of their Directors and one of the guys screaming that club rugby should be prominent like when he was playing
yeah mate before you fucked off to league?@NTA its scary how that can happy to a club thats had success
i say that and then remind myself we're the current dewar shield prems and dont have facilities next to our ground or anything, council could screw us in a heartbeat if they wanted
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@NTA its scary how that can happy to a club thats had success
i say that and then remind myself we're the current dewar shield prems and dont have facilities next to our ground or anything, council could screw us in a heartbeat if they wanted
@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Community Rugby:
@NTA its scary how that can happy to a club thats had success
i say that and then remind myself we're the current dewar shield prems and dont have facilities next to our ground or anything, council could screw us in a heartbeat if they wanted
Guess it shouldn’t be surprising that these sorts of problems are almost universal.
Clubs in this neck of the woods recently got savvy and started discussions with the City and school board to turn longstanding recurring short term leases into longer term leases with investment on all sides to upgrade facilities and expand usability.
So what had been fairly spartan, poorly maintained single use pitches will be converted into multisports grounds with better land use and community fitness facilities alongside rugby specific clubhouse etc.
While it took a lot of work to put it all together, it was interesting how eager the politicians were to help once they were engaged and had the potential spelled out to them. Doesn’t hurt that membership base of a Club is a fair chunk of votes.
What I don’t get is how the Union isn’t trying to replicate these sorts of successes in other chronically underclubbed areas of our province.
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just saw this posted, mad if true, a regional club team offering all that
@Kiwiwomble said in Aussie Community Rugby:
just saw this posted, mad if true, a regional club team offering all that
Tumut Bulls are up against some fairly well funded opposition in the Riverina comp.
There would be a few handy sponsors in the area from agriculture or heavy industry - Snowy Hydro is just up the valley and provide a lot of business I'd say
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I've been involved in a comp started up by some local schools out this way - one guy in particular (
sonbrother of a former State Premier) got half a dozen of them together and ran a comp for U14, U16, and Opens school players. Was a lot of fun and showed the potential, even if a lot of them are league kids.Check the trophies out:
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thats awesome work @NTA
