Hey Guys,

Note

• Long email worth the read - thanks Breezy for the 2nds report & Steve for the 1sts
• Games this weekend may be swapped so please keep an eye on the email and listen on Thursday
  There is ONLY 2 games left. Lets ensure we train, support and turn up on time for each other over this last few weeks before the tour so BOTH teams are prepared as possible to win in Minneapolis!
• The Convicts will be back on board after the tour to make sure we win the Halligan Cup. All players back on board for Saturday 3rd July.

The seconds headed out to Turramurra to play against a Barker Old Boys team who assured us that they were old and hardly played together but who turned out to be a lot better than advertised and obviously full of ex higher grade players and probably the best team in terms of rugby knowledge and skill we have met this year.

Despite the fact that we still didn’t have a full team until 5 minutes before the game and players were asked to play out of their accustomed positions, the boys turned up to play with a great defensive effort against a wily and hardened opponent.

The boys were pinned in their own 20 metres for nearly the whole first half and had to repel wave after wave of attack with the forwards especially Pauly,Marcel and Kevin throwing themselves into the rucks and mauls and spoiling the oppositions go forward time and again while the backs tackled themselves and the opposition to a standstill with Simon, Dave and Giffy moving up to harrass and smother Barker attacks and force mistakes in the mid field.The Barker scrum was very strong and gave us problems until we adjusted to the hit. When guest player, Matt’s brother Nick went down with one of his customary dislocated shoulder we went to uncontested with our only reserve new player and winger Sam going into the front row,it was a big ask but he managed to hang in there.

The lineouts were one of the best aspects of our game with Marcel and his “Inspector Gadget” arms winning everything that came anywhere him and Kevin organising the back well. Despite the great defence something had to crack and the Barker boys ran in a pressure try a couple of minutes before the break but a 5 nil deficit was a mighty effort considering the circumstances.

With the boys tiring the second half was always going to be testing but the boys kept up the energy and intensity with no field position, no or bad ball and an experienced, hungry Barker lusting for points. Despite a lot of desperate defense and a couple of try saving bell ringers from Sam Chesterman the opposition ran in 3 late tries against a tiring Convicts out fit.

To their credit and with the help of a couple of penalties the boys had their best attacking passage in the final five minutes of the game where the forwards trucked it up in the oppositions 20 metres with ST calling the shots. but with all the defending they had had to do there wasn’t much gas left.

The final score was 24 - 0 but in an ambush like this it could have been a lot worse and against the odds the boys played with pride and determination and can hold their heads high knowing that nothing in Minneapolis will be able to dent defense like that and with some regulars returning soon our attack will soon be able to get moving. Our aim is to disrupt the opposition with our defense and then pile on the attack. Well done all that played!

The firsts headed out to Hunter’s Hill to play arned out it was team who have been very up and down this year. As it turned out, it was duly made a well and truly “down” week for the boys from Hunters. With a million tries to all and sundry it was not the challenge we needed, but nor did we fall into making the game scrappy adn drop to the level of our opposition. In truth, the scoreline we experienced has been on offer this year, it’s just now that we have matured enough to start capitalising.

One bad turn out of the game is broken fingers to the rampaging Aki. With Steve helped from the field also, it was possibly a bad week for injuryg, but plenty of reason to be hopeful. With a great try to the flying Smurf and a bulldozing try to Josh on the wing it was a week for highlights. Great running from charles, Levi and Big Girl kept the scoreboard ticking over but a lesson was taught to all by man of the match, the flying Jumbo. Who could forget seeing half a cattle station of prime beef screaming up the sideline, GOLD!

Great win guys, lets keep that killer instinct and hold onto what we focused on, keep the pressure on the opposition and give no reprieve.

Rugger Bugger XI
This Saturday is the last fundraiser for the tour..sell those tickets. Get down there in your Convicts T-Shirts, rugby shorts and get your friends down there (8-midnight)

Bingham Cup Tour:
We have our medical team in place:

• Dr Paul Hargadon
• Dr Michael White

Physio’s

• Erin Parish;
• Luke Heath
• Claire Youmans

This is a fantastic team, Dr Paul has been with us to Dublin while Claire took the Tongan rugby team on tour last year while Erin and Luke both have looked after rugby clubs and many sports teams on tour.

Last note that insurance is almost in place and the squad is all in place.

Sponsorship
For those that don’t know we are proud to announce a Jersey sponsor for the 2010 Bingham Cup Tour FX Open. Some information below and thank you Josh for facilitating the transaction:

—–

FXOpen, is one of the worlds largest retail Foreign exchange Brokerage houses, used specifically for hedging and speculative purposes.

Just as on its first day FXOpen is guided now by the same key principles fair, professional and convenient trading conditions for its clients, and pivots its work on constant upgrade and development of cutting-edge trading technologies.
——–
Contact Duncan, myself or anyone on the Committee if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Charlie
President

Hey Guys,

NOTE:
- Both fitness and Thursday training is on whether it is raining or not

Two tough games on Saturday. Firsts had to tavel out to Blacktown and some were a little late and with only two reserves and a referee who didn’t know the ruck laws, the Convicts could easily have allowed themselves to be ambushed. However some very intelligent back line work with an intercept by James Saunders and then a great inside ball from Jay to Aron “Big Girl” Warren meant that within 15minutes the Convicts who hadn’t really left their own half were 14-0 up. The rest of the half was taken up with the Convicts fixing up their mistakes or defending the league type agressive offense. The second half things didn’t change to much though the first 10 minutes had the Convicts in Blacktown’s quarter and it took some continued pressure for a gap to open and James again to to get over the line..followed closly by a knee from a frie’ ndly Blacktown player. The rest of the half had Blacktown camped down in the Convicts half and really hold onto the ball on the ground and look for the big hits plus the first “bunch of fag*ts call” in years showed the team’s frustration at the excellent defence. Some great work in open play by Jumbo (2 points) and Baby Bear (3 points). The final minute saw James duff a kick and give Blacktown a final opportunity to attack which they made the mistake of kicking deep into the 22 and providing Jay with an opportunity to counter attack which he did and score the 4th try under the posts without a hand laid on him - giving the firsts a bonus point win deep in Blacktown! A good result which could have been a terrible day.

The second’s had a tough game against last year’s Halligan Cup winners and with some people not turning up to play made it even harder. A credit to the team and those that played for a hard
4 tries to nill loss - though congrats to Matt Barnes who had a couple of good tackles during his longest period on the field so far.

This brings me to a significant point - Bingham Cup is only 4 weeks away. Everyone should be making sure they are attending every training session and every game to ensure that everyone is prepared for this significant event. The Club, including the Committee and players have put in a huge effort to get everyone ready to go - this is the time when the extra effort makes the difference between a good fun tour and and absoluely brilliant event! Just commit yourself to putting in the effort for the next 4 weeks and you will enjoy the tour that much more and we will return with our personal and club goals achieved.

Weekend’s games
Convicts 1st Vs Hunter’s Hill
Boronia Park, Hunter’s HillÂ
Kick off 1:15PM (Players there for 12:15PM)

Convicts 2nds Vs BOBRUFC,
Turramurra Oval Kick off 10 am (players there for 9AM)

Upcoming Events:
Footylicious
Slide Nightclub
Friday 21st May 7:30PM
Come and support the fundraiser for our two female coaches - Bronnie and Lou
Tickets $20 pre-sale or $25 on the door (NO Convicts T-Shirts)

Rugger Bugger
Midnight Shift Saddle Bar
Saturday 29th May - 8PM - Midnight
Sell those tickets

Back to Convicts DaySaturday 5th June @ Colleagues

Bingham Cup Tour Briefing and final training
Sunday 6th June @ Colleagues

Stinger’s Trivia Night
Friday 18th June at Paddington RSL - $25 each email info@sydneystingers.org.au to book a table

Contact me, Duncan or anyone on the Committee if you have any questions..

Cheers,

Charlie
President

Hey Guys,

Another weekend and another double win - the Convicts are on a roll.

The seconds played King’s Old Boys down at Concord. Kings are always a well drilled and experienced bunch though not on Saturday not a fit or committed as the Convicts. The first half was an arm wrestle (like last week) though not many opportunities were around. The back line was like bringing out the oldies with Tim P, BJ, Geoffie, Matt V and Laf making up most of the backline though even though it wasn’t perfect there were some glimpses of the star backline. The forward pack was solid and defended well against some good pick and driving.

The second half was when some of KOB’s fitness started to fade though they were the ones to cross the line though Tim P held the large inside centre up. That was the last encursion into the Convicts half and then we just camped in KOB’s half and kept at them. Then finally the pressure was too much as the ball was moved quickly to the sideline with Junrey again (like last week) able to finish off a great sustained pressure. Well done, those Tuesday fitness training’s are paying off but also the commitment was for all to see.

The firsts had another solid win, well led by James Saunders and Officer Down. Roseville were a step up from Uni and kept the scoreline to 0-0 for much of the first half. With a heap of positional changes we weren’t able to capitalise on early pressure but the sense of inevitability became reality when the Aki missile was to strong close to the line. The scoreline stayed till halftime, Roseville lucky to be still in touch.

A few changes and good half time strategy saw greater dominance in the second half amounting to an early try to James under the posts. With damage done through the midfield from Big Bird and Jay alongside closer damage from Kev and Officer, we were able to get on top. An opportunistic scoop from Josh, cleaning up like all good finishers do saw the result all but concluded. The race was on for the all important fourth try. Bursting away for another runaway try Josh was cruelly pulled up without advantage, an unfortunate blip from an otherwise solid referee.

Another good win and a great test in playing out of position and holding it all together.

Newsletter:
You all would have now received the newsletter and you should have completed the survey by now - if not then please do so ASAP.

I will send out another email during the week confirming the game times next weekend. I believe 1st are against Blacktown @ Blacktown (1PM I think) and 2nds TBC.

Upcoming Events:

• Fitness training each Tuesday with Vald - 7PM at Rushcutter’s Bay
• Rugger Bugger XI - Saturday 29th May @ the Shift. Sell your tickets (Talk to Chris Leesa) and get out the word.
• Back to Convicts Day - Saturday 5th June @ Colleagues.
• Sunday Trainings - 16th May & 6th June. Note 6th June will be also a Bingham Tour briefing and merchandise hand out. Time and place TBC

Cheers,

Charlie
President

Hey Guys,

The firsts had another good hitout against uni NSW, coming up trumps again 31-5. With a long list of players out of position it was a taste of Bingham to come with Jay, Josh, Deano, Mala and man of the match, Big Bird all having extended runs in unfamiliar territory. Very pleasingly the whole team took on the training we had and the breakdown was a far cleaner place providing smurf with good ball. And as we have come to expect, our very pretty backs did the rest. With stronger opposition on the horizon, Bingham Cup to come, the firsts are on track to challenge for the unprecedented double, Bingham and Halligan in one year.

Having to be at Camperdown at 8:30AM meant an early start but the Convicts seconds were up for it with a good turn up. Te first half saw Petersham spend most of their time in the Convicts half though hte Convicts were up for it and defence held firm. This was a fantastic defensive effort especially from the forward - Marty was doing some great work though his second half was probably why he received 3 points. The second half saw some changes and Deano made his return though the break through was made by moving teh ball across the field quickly to the quick Junrey who scooted away to score in the corner. The tough conversion from the sideline wasn’t sucessful. Then Petersham came back and spent most of the rest of the game in the Convicts half but again the defence was fantastic and the score ended up 5-0. Congrats to the seconds for their first win of the competition and in particular note the great second half which previulsy has been an issue.

Weekend Games:
Details of this weekend’s games have already been sent out though repeated below:

Convicts 1 vs. Roseville
Killara Park, Roseville
Kick-off 1pm Players there 12 pm

Convicts 2 vs. Kings Old Boys
Rothwell Park, Concord
Kick-off 9.50 am, players there 8.50 am

Bingham Cup Survey & Newsletter:
I believe you should have received the latest Bingham Cup Newsletter and request for you to complete a survey over night/tonight. So if you have please respond by completing the survey as quickly as possible.

Rugger Bugger XI
The Rugger Bugger XI (Saturday 29th May) Creative team are looking for a BUNCH of fit guys to be in the next show.
So far we have 4 confirmed new guys but we need more.
We also need other convicts that wanna do it again but only if they haven’t done it for a while or have only done it once.
We are looking for new talent preferably. We need to slot in names within the next 2 weeks.
Song has been chosen and the theme and plot is brilliant.

This is gonna be a memorable one.

So call Stu, text on 0410324384 or email on recoverybunny@hotmail.com if you are interested.

Wine Fundraiser
You all should have received an email earlier outlining how you can raise money for both yourselves and the club over the next month and beyond

Sunday Training
At a Coaches and Captain’s Bingham Cup meeting on Monday there was agreement that at least 2 Sunday trainings will be held, currently proposed for the 16th May and 6th June. Note the 6th June is when there will be a Bingham Cup briefing and hand out of tour merchandise (and is compulsory).

Convicts Staying Behind in June
Guys there are a few guys staying behind when 60+ of us head over to the US. A couple of guys have put their hands up to co-ordinate socially and games with Colleagues Halligan while we’re away. So keep your ears to the ground for what will happen.

Contact me, Duncan or anyone on the Committee if you have any questions.

Cheers,

Charlie
President