HALE RUGBY

[numberate]

I watched a few Hale PSA rugby games this year after being told they were a good rugby school but from what I saw the standard and physicality pretty disappointing to say the least! They effectively did not have any meaningful competition and I am at a loss to understand why they have a reputation as a rugby school?

Any of the under 18's club teams would wipe the floor with them and I hasten to say that Palmyra, Joondalup and Baysie under s16's would do the same. I don't understand why they don't play teams outside the PSA RUGBY or indeed the likes of other schools such as Aranmore which would give a true indication of their standard or is it they are worried they will lose their image and be found out!!!

The last game I watched they won 104 v 5 against Aquinas school. It was pretty abysmal to watch and not what I would call a game of rugby.

Has anybody else watched their games? Would you agree the standard is pretty poor?

[GIGS20]

I watched some Hale rugby last year. I don't have any experience of Club rugby to compare against, but they are a level above the other teams in the PSA.

The main reason I would give as to why PSA schools don't play against clubs would be timing. The PSA don't allow a pre-season in any of their sports, so having a hit out before the season is unworkable (I understand that some unnamed schools disguise their pre season as a fitness group, but that only works on S&C not skills and patterns) The season ends pretty much on the death of Term 3 and boarders leave shortly thereafter, that and exams makes a hit out after the season hard (not impossible, but hard) and during the season, the schools wouldn't have the resources to field and extra game, so it would be pretty hard to tee one up.

We played a trial against CBC Fremantle the week before the season kicked off this year, so it's not impossible....I wasn't at the game, but by all accounts it was pretty good!

I know there is a fair bit of friction between PSA and club rugby, but you need to understand what PSA is......it's a confederation of schools who play sport against one another, it isn't, at it's heart' a rugby comp, it's a combined sports league. Boys are required to play a sport and must choose one from the seven on offer. That means that boys (even in Year 12) are rocking up at rugby training two weeks before the start of the season having NEVER EVEN WATCHED a game of rugby I (assistant) coached Aquinas in the Hale game this year, and we were proud of our result.

Hale came away annoyed that we'd scored on them and going into the game massively understaffed as a result of injuries and suspensions, we were expected to lose for nil. Sure the 104 was a tough score to have knocked up against us, but sometimes rugby isn't about the big picture, but about the small picture. The majority of the team we fielded were in year 11 and only just eligible to play in that age group, they hadn't played as a unit before and you could see that the Hale S&C team had been working on the boys all season.

I don't call it a disaster, because it was expected, but it is an indication that AC rugby needs to grow.

Having seen Aranmore play in curtain raisers over the years, I would suggest that they would be a match for any 18s team (but maybe there's a club side that looks just as good, as I said, I don't know) they have always seemed to be streets ahead of the opposition. Are they allowed to give sports scholarships?

[Ralto]

...we were proud of our result.
....Hale came away annoyed that we'd scored on them.
...Sure the 104 was a tough score to have knocked up against us.

Is this a wind up?

[GIGS20]

Not really, AC rugby is at a pretty low ebb ATM, sometimes you have to look at the little things.

If we ripped shit out of them for getting spanked a) nobody would turn up next year and it would get worse and b) nobody would be surprised anyway.

When it gets that bad, you start turning to things such as being happy that your players keep trying until the final whistle, celebrating the couple of line breaks that you manage to make etc.

Physically, the Hale team was twice our size, and their number 8 ran faster than our wingers. We were never going to win the game and we knew it. In those situations, rugby becomes all about making the best contest you can.

[zed]

Not really, AC rugby is at a pretty low ebb ATM, sometimes you have to look at the little things.

If we ripped shit out of them for getting spanked a) nobody would turn up next year and it would get worse and b) nobody would be surprised anyway.

When it gets that bad, you start turning to things such as being happy that your players keep trying until the final whistle, celebrating the couple of line breaks that you manage to make etc.

Physically, the Hale team was twice our size, and their number 8 ran faster than our wingers. We were never going to win the game and we knew it. In those situations, rugby becomes all about making the best contest you can.

Well said mate

[Hansie]

Unless PSA Parents lobby their respective schools - the standard of Rugby in PSA will slowly wane. Just look at 2013 WA Schoolboys side. In past years PSA dominated WA Schollboys selection - not in 2013.

PSA work very hard to allow boys to be exposed to multiple sports and in senior years prefer to have all winter sports AFL, Rugby, Hockey played on a Saturday.

PSA prefer all boys to also take part in a summer sport, so Rugby players could play cricket or Row.

Head of the River Rowing regatta is really the end of the summer season and the only time Rugby training can start.

For many years We successfully ran Rugby matches on Friday afternoons and evenings. The crowds at Palmyra during Wesley vs Scotch and Wesley vs Aquinas games in 2003, 4 and 5 were huge. Junior boys ie years 6,7,8 and 9 usually play their sport on a Friday afternoon, so they began at their usual times, followed by year 10's around 3:30pm, 2nds around 4:45pm and 1sts kicking off at 6:00pm. The AFL boys from each school would come down to support their mates, sisters and brothers who played different sports watched as did the mums and dads after work. Games were done by 8:00. Rugby boys then lobbed up to Brittania on Saturday and played club rugby, and/or went to support their mates playing AFL, Hockey or whatever and played colts at clubs in the arvo.

Sadly tho a few old boys came to watch these games in their old school colours and got tanked.

PSA have a no alcohol policy at their games and I am sure clubs like Pally would agree to that rule in return for hosting Friday arvo games and even getting a few 1st graders to come down and police the tanked old boys.

There is no beef between clubs and PSA. Now that more club grounds are lit, perhaps we could open up the dialogue to see if Clubs and PSA can work something out to boost the Rugby playing numbers and skill level.

[GIGS20]

Listen to Hansie....he has nailed the PSA stuff pretty well and he knows clubland.

I'm pretty sure the no alcohol thing only became an actual rule this year (and believe it or not it wasn't rugby that was the problem)

I do know of several boys who play both school and club (usually Pally) but typically that tails off in the senior years, Unsurprising since boys are under a lot of pressure to get good grades, are required to play Saturday sport for their school and have little enough of a life as it is.

I can't believe how busy most of these boys are, it's a wonder they get the time to play club sport up until year ten really!

A lot of our Rugby players are also rowers, even though rowing finishes with head of the river, you will generally see boys training in the mornings during winter as well. I'm sure this training isn't 'organized' by the rowing coaches, but if I was their coach, I wouldn't complain either. just like I didn't complain when the firsts rugby team happened to turn up to the last round of summer sport with their boots and we all had an 'impromptu' jog around the park since we 'weren't doing anything better at the time'

[numberate]

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[numberate]

Fair comment on trying to keep the Aquinas boys motivated and not easy when you have to suffer a cricket score defeat. But to me, the PSA rugby standard is such that when they leave that environment and enter the real world of club rugby they are found wanting in skill level and physicality, that any under 18's coach would expect of his players at Colts level. I was made aware of a few Hale boys who were so disillusioned with Hale that they quit to play club rugby. These were by all account, half decent players, playing in the regional squads and selected for the initial WA state team. I won't mention the club as no doubt they might be accused of poaching. From what I have seen and heard the PSA system is an anachronism and changes could only help.

There is some talent there but from what I have seen and heard it is wasted at the end of year 11 and year 12.
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[GIGS20]

It wasn't the only cricket score.......

Funnily enough, we had a different experience with some of our firsts eligible year elevens who decided to play firsts for school rather than playing for club. They cited the higher competition of playing effectively an age group up giving them harder games. It might have been that the 18s comp was a much higher standard than 16s, or it might have been fluff from the school inflating the importance.

I wouldn't expect it to be too detrimental, because the bloke most instrumental in giving the advice was hurting his own club (with which he was apparently very involved)

All I can say about Hale rugby was that they were very efficient and well drilled, maybe some boys got disillusioned with the fact that the chains never seemed to be loosed even when they had plenty of room to play fun rugby (like when they played against us for example) maybe it's just that there wasn't enough challenge in the PSA comp, but I know they didn't have as easy a time of it against all teams. I think Wesley, Trinity and Guildford gave them some trouble.

Everybody gave us a touch up at least once in the year!

[numberate]

Fair comment. It wouldn't hurt to have a few scratch matches against the likes if Aranmore, CBC, Thornlie, Uni, Wests, Palmyra, etc.

The few occasions I have watched Aranmore I was very impressed with what I saw. Pretty good stuff to watch.
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[Ralto]

Unless PSA Parents lobby their respective schools - the standard of Rugby in PSA will slowly wane. Just look at 2013 WA Schoolboys side. In past years PSA dominated WA Schollboys selection - not in 2013.

I remember how a number of folks used this as evidence that rugby is on the way up, and the stranglehold by the PSA had been broken etc. When they headed east they got pantsed, then everyone blamed ....the coaches.

[GIGS20]

Fair comment. It wouldn't hurt to have a few scratch matches against the likes if Aranmore, CBC, Thornlie, Uni, Wests, Palmyra, etc.

The few occasions I have watched Aranmore I was very impressed with what I saw. Pretty good stuff to watch.
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The scratch match against CBC, we were apparently stronger than them, but not by a huge margin. I don't know how that translates to any form of comparison between Hale and Aranmore, we were certainly a lot stronger at the start of the season than at the end. CBC might have had the opposite year.

[numberate]

I was told Guildford had a scratch match against Aranmore. Result was 71 v 0. Hale have been asked previously for a friendly but was met with a wall of silence by McFarland. Guess he does not want to lose his perfect record!!! Better to beat PSA teams by 105 points than lose to a second rate Catholic school I guess.

[GIGS20]

I was told Guildford had a scratch match against Aranmore. Result was 71 v 0. Hale have been asked previously for a friendly but was met with a wall of silence by McFarland. Guess he does not want to lose his perfect record!!! Better to beat PSA teams by 105 points than lose to a second rate Catholic school I guess.

That sounds like Hale rugby to me.

Let's not forget buying half your team from South Africa to beat a bunch of Seconds players and a few ring ins by 105.