Will Force players decide who plays in club finals

[goony]

word on the street is that all force players have been stood down from playing this weekend... poor uni, now you might have to field your proper team :p

[pieter blackie]

they will not be playing for the rest of the season

[bunter]

Have the Clubs been told this officially????

[rick boyd]

Bad news I'm afraid guys -- it has now been confirmed that Uni will have David Pocock and Sam Wykes available for full games, and James Stannard and Tom Murday for 25 minutes each.

Perth-Bayswater will need to overcome a team that has nealry a third of its playing strength made up of elite, professional players for at least some of the match.

And with the competition being so tight, a loss here could knock Perth-Bayswater out of the finals.

[fulvio sammut]

Oh I could say something. Hold back Fulvio. Hold back. HOLD BACK....

[fulvio sammut]

Murday will have a field day with you guys.

[pieter blackie]

What is the use to play these guys and then they cannot play in the finals( I am almost sure none of them played in round one, also if I am not mistaken the Force are in the UK when the club finals are played.
So is it really fair to all the clubs (not having a number of contracted players) using these guys to get into the finals and then you can't produce the goods in the finals. Is this healthy for Club rugby in WA in general?????

Just my thoughts on the matter

[bunter]

Fair call Pieter, by the competition rules, that I am sure all clubs abide by, players have to have played in six separate rounds of the comp. A round being one Saturday as I understand it.
This is to stop a player playing in three grades on one Saturday and claiming it as three matches toward eligibility.
This changes for "Professional players" who only have to play three matches for eligibility.
You are correct that most of these players will not be available for finals matches, hence the ridiculous situation that has allowed clubs to use them to get there, but not have them in finals.
The whole situation, as described to the clubs with the inception of the S14 side coming here, regarding the professional players being used by clubs has changed dramatically.
I applaud raising the skill level in the competition by the use of these players in community rugby, but surely there could have been a more even distribution rather than the distorted competition we have now.
Love to hear others views.

[pieter blackie]

For those who doesn't have access to the rules

11.2 FINALS ELIGIBILITY
a. A player is not eligible to play for any Club in Finals matches in any grade unless:
b. He or she is registered with that Club and has competed in at least six (6) matches in
separate rounds in that season.
c. Contracted professional players with the ARU and RugbyWA must have competed in
at least 3 matches in separate rounds in that season.
d. He or she has played the majority of his or her games in that team or in a team in a
lower grade.
e. If a player plays more than one match (other than as a replacement or substitute) in
any Competition round, he or she shall be graded according to one match, which
shall be the highest grade in which he or she played during that round. The order of
grading shall be 1st Grade, 2nd Grade, Under 20s, 3rd Grade, Under 18s, 4th Grade, 5th
Grade and 6th Grade.
f. Should a Club’s highest grade be ranked lower than the Under 20 and/or the Under
18 competitions, they may submit an application for the Compeition Manger for
dispensation under rule 11.3 for the Final Series.
g. If after having played a game in a lower grade, a player takes the field as a
replacement or substitute in a higher grade, his or her grading will be the original
match in which he or she played.
h. Clubs with teams playing in successive grades (excluding Under 18s and Under 20s)
at the same venue on the same day in Final Series matches shall be allowed to
select teams from players available for each of these grades. A player whose
eligibility is deemed to be graded in the higher grade may be selected and play in the
lower grade, but is not permitted to play in the higher grade unless he or she is a
replacement or substitute player. Also, a player whose eligibility is for the higher
grade and is selected in the higher grade cannot be a replacement or substitute in
the lower grade.

...

[bunter]

Also:

5. REGISTRATIONS OF PLAYERS AND COACHES
a. Each club shall ensure that all its players, coaches and officials are properly registered
on the official form prescribed by the Australian Rugby Union and that the responsible
club officials properly counter signs each registration.
b. A person shall be eligible to play for an Affiliated Club in a match conducted or
controlled by the Union only if he or she registered as a playing member of that
Affiliated Club for that year.
c. A person shall be eligible to coach for an Affiliated Club in a match conducted or
controlled by the Union only if he or she registered as a coach of that Affiliated Club for
that year.
d. All Registrations must be entered on MyRugbyAdmin by the Club no later than 5 days
after that player has completed the registration form.
e. Each original registration form must be sent to the Competition Administrator and the
club must retain a copy.
f. The Competition Administrator shall keep and maintain details of all players, coaches
and officials including the name of the Club to which they belong.

[gotheforce]

I personally like the players in our clubs. Really gives us normal blokes playing grade rugby a chance to test our skills against these professional players. and also gives us a chance to start friendships with these blokes.
Yeah, it might not be healthy for club rugby, but yet, one cna argue it is.
I have to admit that there is a significant increase in attendance by the crowd when there is a force player(s) playing in the match. Kids will actually make the effort to come down after britannia and watch the games because of these force blokes. i think its doing grassroot level rugby some good cos it promotes the sport as well as makes the players a lot more inviting and community based. Good public relations for the force as well!

[pieter blackie]

I personally like the players in our clubs. Really gives us normal blokes playing grade rugby a chance to test our skills against these professional players. and also gives us a chance to start friendships with these blokes.
Yeah, it might not be healthy for club rugby, but yet, one cna argue it is.
I have to admit that there is a significant increase in attendance by the crowd when there is a force player(s) playing in the match. Kids will actually make the effort to come down after britannia and watch the games because of these force blokes. i think its doing grassroot level rugby some good cos it promotes the sport as well as makes the players a lot more inviting and community based. Good public relations for the force as well!

GTF you are correct about the skill and the crowd numbers and all the other stuff I also love watching these guys play because they really give another dimension to the games they play in
The only problem there is at the moment is the distribution of these player Some clubs have up to 4 actively playing players and other clubs have none!!

It is no use RugbyWA says you can have player "whoever" but come crunch time he is never allowed to play

We all know that one player in a side can't really make a difference but when you have 4 top WA players in one team they sure as hell gonna make a difference.

.

[Thequeerone]

When a player joins EWF he is given a suggested club - even numbers - Players have had different experiences in Clubland and some have left their nominated clubs and gone to other clubs they are human beings after all.

[NTT]

ooh, sounds like rugby wa is damned if they do and damned if they don't...

a more even distribution of force players is definitely needed, i agree. but sadly if the force players have tours and rep commitments then this makes availability almost sporadic, which is tough on the clubs. i'm sure rugby wa is monitoring the situation too work through a solution which benefits all. hopefully the clubs with the strongest squads will rise to the top and maintain the integrity of the comp. but the tail should never wag the dog in terms of players availability ....

there you go boys, tee off on that ....

[pieter blackie]

Well said NTT Like you say I hope RUGBYWA have been watching and I hope they have a plan for next year

This Afternoon Baysies will have to play out there skins to beat Uni and I hope this happen