Anticipation was high as season 2014 approached us. The newly founded modified rugby was to be launched, the 9’s and 10’s Football had been promoted to the top division, and the Open Footballers were chomping at the bit to expose opposition teams with their skill and combinations.

The hallowed Koola Park was the venue for the Rugby competition, with 25 teams from all over Sydney vying for a position amongst the sevens elite.  The 9’s were first to grace the fields and they have subsequently had a magnificent season to date, dropping only one match to the equally strong Arden team. In amongst that they have amassed over 50 tries, and made over 200 tackles!

The 9’s Rugby have strength right across the park from forwards to outside backs.  Up front we have Toby Ashworth and Caleb Strawbridge terrorizing defences with aggressive running and devastating tackling and stealing. Close to the ruck James Blakeman and William Johnson are terriers, running, tackling and causing a nuisance to opposition teams constantly.  Outside of them, the ever improving Ethan Hardwick, William Chandler and Zac Kingston are making names for themselves as go to men when a strong run is required.  Then we have the pace of Ewen MacCulloch and Shea Tonge who leave opposition teams in their wake when in full flight.

The 10’s Rugby team have had a similar season to the 9’s, with only one loss to their name against an 11’s Arden team.  For the rest of the season it has been a try fest, with the team scoring over 70 tries with great poise, speed, strength and precision. Across the park, there is not a weakness!

Up front Will Gray has been outstanding, as has Angus Ashworth.  Henry Taylor has improved with every game and is looking to roll his sleeves up and do the hard work in defence, as has young Jack Bristow.  In the backline, there is a wealth of talent, speed and skill with Lachlan Hull, James Whiteing, Laksh Pande and Eddie Timpson showing that the future of Newington Rugby is in good hands.

In the 11’s Rugby we have the two shades fighting it out for supremacy, with the Black team just shaving the White team in the winning stakes.  In fact, the Black team have only suffered one loss, going down to a fighting Arden team once more.

For the Black Team, captain courageous Hamish Danks has been a fortress, running with gusto and tackling and stealing with the best of them.  Supporting him in the forwards has been the highly impressive and aggressive Ethan Strawbridge and the very talented would be forward Nilanka Abbey.  Big improver Alex Frye has had a great couple of games leading into the season break.  In the backline Liam Dundon has grown into a very talented ball player, with Marcus Renshaw on the receiving end of some great passes from Dundon.  Lukas Tahmindjis and Harry L’Orange have also grown into the team, starting to make their mark with some nice touches.

In the White Team it has been a tale of two halves of the season.  One where they were trying to find their feet, and one that has shown they have come a long way since game 1.

Up front, Will Stormont, James Makris, Oliver Johnson and Tom Moody have taken time to combine well together, but are now a force to be reckoned with.  Moody and Stormont have been devastating at times, both in defence and attack.  In the backline Xavier Sheahan has enjoyed the switch to half back with Jarrah Ronan showing a lot of class as the new fly half, along with James Brenn.  Ned Greenwell and Garth Bickford have been impressive out on the fringes also. James Davison has been the find of the season, however, with his bone crunching tackling and clever runs and passes making him an integral part of this team.

In the Opens, it has been a topsy-turvy type season, with some brilliant moments and some not so great moments.  Let’s focus on the brilliant! First up, it is the forward pack, which has been dominated so far by the powerhouse of Tane Blessington and Finn Rose.  Not far behind is the ever improving and student of the game Sam Bristow.  Along with Alex Peterson, these four have been colossal up front, dominating many opposition teams who appeared to have their measure.  Supporting this forward pack is the backline with Will Flannigan and Tim Riddell sharing the half back duties with great distinction.  Oliver Thompson has then been a great foil for Alex Short in a combination that has reaped many a try this season.  Gabriel Dickinson rounds out this backline and has shown what great wingplay should look like in his first season in the sport since leaving the world game last year.

Speaking of the world game, let’s look at how the footballers have faired so far this season, starting with the 9’s Football.  This team excelled last year, and as such were promoted to the top division, and it has been a brilliant start, with close matches each week against each of the three other opposition teams.

In this team young William Lane and Harry Stuart have been revelations, scoring at will and supporting their teammates along the way.  Supporting them are impressive midfielders Cameron Davey-Webb, Daniel Martin and Cooper Stewart.  Improvers have been Josh L’Orange, Jean Azzi, Justin Gao, Marcus Gripton-Corbett, Benji McDonald and Harrison Miles.  And then there are the ever reliable Year 2 helpers in Freddie Bourne, Harry Forsyth and newly found superstars in Stylianos Vasili and Gabe Gordon.  We have also had Diesel James and Sam Stewart do a sterling job from year 1 to make this a team of the future!

The 10’s Football have been moved up a division this year also, and since they were the 9’s team that dominated last year, this season was much anticipated….and they have let down no-one with some great little pick-ups along the way.

One of these pick ups is Oliver Short, who has combined beautifully with old hand Ryoma Suzuki for a mountain of goals already this season. Rock solid players Tom Hooke, Nathan Ma, Angus Bourne, Jack Middleton, Armedeou Hardyanto and Connor Plank provided the backbone of the team.  Newly founded players Connor Egiziano, Jett Leong, Cameron Liu, Owen Ng, Tom Kennedy, Charlie Carr and Anton Lising gave great impetus to the already dominant attack.  And then the ever-improving Parsa Yazdani and Benjamin Fitzgerald allowed for the package to be completed for the always smiling Mr C.

Time for the Opens, and the B team – spirits were high as the season kicked off at Koola Park against St Patrick’s. although winless in their games to date, there has been steady improvement with every match.

Up front, Benjamin Tahmindjis and Kalen James have worked hard every match, coming inches short on scoring a handful of goals.  Oliver Prosser, Alistair Shaw, William Cordwell and Lachlan Green have been very solid in defence, stopping everything in their path, and passing with greater precision as the games progress.  Oliver Sheahan, Luke Snell, Zac Little, Justin Dai, Ethan Haffenden and Jack Lu have been the big improvers this season, showing greater drive and a will to succeed.  That leaves Alex Kerr and Patrick Christensen who have been the backbone of the team, holding the shape of the defence in place.  With four games to come, a win it seems is just around the corner.

And so that just leaves the Open A’s….who at this point in time, are the most successful team of the winter season, undefeated at this current time.  Wins of 10-0, 10-1, 7-0 and 10-0 may have been more of the failings of their opposition than quality play from the Lindfield boys, the final match of the term brought the true class to the fore.

A newly founded and strong Amity College outfit were well beaten 3-0 by the classy Newington team, with some outstanding performances to boot.  Aiden Mostofi, Harry Bell, Oscar Moody and Soma Suzuki offer a formidable top four, offering speed, skill, and lethal strikes on goal, netting 20 goals between them.  Ethan Nemeth, Reuben Chippeck and Oscar Bradley offer solid support in the midfield, passing with great precision and creating great attacking weapons in all situations.  Boris Lee, Matthew Gamble, Luke Dickinson, Callum Sharp and James Francis are all strong in defence, as shown by the 2 goals conceded all year; and an embarrassment of riches sees two impressive goal keepers and field players Jonty Carr and Tom Williamson at the disposal of coach Edwards.

So with four matches to go in the Winter Season, it remains to be seen which team will emerge as the most successful, and to what will we base this on.  If it was up to me completely, I would award this to all the teams, as I feel this has been the most successful season that I have been involved in. I can’t wait to see how it ends!

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