The Rogues Rant
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 8:47 am
Reports have reached the Rogue that there is a proposal before the NSW Country Board to move the Country Championships to later in the year. The proposal is to change the date of the tournament to May or June from 2015. In my opinion that would be a monumental mistake. The standard of the Caldwell Cup tournament over the last five years has been excellent. This has coincided with the change to the tournament being conducted and completed by the end of March. As such, all zones have been able to prepare for the championships over the summer months without any conflict with local competitions. Players have been able to commit to the tournament without any concern of a clash with their club program. A change to May would make that process impossible and the standard of all zone squads would be weakened as there is no doubt that some players would find it very difficult to make the kind of commitment required to rep rugby under those circumstances. As a result the standard of the tournament would be compromised and the standard of the Country Cockatoos selected from the tournament would also suffer. At a time when Country Rugby needs to do all it can to remain relevant in modern day rugby, let’s hope the Board makes the right decision and leaves the tournament where it is - for everyone’s sake.
The next meeting of the IDRU Rugby Committee will be phone number list discussing the future structure of the local comp. The new two division competition introduced this year will continue with the Premier Division of first grade, second grade and colts, and the separate First Division comp. There will also be discussions to reduce the number of teams in the Premier Division to eight from 2015, and the possibility of having promotion and relegation brought in from 2016. These sorts of changes are required to enable clubs to cope with the changing demographics of their areas. There has been plenty of heartache over the last few years as we have seen some clubs struggle to meet their commitments to the competition. We really need to create a structure that can allow clubs to move between divisions when player numbers and strengths dictate. It would be better that way than to see clubs disappear altogether. The meeting is on July 14.
Hold onto your hats for the last two rounds of Super Rugby. After all the upsets last week the final picture is still up in the air with all sorts of possibilities. I reckon The Waratahs can finish on top after the last two rounds with the Sharks and Crusaders taking out the other conferences. The wild cards are wide open with five more sides in with a chance, but I’ll go for the Highlanders, Hurricanes and the Brumbies to make it through. We should have a clearer picture after this week’s match ups. My tips for this week are Chiefs, Lions, Crusaders, Force, Stormers, Sharks and Waratahs.
The Rocks really took everyone by surprise last week with their win over Camden in very difficult conditions at Woonona. Their win really accentuated how close the race for third and fourth on the points table is going to be between now and the semis. Vikings, Camden, Kiama, and Shamrocks will be looking for consistent performances from here on in to make the most of their season. They will also have to keep a close eye on Tech Waratahs who is capable of beating them all on any given day. The big match this weekend is between front runners Avondale and University. We can look forward to some close matches from here on in.
The next meeting of the IDRU Rugby Committee will be phone number list discussing the future structure of the local comp. The new two division competition introduced this year will continue with the Premier Division of first grade, second grade and colts, and the separate First Division comp. There will also be discussions to reduce the number of teams in the Premier Division to eight from 2015, and the possibility of having promotion and relegation brought in from 2016. These sorts of changes are required to enable clubs to cope with the changing demographics of their areas. There has been plenty of heartache over the last few years as we have seen some clubs struggle to meet their commitments to the competition. We really need to create a structure that can allow clubs to move between divisions when player numbers and strengths dictate. It would be better that way than to see clubs disappear altogether. The meeting is on July 14.
Hold onto your hats for the last two rounds of Super Rugby. After all the upsets last week the final picture is still up in the air with all sorts of possibilities. I reckon The Waratahs can finish on top after the last two rounds with the Sharks and Crusaders taking out the other conferences. The wild cards are wide open with five more sides in with a chance, but I’ll go for the Highlanders, Hurricanes and the Brumbies to make it through. We should have a clearer picture after this week’s match ups. My tips for this week are Chiefs, Lions, Crusaders, Force, Stormers, Sharks and Waratahs.
The Rocks really took everyone by surprise last week with their win over Camden in very difficult conditions at Woonona. Their win really accentuated how close the race for third and fourth on the points table is going to be between now and the semis. Vikings, Camden, Kiama, and Shamrocks will be looking for consistent performances from here on in to make the most of their season. They will also have to keep a close eye on Tech Waratahs who is capable of beating them all on any given day. The big match this weekend is between front runners Avondale and University. We can look forward to some close matches from here on in.