AFL - ARCHIVES

NSWCCC SELECTIONS - SOUTHERN

Trials were conducted at Xavier High School on Thursday 1^st  May. 60 boys trialled from 5 schools across the Riverina and Southern NSW. Conditions were excellent for football and the players showed some impressive skills. Selectors for the day were Travis Doyle (St Francis De Sales College), Matt Conn(Kildare Catholic College, Wagga Wagga) and Mark Sanson (Xavier High School, Albury).

A talented squad of 22 was selected, with high hopes of performing well at the All Schools Carnival in Wagga..

NSW ALL SCHOOLS - SOUTHERN 

This year’s championships were held in Wagga Wagga NSW from Tuesday 3^rd June to Thursday 5^th June. Two separate grounds were used for the carnival, Robertson oval was a great surface, Bolton Park proved to be very wet and short in length. The weather impacted on the game style at both grounds requiring players to adapt quickly to different conditions. This gave all boys the opportunity to show their skills and talents against quality opposition.

The CCC Southern Blue Tongues first game was against the South Coast Tuna’s. After a steady start, the boys took control of the game with a great display of accurate goal kicking and free flowing football. The boys ran out comfortable winners 51 to 13. Goal Kickers Myers, McGowan, Gibbons, Tanner, Chant and Gaynor Best: Gaynor, Tanner, Cain, Cuthbert and Myers. The 2^nd game held in the afternoon on Day 1 was against the CIS. The change of ovals proved difficult for CCCSTH and the boys struggled to adapt to the dry conditions. The full time score was CCC South 10 to CIS 38. Goal Kickers Evans. Best Players Gaynor, Cuthbert, Myers, Tanner and Corbett.

On Day 2 our first game was against Riverina South West in cold and foggy conditions. A sea-sawing battle between two evenly matched teams ended in CCCSTH going down by 1 point 19 to 18. Goal Kickers were Kimball and Chant. Strong performances in this game came from Gaynor, Cuthbert, Tanner, Cain and Myers .The CCC South team was now 1 from 3 before coming up against the carnival favourite Riverina Murray. A very high standard game which was hotly contested ended in CCCSTH going down 31 to 28, Goal Kickers were Cuthbert, Kimball and Corbett. Better players were Evans, Corbett, Tanner, Booth and Gaynor.

This was the first time that CCCSTH has had to play in the bottom playoff games. The boys responded well and towelled up the Bush Pigs from West Darling 34 to 2. Cuthbert 3,Gibbons and Cain. Better players were Cuthbert, Meyers, Evans, Booth and Gaynor. In the final game of the carnival CCCSTH drew with the South Coast Tuna’s 19 all with Booth and Cuthbert kicking a goal each.

 At the completion of the championships all players were congratulated on their efforts and the spirit in which they had played the game in over the past 3 days. Several of the CCC South played gained special mention.

Jake Gaynor was named the NSWCCC South Bluetongues player of the carnival and also gained selection in the NSW All Schools team. Lachlan Tanner, Luke Cuthbert, Brendan Myers were also rewarded for their dominant performance in all games by also being selected in the NSW All School teams to compete in the National Carnival in Sydney later this year.

Many thanks to the parents and friends who made the effort to travel to Wagga for the carnival. Special thanks also to Mark Sanson (Coach) from Xavier High School in Albury for his time and effort not only to coach the team but also for the huge job of organising the team prior to the carnival.

Travis Doyle

NSWCCC Manager and Selector 2014

NSW ALL SCHOOLS - NORTHERN

The NSW All Schools Carnival was held in Wagga Wagga from Tuesday June 3 to June 5. There had been a lot of rain in the week leading up to the Championships and on the first day. It later cleared and the playing conditions were very good over on the main stadium of Robertson Oval. However the adjoining non-protected Bolton Oval was in very poor condition and our team had to play 3 successive games on this field.

NSWCCC North played its first game on the Tuesday morning against Northern NSW.  They won 7.7.49 to 3.2.20  In the afternoon they played against Riverina SW  and were defeated by 1 point 5.9.39 to 6.2.38.

Wednesday Day 2 of the carnival saw NSWCCC North play against the favourite of the Championships CIS. Again in the heavy conditions CCC North rallied and finally won 4.4.28 to 1.2.8.  fancied and traditionally strong Riverina Murray. In the afternoon CCC North played against the Sydney Brumbies. After a very slow start and a 4 goal start CCC North finally clawed their way back and won in the last 90 seconds of the game to score 5.6.36 to 5.3.33.

As a result of this very late win four teams in the nine team competition finished on 3 wins and 1 loss. After the points for and against were calculated CCC North played Riverina Murray for 1^st v 2^nd  yet were 90 seconds away from playing off for 5^th v 6^th . Riverina Murray won the final 5.8.38 to 4.3.27. As a result of this final the NSW All Schools selectors chose four CCC South and three CCC North players to represent their state at the School Sport Australia Championships in Sydney.

The final Championship results were: 1^st Riverina Murray, 2^nd CCC North, 3^rd CIS, 4^th  Riverina SW, 5^th Sydney, 6^th Northern NSW, 7^th CCC South, 7^th South Coast, 8^th West Darling.

All players selected were very good members of the team structure, ambassadors for their schools and families and all mixed well. They all shared the workload on the field, demonstrated courtesy, respect, sportsmanship and excellent behaviour at all times during the Carnival. Their contribution to the team was always positive and in doing so was able to play football at the highest level despite the very heavy conditions on the adjoining oval.

David Tegg (Team Manager) from Aquinas College Menai had his first year in this position and was efficient, and handled all issues with ease. His knowledge was extremely useful and therefore was easy to work with. All aspects of team managing were professionally attended to and the coordinating of the team over the Carnival was completed to a high standard.

Congratulations to the following NSWCCC/CIS North boys in being selected in the 2014 NSW All Schools Team and will travel to Sydney for the School Sport Australia Carnival in July: Matthew Edwards (Magdalene Catholic High Narellan), Bailey Lambert (Rosebank College Fivedock) and Kobe McClure (St Paul’s High School Port Macquarie).

Rick Joyce

NSWCCC AFL Convener/ NSWCCC North Coach

NSW ALL SCHOOLS (GIRLS)

On Sunday June 1 the NSWCCC 16’s Girls AFL Team had a light training run at McPherson Oval North Wagga. Despite the rainfall during the week and on the Sunday the ground was in very good condition with the exception of a muddy cricket pitch. Training was positive and 19 of the squad of 22 were in attendance.

The official’s meeting was held at the International Hotel Wagga with coaching and team managers of each of three teams hosted by the CHS AFL Convener Mr Andrew Oddie (Finley High School). Carnival format was discussed as well as strategies to be implemented for this pathway to be continued by CHS in the coming years. The selectors for the NSW All Schools Team was Melinda Highland (CHS) and Stuart Newman (NSW AFL).

All teams had a formal dinner together at an Italian restaurant in Wagga organised by the CHS AFL Convener. It was an enjoyable evening and all the girls interacted extremely well.

All teams met at McPherson Oval on Monday morning for the team photos and ready to start the inaugural girls AFL Championships. Wagga Council give permission for the ground to be used despite continued rainfall.

The first game saw Greater Sydney win 5.6.36 to the Riverina  4.5.29.

The second game CCC ran out convincing winners 7.7.49 to the Riverina 0.2.2.

Goal scorers: 2 Hayley Riley, 2 Evie Morrison, 1 Ellie Campbell, 1 Lucy Raulston, 1 Margot Vella

The third game CCC had a more difficult game against Greater Sydney under some heavy conditions and finally won 8.6.54 to Greater Sydney 3.4.22.

Goal Scorers: 2 Lucy Raulston, 2 Sophie Quirk, 1 Hayley Riley, 1 Phillipa Davis, 1 Ruby Gooden, 1 Britt Walker

During the two games all girls made a positive contribution to the wins. The skill level shown was exceptional considering the conditions in places were quite heavy. As a result of their success 8 CCC girls were then selected in the NSW All Schools Team. They were: Veronica Kopecny (Kildare College Wagga), Lucy Raulston (Kildare College Wagga), Sophie Quirk (Kildare College Wagga), Phillipa Davis (Holy Spirit College Bellambi), Mary Sandral (St Frances College Leeton), Ellie Campbell (OLMC Burraneer), Tyiesha Tighe (St Scholastica College Glebe), Britt Walker (St Anne’s College Temora).

Congratulations to Mrs Joanne King (OLMC Burraneer) in being Team Manager for NSWCCC and for NSW All Schools. We wish her and the team the very best at the School Sport Australia Championships in July to be held in Sydney.

Special thanks to Karen Murray (Kildare College) in offering assistance to girls in need, and to the three Year 11 boys from her College that came out to assist with running water and sending messages to the girls on the field. This was very much appreciated considering Karen was convening the NSWCCC Touch Football Carnival at the same time.

SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA (BOYS)

The School Sport Australia Carnival was held in Sydney from Sunday July 20 to Saturday July 26. There had been some rain leading into the week but overall the playing conditions were very good. On the first day the opening ceremony was held on the SCG and immediately after that all 3 NSW teams played their opening games of the Championships on the SCG ground.

The U15’s boys finished the Championships in fourth place as did the 16’s girls. The boys received one nomination for the Australian team, Charlie Spargo, and he is from Albury and is a CIS student. We also had 3 girls nominated for the Australian team from the 16’s girls, two from CHS and one from CCC. Lucy Raulston from Kildare Catholic College Wagga Wagga was from CCC.

All CCC players made a positive outcome to the results of the NSW All Schools Team. They were worthy inclusions but did not reach the required level to be considered for Australian selection.

It was another successful carnival in terms of the coaching staff. The blend of CHS, CCC and CIS personnel worked extremely well. For the boys the coach was Tim Sanson (CHS) a highly credentialed from Albury, Andrew Oddie was Team Manager from Finley (CHS), Matt Bedford as trainer and assistant (CIS) and myself as Assistant Coach. For the girls Mel Highland was coach from Junee (CHS) and Joanne King (CCC) was the Team Manager.

Tasmania came back into the U15’s boy’s competition after many years absent. This then pushed Victoria Country out so that an 8 team competition could be maintained.

The 2015 School Sport Australia event will return to Victoria and will be held in Geelong.

SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA (GIRLS)

NSW performed extremely well in the 2014 School Sport Australia Championships held in Sydney from July 20 to July 26.

NSW defeated ACT 11:10:76 to 1:0:6

Lucy Raulston (Kildare Catholic College) and Mary Sandral (St Francis De Salle College Leeton) played dominant games and contributed to the large win.

Victoria defeated NSW 15:10:100 to 1:0:6

Despite the dominance of Victoria, and ultimately winning the Championships, Lucy Raulston was once again our best player and held down her defensive position of centre half back.

NSW defeated SA 8:50 to 2:5:17

Brittany Walker from St Annes Central School Temora was the highest goal scorer in the game. She was a great focal point in the forward line.

WA defeated NSW 5:4:34 to 2:0:12

A tough and highly skilled game and the defensive skills of Lucy Raulston showed up again to keep the losing margin down to a reasonable score.

QLD defeated NSW 5:4:34 to 3:1:19

NSW were in contention to win the game but were finally over run by a more experienced QLD team. Britt Walker, Mary Sandral, Phillipa Davis (Holy Spirit College Bellambi) and Lucy Raulston were clear winners on the field.

At the completion of the Championships NSW finished 4^th. They also achieved players being selected in the Australian Team. Congratulations to Lucy Raulston on this achievement. The two other girls were from CHS schools.

Rick Joyce

NSWCCC AFL Convener, NSWCCC North Coach,  Assistant Coach NSW All Schools