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Last year, when bananas were $17 a kilo, the senior grades at Palmyra were supplied with copious quantities of the fruit for after game resuscitation.
This year, when they can be sourced for a mere $1.99 a kilo, club president Kim "Scrooge" Short has decreed, as a cost saving measure, the the players should supply their own. I don't yet know if this will lead to a player revolt, but there have been rumblings in the change rooms about taking a pair of scissors to the committees' "hospitality" cards on the first match day.
What is going on at Nedlands? Word is that things are not well at that club, at least politically, and that machiavellian plots are being hatched. Uneasy sits the crown ...
I hear a certain player who jumped clubs is about to receive a rude surprise, as is the club that is relying on him to replace an ornament of the game who won't be available this year. Seems both the player and the new club have overlooked the enforceability of a legally binding and registered player contract which won't be voided by the Party of the First Part...
Rockingham stocks are going up and up with the dream appearance at the club of a newly transferred highly qualified New Zealand Navy Rugby coach seconded to the Stirling Naval base for a couple of years. Apparently he walked into the club and offered his services in any capacity, gratis, no strings attached. I dare say he will be followed by a useful bunch of Kiwi Navy rugby lads to bolster the fast swelling player numbers at Lark Hill, at least in the lower grades.
Associates are, for the first time since their move to Swanbourne, sweating on player numbers. Thirds and Fourths are looking dicey, and you can forget about second teams in those grades. Under 18s are also kaput.
Cottesloe managed 6 players at under 18s training this week, despite a high powered, desperate recruiting drive. Make of that what you will.
RugbyWA are all a dither. First, Southern Lions were upgraded to first division Third Grade at the expense of Rockingham, and then, as suddenly as David Redpath made the solemn announcement, they were demoted to second tier again. Never underestimate the fury of a scorned Wallaroo, it seems. Curious, as Rockingham didn't even field a third Grade last year, and the Lions played in the grand final.
In a lean week for gossip and innuendo, this is all I'm able to come up with.
Over to you lot.