Wish me luck - South Island U15

[kier]

I'm taking a Tasman U15 side to the South Island provincal comp this weekend.

The team was initially going to be a Nelson College side - but 5 lads from neighbouring schools have asked to be involved and have made the squad.

I've one lad (a hooker) who I have a lot of hope for - he's so good I'm close to including him the school U18 side! He's Chinese too which could be a real marketing coup if he does make it to a top club.

[kelvinn]

kier said:

I'm taking a Tasman U15 side to the South Island provincal comp this weekend.

The team was initially going to be a Nelson College side - but 5 lads from neighbouring schools have asked to be involved and have made the squad.

I've one lad (a hooker) who I have a lot of hope for - he's so good I'm close to including him the school U18 side! He's Chinese too which could be a real marketing coup if he does make it to a top club.

Could he play for GB by any chance?!
Good luck with the trip, sounds a great experience.

[kier]

Cheers Kel - I'm afraid the lad is only eligible for NZ (and China.....)

If you can wait 18 years - my son will be old enough! :-)

[rus]

What location is the championship being played Kieron - Christchurch?

[kier]

Yes - ChCh. At the 'Rugby League Park' in Riccarton, home of the Bulls (RIP)

[kier]

Well - in many respects a typical Tasman U15 Tournament;

Tasman 14 - Southland 22
Tasman 0 - West Coast 48
Tasman 6 - Canturbury 52
Tasman 10 - Southland 20 (3v4 play-off)

4 lads made the South Island Trial game (I coached one of the side which won 24-18 )

We've never won a match at the South Island (in 4 attempts) - but given that our squad of 20 had the total RL experience of 9 matches it's not surprising.

The lads had a blast and really enjoyed the experience and despite the scorelines in some games never gave up - and it was obvious to see them improving with every game.

Several are also adamant that they much prefer RL ;Dand are already looking forward to next years U16 - and eventually playing for the Nelson College XIII (given that these are Nelson Bays RU reps it means things could get a bit icy in my staffroom next year :

Only two downers;

1) My hooker (who is in fact Indonesian not Chinese) didn't make the South Island Squad I have no idea what trial game the selectors were watching as he was obviously a class above the lad that they selected - I can only imagine they decided they 'd prefer to take the bigger lad .........dumb - even if we selected the biggest team possible it would still be smaller than Auckland - the selectors should imho be going for speed and skill

2) The impact of the piss-poor NZRL/ARL administration was obvious to all of us at the tournament. I honestly think that the Canterbury RL should resign from the NZRL and look at putting the BULLS into the QRL competition. The fact is they have NOTHING to gain from remaining with NZRL (which is basically Auckland).

[rus]

Kieron

Are you hopping over to Wellington for the test -14th October I believe?

[kier]

I have the opportunity to get some free tickets via Tasman RL - although I haven't asked t'missus yet..........

[kier]

Are you online at the moment Rus?

[rus]

5-00pm Australian time , here kieron

[Gibbo]

kier said:

Well - in many respects a typical Tasman U15 Tournament;

Tasman 14 - Southland 22
Tasman 0 - West Coast 48
Tasman 6 - Canturbury 52
Tasman 10 - Southland 20 (3v4 play-off)

4 lads made the South Island Trial game (I coached one of the side which won 24-18 )

We've never won a match at the South Island (in 4 attempts) - but given that our squad of 20 had the total RL experience of 9 matches it's not surprising.

The lads had a blast and really enjoyed the experience and despite the scorelines in some games never gave up - and it was obvious to see them improving with every game.

Several are also adamant that they much prefer RL ;Dand are already looking forward to next years U16 - and eventually playing for the Nelson College XIII (given that these are Nelson Bays RU reps it means things could get a bit icy in my staffroom next year :

The main thing is that they have had a chance to play RL and got to improve their skills. The RU players now prefering the handling code is most definitely a bonus! Having RU players playing RL is good to read about as this is something that would never have happened until recently.