Metro Rugby

[Pacman]

[RumourMonger]

"the better boys opt for 20s and some cases higher"

This is very much the exception. The vast majority of 17 year olds play 2 years in U18's then move to 20's.

Occasionally a boy will play 1 year of U18's then go to 20's.

Rugby WA do not sign off on dispensations lightly so it is only the most talented that are permitted to play up.

Westie was referring to the State U15 team and you conveniently changed it to the State Schoolboy team - changing the angle to win your argument? The State Schoolboy team always has a reasonable PSA representation - the issue is the PSA boys not returning to clubs after the clubs train them up, lose them at Year 19 and then the majority of boys are lost to the game after Year 12.


PS Paccy, Reds is a wannabe under 6 coach and I suspect is also a wannabe school teacher.

[Pacman]

U 18 standard fairly poor as the better boys opt for 20s and some cases higher.

The standard of PSA Rugby across the board is VERY poor when compared to CSC Rugby, WAJRU U16s & WARU U18s. From what i've seen, the top teams from any three of these grades I mention would put the PSA teams to the sword!!

As for state selection, 40 years of experience should tell you, swings and roundabouts! A few years ago nearly 3/4 of the Schoolboys were PSA boys.

Again, a handful of quality boys does not make for a strong comp, which PSA is clearly not. All these boys come up through the club system, then are told by PSA they can’t play club anymore???

Still not sure why you feel the need to bag a system that has many boys playing each week.

You’re missing the point Westie and other's are making here......……..Rugby in Western Australia is a minority sport with limited player numbers, it’s not N.Z where schools run the juniors then they go into club once they leave school.

The W.A landscape (Suburban spread) with numerous suburban high schools spread wide and far, both Public and Private; this setup does not allow for a schools comp to be played on the weekend.

PLAY YOUR COMP during the week days like CSC and allow boys from PSA schools to play club on the Saturday.


Tell me Reds81, how many PSA 1st XV fixtures are there?

[DinkyDi]

After watching my kids go through the PSA system and then on to Club rugby, I can agree and disagree with the comments above.

On its Year, the top PSA teams would give any CSC school, including Aranmore etc a good run but the issues are that:
A) No PSA rugby player is allowed to train for rugby until the end of the the first term due to the school being committed to its summer sports - this means that they do not even look at a rugby ball until April which is ridiculous.
B) they are competing with six other summer sports which thins the playing ranks tremendously.
C) The PSA headmasters, generally, do not want their schools to play outside of the PSA comp as "it could distract the boys from their focus on TEE" Too much sport is overtaxing on kids who happen to be at schools where the TEE ranking is far more important to funding than sports success.

All you have to do is look at the local lads who have made either Force or National U20s etc etc and you will find that the majority are PSA kids. Names like Zacc Holmes, Cruze Arnuh, Kyle Godwin, Dave Halylett-Petty, Justin Turner etc are the proof that the PSA does put out some fine players.

Now, would the school rugby players benefit from playing in a true local schools comp.. absolutely but what can you do when PSA schools are a business and academic rankings matter far more to the board than sports success.

The CSC comp is improving each year and players are benefiting from playing club rugby each weekend. The PSA comp is not as strong across the board but it will never change until sporting prowess has an impact on the school's bottom line.... that too is a long way off.

[GIGS20]

After watching my kids go through the PSA system and then on to Club rugby, I can agree and disagree with the comments above.

On its Year, the top PSA teams would give any CSC school, including Aranmore etc a good run but the issues are that:
A) No PSA rugby player is allowed to train for rugby until the end of the the first term due to the school being committed to its summer sports - this means that they do not even look at a rugby ball until April which is ridiculous

you forgot to mention the hierarchy of the seven sports in ach school, sure some of the schools push rugby hard, but not all. There is a significant push (usually coming from the Old Boys) to various sports at most schools. Thus diluting the playing ranks even more.

Rugby usually has to compete with Hockey and Football, not helpful in WA