Added Wednesday 23/05/2007

AN INDEPENDENT COMMENT ARRIVING IN THE EMAIL INBOX YESTERDAY,  TUESDAY MAY 22,  2007.

I have followed with interest your take on league.

 As you know the Homegrown squad has had the privilege of working with Jake Cooley and Rian Cherry this year.  Also in our squad is former TGS player Toby Mott and former Downlands players Will Chappel and Ben Cleary.  Next year we will hopefully continue with the development of Jake and Rian but the squad will also include Ned Mott and Michael Bermingham who will be a further two young players whose talents will also be lost from Union when school finishes.  You may ask the question why does union continue to miss out on these players.  Answer is simple.  They are encouraged , nurtured, supported and develop a belief in themselves. It is what sport is all about.  They then have confidence when they go onto the field as they know what they can achieve.  If they have a bad game it is exactly that a bad game.  Not the end of the world or the end of their careers.  It is also about having fun and enjoying themselves.   The Broncos are experts at this.  They put so much time into nurturing players and they develop loyalty through this. If you talk to the Broncos all of their training is developed around making sure it is hard but enjoyable.  Further with the Homegrown squad we have ensured that we have a balance of older players who have been there and done it to help guide the younger fellows.  It is all about trying to make them better players and to have fun while they are doing it.  This is why the likes of Jake and Rian want to be playing league.  They have grown up quickly since the start of the year.  Whilst Jake’s injury and Rian’s commitments to league have been frustrating for TGS they have been playing at a higher level than GPS schoolboys.  To see Jake in full flight against hardened men when he was playing for Valleys showed him in his element and showed the potential for him to go further.  Neither of these players were courted by union so it is not hard to see why they have little interest in the game.  It is rugby’s loss.

 Turning to rugby union it is disappointing the state of the game and the lack of support it receives from the Reds on the Downs.  Your passion and enthusiasm for the game can only take the sport so far unless the game starts to pay more attention to its future stars on the Darling Downs.  What is of great concern is the pressure which is being placed on these young men, not only from the coaches, but the fear of failure that comes from the bickering and sniping from those which aren’t on the field.  For instance some of your “independent views” I understand are being posted by senior school students.  Personally I think they would be better off concentrating on cheering their schoolmates on rather than trying to bring them down like spoilt, jealous school girls.  If they haven’t got something positive to say then don’t mention it.  Rugby, like all sports, is a confidence game.  If the players know they are copping it from their “school mates”  (let alone from their own coaches) then how can they be expected to succeed. 

 As a by-line I watched the Firsts from State High warming up the other day and the sheer enthusiasm these young men had and the awe that the younger students held them in was an example of what it is all about.  Perhaps it is the wonderful spirit that the islander contingent and their love of running rugby (and perhaps the guitars that they were playing before warming up) that makes the difference but what ever it was it sets an example for others.  They were enjoying themselves and their love of the game showed in the way they played.

My reply or comments on the email here.

I Missed 100% of the Shots I Didn't Take,  Michael Jordan.