Why we must get RL into private schools

[ali]

The question is, what would you do with your kids future if you were rich? I'd say a fair proportion of us would send our kids to the best private schools. In Sydney, the majority of them still don't allow Rugby League. With kids of the super league generation probably just hitting high school age now, I wonder how many more sons of former rep players will be lost to Union?

The NRL really needs to break down the sporting apartheid that exists in some of Sydney's most elite schools!

Blocker's son to Play Union

http://www.smh.com.au/news/Sport/Blockers-son-to-play-Sydney-club-rugby/2006/01/13/1136956335823.html
January 13, 2006 - 12:37PM



Emerging Australian Schoolboys rugby union prop Daniel Roach, the son of rugby league great Steve, will play with Sydney club Northern Suburbs for the 2006 season.

Roach, one of the mainstays of the Australian Schoolboys rugby union side that toured the UK at the end of 2005, informed Norths of his decision on Thursday night after fielding a number of offers from a range of Sydney clubs.

He is the first Australian Schoolboy representative to come to Norths directly from school since Lachlan MacKay in 2001.

"We've got a history of producing good prop forwards and we're obviously very excited about Daniel coming to Norths," club spokesman John Tully said.

The 119kg Roach is part of the NSW Waratah Academy and has already started training under their strength and conditioning coordinator Charlie Higgins.

 

[Godz Illa]

lol Osama bin Laden will be playing rugby league before Sydney's private schools.

 

[Dragons_#1]

riverview is playing league!!

 

[ali]

lol Osama bin Laden will be playing rugby league before Sydney's private schools.

Or a more realistic aim, Bob Marley's grand son. Seriously if we can get Rugby league played in Jamaica, why not Joeys?

 

[ali]

riverview is playing league!!

Awesome. Please elaborate! Are they playing playing, or just going in a one off knock out carnival or something similar?

 

[Woods99]

The question is, what would you do with your kids future if you were rich? I'd say a fair proportion of us would send our kids to the best private schools. In Sydney, the majority of them still don't allow Rugby League. With kids of the super league generation probably just hitting high school age now, I wonder how many more sons of former rep players will be lost to Union?

The NRL really needs to break down the sporting apartheid that exists in some of Sydney's most elite schools!

Only one of the top 50 schools in last year's HSC, private or State, played rugby league exclusively.....Sydney Tech High. Merewether High played both.

So it is not just private schools.

The sensible question to ask is: why do people with kids at the better schools want them to play rugby union, rather than rugby league?

 

[morri (cWo)]

riverview had an u16 team that played in the manly/norths comp in 2004. only won one game.

if they are going to do it they gotta do it properley but the problem with most of the top rugby schools e.g riverview and joeys, is the tradition that comes with the schools name. a lot of people dont want league.

 

[morri (cWo)]

Awesome. Please elaborate! Are they playing playing, or just going in a one off knock out carnival or something similar?

they entered a one off tournament for a couple of years. it was a st gregs round robin.

 

[t-ba]

Only one of the top 50 schools in last year's HSC, private or State, played rugby league exclusively.....Sydney Tech High. Merewether High played both.

So it is not just private schools.

The sensible question to ask is: why do people with kids at the better schools want them to play rugby union, rather than rugby league?

Because these are venerable institutions deeply invested in the bigotry of a (supposedly) bygone era

I went to Sydney Boys High. We were conditioned to hate RL from the moment we entered the gates.

 

[Woods99]

Because these are venerable institutions deeply invested in the bigotry of a (supposedly) bygone era

I went to Sydney Boys High. We were conditioned to hate RL from the moment we entered the gates.

Dear oh bloody dear. If that is what you think happened, then league is doomed.

I also went to a selective High School, which played rugby union. Nobody conditioned any of us about anything.

Get a hold on reality.

No doubt Sydney High, being a GPS school, feels the need to promote a GPS sport. Why wouldn't they?

 

[Balmain_Boy]

A quick look at the top 50 schools list suggest not many of the top 50 play rugby league either Woods; in fact plenty of them are girl's schools.

But, you answer your own question - why do you think private schools like to play union? For me, it's because
a) They're scared their kids will get hurt (league is far more physical than that other sport)
b) They're elitist wankers

 

[sunny]

At the private school I went to some parents were scared about their kids getting hurt playing union.

 

[Balmain_Boy]

Stick them out in the backs. From experience you never get the ball in union if you're on the wing.

 

[LeagueXIII]

League needs people in the establishment with influence and a RL background (which I don't think there are any), the future corporates etc.,This is why it is important for it to be played in these schools. Unfortunately RL has always been discriminated against in the UK, NZ, Aust etc thus RU has managed to propagate lies and stereotypes about the game through the media, this has stiffled the leagues growth. I recently read that in NZ, the RU used the media to create a negative image of RL so the working class would not follow the sport, this was in the 20's. This is the type of influence that RL fights against.

 

[Mal Meninga]

The GPS, CAS, and ISA private schools have had Rugby Union in place since their existance. They regularly poach league players for Yr 11 & 12 and place them into their First 15 sides, offering an opportunity of a life time which eventually forces them to choose Union as their future code.
It'll never happen...

 

[russ13]

Woods99-could you provide a link to your assertion that the lack of RL in the top HSC schools.

In Queensland three of the noted 'rugby' schools had the lowest scores in the Queensland equivalent to the HSC - TSS, Nudgee & Ipswich Grammar. (These scores are not publicly available now).

The backlash was pretty swift from the parents & government. So much so that these schools are having trouble with their RU programs now. This might explain Queensland RU problems attracting talent as their nurseries have all but dried up.

 

[sunny]

They have an education system in queensland?

 

[taipan]

Only one of the top 50 schools in last year's HSC, private or State, played rugby league exclusively.....Sydney Tech High. Merewether High played both.

So it is not just private schools.

The sensible question to ask is: why do people with kids at the better schools want them to play rugby union, rather than rugby league?

The sensible answer:-
Who says they want their kids to play union,they sent them there for educational opportunities for starters. I certainly nor my parents wanted me to play union,it was all that was available.Another friend has his kid playing soccer instead of union at a GPS school,doesnt want him involved in a game with collapsing scrums.
Its not just state schools that play rugby league either,Catholic schools and some independent private schools also play league.So its not just state schools champion.Better schools ! what load of crap or inbuilt snobbery is that, it wasnt that long ago that Kings and Shore had ordinary HSC results compared to state schools,another year Cranbrook results werent up to expectations. I have been to both so have an inkling.

 

[ali]

Because these are venerable institutions deeply invested in the bigotry of a (supposedly) bygone era

I went to Sydney Boys High. We were conditioned to hate RL from the moment we entered the gates.

Hmmm, lets just say Sydney boys high doesn't just fully consider a boys test score when they sit the selective high exam from year 8 on. From someone who went to a selective high school, this disgusts me.

 

[ali]

Only one of the top 50 schools in last year's HSC, private or State, played rugby league exclusively.....Sydney Tech High. Merewether High played both.

So it is not just private schools.

The sensible question to ask is: why do people with kids at the better schools want them to play rugby union, rather than rugby league?

Pleanty of them would have played League. With the ordinary state schools it would have a lot to do with the staff who are there. I went to Caringbah, who were around 23rd or so this year, and they play both. Whilst I was there was probably a little more emphasis of the Union side, because we had a welsh P.E. teacher. But before my time we were more of a league school, and used to regularly get the CHS side train at our school because an English teacher used to coach them. After my time a new principal came, who was big on school spirit and our first 13 made the round of 16 on the state knockout with the likes of David Simmons in the team.

Penrith high school was also in the top 50. Can't imagine it's more Union than League.

Actually I remember reading that list and thinking to myself how low some of the GPS schools were, and I'm sure a couple of the big name Union schools didn't even make the top 50.