NSW Rugby Union- Stupid

[Raider_69]

Schools call foul play over Waratah Shield ban
By Daniel Landon
Monday, 7 February 2005

Local schools and Super 12 champions the Brumbies have slammed a decision to exclude the ACT from the Waratah Shield schoolboy rugby competition, saying it is disappointing for their pupils and bad for the sport.

The Waratah Shield committee voted late last Friday to exclude the ACT from the competition.

It is Australia's premier knockout schoolboy rugby competition and has been won by either St Edmund's College or Marist College - both local schools - for 17 of the past 21 years. St Edmund's College has won for the past eight years.

The committee has yet to publicly declare its reasons for excluding the ACT.

The decision comes after a suggestion by former Australian rugby coach Bob Dwyer last December that the Brumbies should be moved to Perth or Melbourne, and ongoing concern about the lack of an ACT representative on the board of the Australian Rugby Union.

It has even prompted the Canberra Raiders to support St Edmund's stepping into rugby league as an alternative.

Brumbies rugby spokesman David Pembroke said the ACT Rugby Union would support local schools and see if it could exert any influence in a bid to get the ACT reinstated.

"We hope that in the true spirit of rugby that the NSW schools will see their way clear to include them."

It would be hard to gauge any effect the decision may have on the Brumbies, but it was a setback for rugby in Canberra.

"It's extremely disappointing. It would seem our local teams have been penalised for the quality of their performances, which is unfair."

Brumbies player and former Waratah Shield winner with St Edmund's Matt Henjak said it was disappointing for young players who wanted to play in a top-class competition. It would definitely hurt ACT rugby, especially if talented players chose to move to Sydney in order to play in other strong competitions.

St Edmund's headmaster Chris Hayes said staff and players were disappointed because they had wanted to test themselves against the best.

"When you've excluded prominent teams like Marist and St Edmund's - I'll be interested to see the quality of the standard in the shield this year."

Marist College headmaster Ross Tarlinton said the decision was not good for schoolboys or rugby generally.

"One of the sad things is that you make it a mediocre competition by taking out the good sides."

Marist College player Dylan Johnston, 17, said the Waratah Shield had been something he had been looking forward to since starting at the school in Year 4.

Team-mate Jonathan Salvi, 17, said he was disappointed the team would not get the chance to show what the ACT had to offer.

The Marist team had thrived on the opportunity to best St Edmund's, and this year's squad would have had a good chance of knocking them off.

Sports Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Ted Quinlan said it was an outrage that the ACT had been left out of the competition.

"It shows the little respect that other states have for the ACT rugby community."

Opposition sports spokesman and former patron of the ACT Schools Rugby Union Bill Stefaniak said it was a crazy, retrograde step. "It's a very narrow-minded, parochial step that's not even going to help NSW rugby at a schoolboy level."

He suggested a new competition could be formed for the top Canberra, Sydney and Queensland teams to create a national schools title.

As an alternative to the Waratah Shield, St Edmund's has been approached about entering a team in the NSW Rugby League's schoolboy knockout competition.

Canberra Raiders general manager Don Furner, who was part of St Edmund's first Waratah Shield win in 1984, said he had made contact with the school late last year when it looked like ACT schools would be excluded. Now that had become a reality, Furner said he would again suggest the school consider the 13-man game as an option - even offering his brother and former Kangaroo David Furner as a coach.

"In terms of resources we'd be happy to let the team use our resources. We'd get someone like David Furner to be the coach or to assist coaching ... Look at some of the names that have come through there - Ricky Stuart, David Furner, Matt Giteau, Matt Henjak. They all have a league background and it wouldn't hurt for them to play. It doesn't mean they'd go and play league instead of union.

"But you've got all these talented athletes who want to match themselves against the best and they could have a go at this. It could complement their rugby skills."

f**k me union are f**king idiots
but cheers to them, this sort of thing can only help league

 

[nqboy]

What's the short version? ACT schools locked out of a NSW schools rugby comp?

 

[Tighthead]

ACT schools and clubs have been getting the short end of the stick recently.

The Vikings have been swapping between playing in the QRU premier comp and and NSW competition due to their success in each comp - the state unions don't like their main comp being won by a Canberran side.

Still, is the Waratah Shield a particularly 'prestigous' competition anyway? Queensland used to have the Metway Cup - statwide knockout, but that wasn't really as important as the GPS/TAS competition anyway.

I don't know that the decision will drive St Edmunds etc. to league, though.

 

[Raider_69]

What's the short version? ACT schools locked out of a NSW schools rugby comp?

shortened version:

ACT rugby teams locked out of Warratah Cup because they were too successful. This leaves alot of talent shit out of luck in reguards to Union. Thankfully the raiders have step in putting to them that the 13 man a team game might be an option even offering his son and former Kangaroo David Furner for a coaching role.

If this happens it will provide alot more talent for league in canberra, and the public back lash union will receive for it will no doubt aid the League Support in the nations captial

 

[thickos]

Classic work from the Yawnion governing body, lets hope Edmunds make the switch to league

 

[markstan]

Correct me if im wrong but it had been common knowledge that the ACT teams were on the cards to get kicked out of the comp quite a long time ago i think in 2000? It had been in the line for quite some time i just cant believe everybody seems so stunned. Although the reasons weren't stated nor will they be, i would be interested how they came to the decision to give ACT the boot. Anyway it's all good for league possibly Unions best player pool is in serious doubt. Seeya later Brumbies 2 years max, Canberra will soon be a full League city.

HAHA Union

 

[Tighthead]

Seeya later Brumbies 2 years max, Canberra will soon be a full League city.

Do you want to put some money on that? I'll even give you odds.

 

[Dragon Fanatic]

Brumbies got more chance of staying alive than the Raiders.

 

[greeneyed]

Who cares if some private schools in the ACT can't play some NSW schools? All the better for league. The comment that the Brumbies are "more chance of staying alive than the Raiders" is ridiculous. Ever heard about how the ARU wants to send them to Melbourne? And how they aren't even called the "ACT" Brumbies anymore?

 

[Dragon Fanatic]

The crowds is the determining factor

 

[markstan]

Who cares if some private schools in the ACT can't play some NSW schools? All the better for league. The comment that the Brumbies are "more chance of staying alive than the Raiders" is ridiculous. Ever heard about how the ARU wants to send them to Melbourne? And how they aren't even called the "ACT" Brumbies anymore?

Exactly what i meant not much point in having the Brumbies there when there player pool will be gone. Brumbies are going from Canberra, either that or there performances and crowds will drop drastically. In the near future the ACT wont have a team in the Union Comp, Maybe a second Sydney team or one of the other spots maybe Melbourne. This action will give the super 12 champions the death nail.

 

[Matt M]

Why do the ARU want to move the Brumbies? They are Australia's only good team, although sometimes the Waratahs can go alright for a few weeks.

 

[shaggy]

1st
the wartah shield is a knockout comp with entrants open 2 any boys high school
none of the gps schools played in it the only cas school that played was barker & that was a development team, a couple of isa teams played but that was it the rest were high schools sum which rnt considered rugby schools

thats why the act sides were so domiant in the comp

2nd
the brumbies wernt kicked out of the sydney club comp cause they were 2 good, they were kicked out because they refused 2 enter 5 grade sides & 4 colts sides, so all they put in was 1 grade side & 1 colts side

atm they only play in the tooheys new cup & not the shute shield

 

[taipan]

As Don Furner said on ch10 Sydney last night,if Riverview a GPS union school can play league,what is the problem with St Edmunds doing likewise.
The amateur twats on the NSWRU are not worth feeding at the best of times(look at the John's stuff up),cant see past the boardroom lunches,and schools in the 21st century should be looking outside the square(like Riverview) and include all codes of football.
I think St Edmunds will now see the light and about time.

 

[Tighthead]

School cornered by success
By Wayne Smith
February 8, 2005

NO new school has been added to the Sydney GPS rugby competition since it was established more than a century ago, but Canberra powerhouse St Edmund's College is about to give it a try.

The school that has produced no fewer than three Test halfbacks over the past two decades - Ricky Stuart, George Gregan and Matt Henjak, plus utility back Matt Giteau, - has virtually nowhere else to go for competition but into the GPS premiership after last Friday's astonishing decision by the Waratah Shield committee to exclude the ACT from its NSW schools competition.

No explanation has been given for the decision but one NSW schools official, who did not wish to be identified, said yesterday St Edmund's simply had become too good for their own good. They have claimed the Shield 14 times, including the past eight years in succession - part of an overall ACT domination stretching to 17 wins in the last 21 seasons.

NSW Schools Rugby Union officials tried to head off moves to dumb down the standard of the competition by moving a motion at its November meeting that the Waratah Shield format remain unchanged, but when that was defeated the door was open for the independent Waratah Shield committee to "un-invite" the ACT.

Although regarded as NSW rugby's premier knockout schoolboy competition, the Waratah Shield - originally presented by members of the legendary 1927-28 Waratahs - is actually a "best of the rest" contest, with GPS schools not participating. But having paid the price for too much success, St Edmund's now has few options but to try to persuade the long-closed GPS association to open its doors. Certainly its teams would fall on the competitive side of the widening divide now separating serious premiership contenders from the also-rans.

"That really is a decision for the GPS headmasters to make," said St Edmund's principal Chris Hayes, who has just moved to the school after serving 21 years at St Ignatius, one of the nine original GPS colleges.

"But we're keen to pursue any opportunity to now test our best against the best Sydney has to offer."

GPS convenor Mark Ticehurst said the logistical problems associated with bringing a Canberra college into the Sydney premiership might be seen by some as an impediment.

"It (admitting St Edmund's) is something we've never thought about but who knows what's going to happen in the future," Ticehurst said.

http://foxsports.news.com.au/story/0,8659,12182303-23217,00.html

 

[Copa]

Sad for the young guys at the school though.. they love rugby union and will not be able to play in the comp anymore.

 

[Tighthead]

They play in other competitions beside the Waratah shield, though.

 

[Matt M]

As Don Furner said on ch10 Sydney last night,if Riverview a GPS union school can play league,what is the problem with St Edmunds doing likewise.
The amateur twats on the NSWRU are not worth feeding at the best of times(look at the John's stuff up),cant see past the boardroom lunches,and schools in the 21st century should be looking outside the square(like Riverview) and include all codes of football.
I think St Edmunds will now see the light and about time.

I used to go to Riverview and Chris Hayes was our head of senior schooling (or something high up like that) last year and for the past 20 years or so. He is a person that would always look at things like bringing in rugby league, although I'm sure they will look to do other things first.

As for being added to the GPS, well it is a bit far to travel for a team from Canberra. But it might go ahead.

 

[rugged]

Marist Ashgrove in Brisbane has been trying to get in to the GPS system in Brisbane for a while because they win almost everything in the AIS competition. But they get shut down by a couple of traditionalist schools every time. At least Marist would be in Brisbane. Canberra sounds a bit too far to go, although the GPS in QLD goes as far as Toowoomba Grammar and The Southport School (Gold Coast).

 

[bobbis]

Its prity poor by the NSWRU, RU gains nothing by this move, its downright stupid. However it wont be the death of RU in the ACT or even close to. Good luck to them getting into GPS, thats a bit of a nightmare in terms of travel though.

Rugged hopefully one day Ashgrove will get put in GPS Brisbane, Ashgrove is simply far to good for the AIC, they completely dominate it especially at rugby, Ashgrove would be far more competitive then many GPS schools too.