Two Blues flogged in Shute Shield opener
Roar Guru By Bay35Pablo, 13 Apr 2010 Bay35Pablo is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Rod Macqueen, Rugby Union, Shure Shield, West Harbour
Last weekend saw Round 1 of the 2010 Shute Shield, with some interesting results. West Harbour went down to Northern Suburbs 29-31 at Concord Oval, in what I regarded as a surprise, given the Shoremen had a relatively poor 2009.
Eastwood defeated Warringah 43-19 in a high scoring affair at T. G. Millner Field.
It was nice to see Beau Robinson fronting up for the Rats again, and surely Rod MacQueen should be measuring the young man up for a Rebels jersey? Why did NSW and Italian rugby let him go, or am I missing something?
Gordon went down to Southern Districts 20-34 at Chatswood Oval in another surprise. Gordon were great performers last year with no Super 14 players, whereas the Rebels have tended to be up and down and better under the powerlines at home at Foreshaw Park.
Manly whalloped Parramatta 111-0 at Manly Oval, indicating it could be a long season for the Two Blues.
Moral and financial support from the other clubs doesn’t buy you tries, and they’d need to pick their act up not to spiral further, given players don’t like fronting up week after week or season after season for drubbings.
In the surprise of the round, Sydney University lost at home for the first time since Noah was building the Ark (well, almost five years) to perennial rivals of recent seasons, Randwick, 7-37.
Other clubs will have been celebrating almost as much as the Wicks that Uni’s run at home has come to an end.
The game also saw Uni lose the Sir Roden Cutler Cup to the Wicks.
Penrith went down to Eastern Suburbs 39-55 at Nepean Rugby Park in a high scoring affair where 14 tries were scored. From a quick look at the team lists last week, a number of former Two Blues players are fronting up at the Emus this season, meaning they are likely to be a bit more competitive this year, although clearly the Beasties can score a try or two as well in a game that suggests the tackle bags might get a work out at training this week.
Of course, if Parramatta and Penrith just swap roles, that’s hardly an improvement in the greater scheme of things.
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- Rod Macqueen, Rugby Union, Shure Shield, West Harbour
April 13th 2010 @ 1:58am
Matt Manley said | April 13th 2010 @ 1:58am | Report comment
Maybe Para should become little-America and load their side with our boys. They couldn’t do that much worse, could they?
April 13th 2010 @ 6:49pm
Working Class Rugger said | April 13th 2010 @ 6:49pm | Report comment
Funny you should say that Matt. Just finished reading an article in the Sydney Morning Herald stating that there is a high likelihood of several American player’s running out in their colours this season.
April 13th 2010 @ 8:10am
RickG said | April 13th 2010 @ 8:10am | Report comment
I have to say my heart sank when I saw the score in the Parra game. As you say Pablo goodwill and promises of support will only get you so far. If Parra have been saved for another year but they struggle like that, well, I don’t know if anyone’s really the better for it to be honest.
I’m lookign forward to the season unfolding as ever but are we looking at another 2-horse race, with just a couple of others chiming in for a bit of nuisance value?
April 13th 2010 @ 8:30am
Bay35Pablo said | April 13th 2010 @ 8:30am | Report comment
I do recall reading that although the grade sides for parra were week, they had some good colts.
Parra’s 1st grade colts went down 50-17, and 2nds 88-12. So much for that.
Penrith’s colts also got a touch up, going down 88-0 in 1sts and 78-0 in 2nds.
Both teams clearly need strengthening across the board.
Mind you Norths cots 1sts went down 45-9 in 1sts, but I hear a few colties went up to grade this year for Norths 1st grade so that might have something to do with it.
April 13th 2010 @ 8:53am
Brett McKay said | April 13th 2010 @ 8:53am | Report comment
Pablo, I was watching the Eastwood-Warringah game on ABC, and when the halftime scores came through it was already looking ominous for Parramatta. And when the commercial news bulletins run the 111-0 score as their last quirky/feel good sports story, you know it’s not a good thing…
April 13th 2010 @ 9:07am
RickG said | April 13th 2010 @ 9:07am | Report comment
And it doesn’t get any easier – they’re up against the students coming off a loss next week!!!
Comments from the coach in SMH today:
”We also had to come together a bit late, and in terms of preparation, with what was going on over the last few weeks, we had been a bit distracted. We probably under-prepared the guys, so we have to take some of the blame.”
Interesting to read too that Mark Frost from Eastwood turned up to Parra training last week and ended up playing for them (does that mean he’s not playing for Eastwood?).
Pablo, re colts I was going to say before most of the talk on the Two Blues’ website lately has been on the strength of their colts, so I thought at least they had something to look forward to in the future. Perhaps not based on those scores.
April 13th 2010 @ 9:08am
sheek said | April 13th 2010 @ 9:08am | Report comment
We’ve seen excellent percentage rises in player participation levels in WA, & we can hope for the same with the introduction of the Rebels in Victoria.
And yet we’ve gone backwards in the huge catchment areas of Western Sydney. As I just happened to hear Alan Jones say on 2GB yesterday, if you concentrate too much on the roof, the foundations will eventually implode on you.
The key lesson I learnt form chess (which I don’t play well – too adventurous & too impatient) is that when you move your troops out, you must consolidate & protect as you go. I would expect any business, or sport, to be no different.
How did it get to be like this for the once proud Parramatta …..?
April 13th 2010 @ 10:24am
Cameron said | April 13th 2010 @ 10:24am | Report comment
The demise of Parramatta in Rugby is parallelled by the demise of coverage of Rugby in Sydney generaly. A few years ago the Sydney Mornning Herald (SMH) styled itself as a Union paper – or at least gave the code a solid go. The SMH’s coverage of the Shute Shield this year has been abysmal – as if it has become a tawdry version of tha mouthpiece of League the Daily Telegraph. There was little or no mention of the start of the Shute Shield in the SMH and no analysis or match reports on the Monday. The head man of Rugby at the paper, Greg Crowden, in his Monday Maul column, spent the whole article writing about the writings of Ben Perkins in some NZ provincial paper. Just what we want to see in a Rugby column – a journalist writing about another journalist. In fact the piece seemed to indicate that he had not even seen any S14 games that weekend. Much less tht thre was any consideration to the primary Rugby competition in the city of the paper for whom he writes. The SMH gave far more coverage to individual League games than tothe start ofthe Shute Shield!
But, these days at the SMH, with its degenerating self-obsessed and indulgent writing by some its journalists that is par for the course for the SMH (where did all the sub-editors go??).
However rant aside, the powers that be at te ARU should start using its powers (marketing and otherwise) to raise the profile of its code. Perhaps the demise of the “Two Blues” is due to the fact that no-one in the team’s catchment area knows they exist. Due to the criminaly bad media coverage. The reverse ofthe “Field of Dreams” concept. If you build it they will come. If you ignore it (or cover it in a cynical and negative way) they won’t.
April 13th 2010 @ 3:26pm
The Link said | April 13th 2010 @ 3:26pm | Report comment
Cameron, don’t worry Growden will have a stirring piece next week on the pies at TG Milner….
You say the SMH has dropped the ball on the Rugby coverage, in fact they’ve finally read the market properly. Whoever dropped the Leaguehq site from the SMH should not be in a job or at least have their head read.
I think the mix is now about right for what Sydney is interested in. Growden, Spiro and Fitzsomons all have their regular mix of reporting and rants on the Rugby side, Cockerill gets a regular platform for Football, AFL gets a show and League quite rightly gets most of the space.
April 13th 2010 @ 8:44pm
Alders said | April 13th 2010 @ 8:44pm | Report comment
It is becoming a bit of a trashy paper these days. Lots of beat ups and articles about obscure goings on in the States. Uses to only read the Australian papers for sport. Not anymore, it’s all foreign papers for me now.
April 13th 2010 @ 10:49am
sheek said | April 13th 2010 @ 10:49am | Report comment
Cameron,
On your point, The Australian IMHO is the best rugby newspaper as far as thought provoking analysis goes. It has Wayne Smith, Bret Harris, Mark Ella & Tim Horan – a hot stable of writers, the latter two both great Wallabies.
SMH presents weekend team sheets better, but The Aussie is tops for collective in-depth writing.
IMHO…..
April 13th 2010 @ 2:31pm
Mike G said | April 13th 2010 @ 2:31pm | Report comment
Couldn’t agree more Sheek – Todays Aussie (online) is a prime example with the article on JON bagging Rudd for broken funding promises. growden will report on this next month
April 13th 2010 @ 3:28pm
The Link said | April 13th 2010 @ 3:28pm | Report comment
Smith’s not too bad, but he is disproportionatley obsessed both with QLD Rugby and who the Rebels “might” be signing. Wayne, its time to write about something else in Rugby big man.
April 13th 2010 @ 10:58am
Central North said | April 13th 2010 @ 10:58am | Report comment
Cameron – it’s Just the same as the Telegraph gives scant regard to the Toyota Cup, NSW Cup, or any other lower tier of Rugby League in general – unless someone who has played First Grade recently is making their way back through those grades (as seen when Wendell Sailor played for Shellharbour, and Daine Laurie last weekend played for Windsor).
I’d argue that the Shute Shield gets a disproportionate level of coverage when compared to other competitions of a similar stature. FTA coverage on the ABC. Teams listed in the Herald each week (which I know for a fact NSWRU has had to implore them to run in each of the past few seasons – they don’t want to do it, but they do because they’re “the Rugby paper”).
No media organisation is going to cover a lower level competition out of obligation alone. It has to be newsworthy. It has to attract readers, which in turn attracts advertisers. If the vast majority of readers don’t give a stuff, then you can’t expect papers to run stories. And, as sad as it is to say, the vast majority of readers don’t give two hoots about the Shute Shield.
Growden’s not going to write about it. Rupert Guinness was in Christchurch covering the Tahs on Saturday, so he was hardly in a position to. Jamie Pandaram seemingly is now above covering club rugby. And the editors clearly don’t think it’s worth it. I’d argue the last time the SS got quality coverage in the Herald was back in the days of Ben Kimber. And he’s been gone for some time now.
Kudos though to the NSWRU – who still managed to distribute scores to the media at the usual time on Sat arvo despite the media bloke being in NZ as well. If it wasn’t for the NSWRU, people would have even less access to club footy.
April 13th 2010 @ 12:39pm
Bay35Pablo said | April 13th 2010 @ 12:39pm | Report comment
Ah, remember the good old days when they used to feature the Shute Shield results on the evening news, all channels ….
Super rugby killed that …
April 13th 2010 @ 1:19pm
reds fan said | April 13th 2010 @ 1:19pm | Report comment
In Bris we used to get the QRL results on the Sunday news, which was right before a replay of the QRL match of the week, commentated by Billy J Smith…. Meninga and Belcher lining up for Souths Magpies, King Wally for Valleys before he turned traitor and joined the showboats Wynnum Manly. Old man Beetson came home to play for the Redcliffe Dolphins.
NRL killed all that.
Its been onwards and upwards for all codes it seems.
April 13th 2010 @ 11:09am
RickG said | April 13th 2010 @ 11:09am | Report comment
Kudos also to the guys at clubrugby.com.au which became my prime source of club news and analysis last year.
Cameron: (where did all the sub-editors go??).
They got the chop when costs had to be cut. You can see a real drop in the standards of editing on the smh since this started a few years ago (well, I’m an editor/sub-editor and I notice it!).