News from Ballina Rugby Club

Issue 2 of our monthly Junior Newsletter is now available.

All players from the 8s, 10s & 16s were given a copy on Friday night, so if any parents haven’t seen a copy, go digging in your son’s or daughter’s footy bag. The newsletter will be scrunched up between the dirty socks and stinky chest & shoulder protectors. The 13s and 12s will receive a copy at training on Wednesday. The next four rounds of games are printed at the end of the newsletter, so make sure it makes it onto the fridge door for quick reference.

To all of our Juniors, don’t forget that the Senior grades are at home this Saturday against Wollongbar-Alstonville. Get those club polo shirts on and come along to cheer on the Seahorses.

Under10s                                                                                                                                               On a damp night Ballina took on a very physical Evans Head side that are the benchmark of the U10 Competition this season. Ballina, while being a little ruffled by the Evans Head defence, never stopped trying and played a great game with continued improvement across the park in terms of tackling, ball movement and ball retention. It was a fine effort which was rewarded by Jarrod scoring the final try of the game which Hamish duly converted. All the boys are improving with Zach, Ryley, Dre, Heath and Malik taking on the bigger and more physical forwards all day. Alecki, Hamish, Haydon, Kyuss and Jarrod Run with gusto and determination while also tackling well. The coaches are happy with each player’s improvement and hope they keep their positive outlook to their rugby going.

Under13s                                                                                                                                             The Under 13s played Grafton in a game that finished in cold and wet conditions. Grafton have struggled a bit this year and the 13s were grateful for Grafton’s dedication in making the long trek up with only 13 players. To Grafton’s credit they put in right to the final whistle in what turned out to be a one sided affair in favour of our boys. Ballina loaned a couple of players to Grafton and those boys all put in 100% effort for the Redmen.
From the kick off, Ballina played with an intensity that has been building since the season started. Attacking from our own try line, the first try after two minutes set the tone, with Ballina scoring a total of five tries from plays starting within our own 22.
The team tackled their hearts out, again showing improvement from last week, and vindicating the decision to train in the wet on Wednesday night.
Matt scored 5 tries with 3 of these starting within his own 22 and kept well away from the sideline (which has been his achilles heel for the last few weeks). Brad scored 3 tries, and for someone who had never played before this season, has picked up the game exceptionally well.
Special mention needs to go to Kenny, Dion and Darcy who all played for Evans Head (who were short on players) in the Under 12s and then backed up for the Under 13s.
With 10 players who have never played rugby before this season, the guys are finally hitting their straps and all signs are great for the rest of the season with an amazing rise in the standard of play from the team. A special mention needs to go to Guy, Travis and Jake’s mothers who forgot to bring the champagne to celebrate the first win of the year.

The ARU & NSWRU are running a Foundation Course at the Ballina Rugby Club on Sunday the 6th June. This course is for anyone wanting to obtain their Level 1 Coaching or Level 1 Referee accreditation. It is an all day course with lunch provided and is highly recommended to anyone in the club considering refereeing rugby or coaching whether it be Juniors or Seniors. Both the Senior and Junior Clubs pay the $70 fee for any player or member of the club to do the course and the ARU generally only run one or two of these courses a year. With this course being run at our home club, it is a golden opportunity for members to obtain Level 1 accreditation. If you would like any further information about the course content, have a chat to Ross Wilkinson, Mick Claes or Karlo.

A fantastic turn out by the Juniors last Saturday when the Senior Club hosted Lismore City. The younger kids really enjoyed making the tunnel for the 1st and 2nd Grade players and from all reports, the Junior Seahorses had a great day.

A big thank you must go to the Senior Club for accommodating a Juniors Day and also many thanks to Ray, Adam and Tony for getting the kids organised for their game during the 1st Grade half time break, Lyster, Jackie and the canteen helpers for getting the free food organised for the boys and girls and of course the parents for bringing the kids along to support the Seniors. The Juniors looked great in their club polo shirts. Well done to everyone involved.

8s                                                                                                                                                                     The Ballina Under 8’s travelled to Casino and had a great game. Showing excellent evasive skills to score, they were able to come away with a convincing win 12 tries to 2 . After 3 draws from the first 3 rounds, this game broke the pattern convincingly. The team is showing great improvement and making tracking , chasing and tagging the strong points of their game.

10s                                                                                                                                                                     On a chilly night Ballina took on Casino who seemed to be a little bigger across the park than our guys. Although well behind on the scoreboard, Ballina never gave up and their 2nd half effort was sensational considering we had no reserves and had done a ton of tackling in the first half. The game highlighted some areas we need to work on at training but the important thing is that the lads are having fun and are improving each game. Player of the game was Kyuss who tackled very well against much bigger opposition. Zach, Ryley, Dre and Malik kept taking it up all game in the forwards while Alicki,Hamish, Haydon and Jarrod made many spirited runs into the teeth of the physically bigger Casino defense. Again the players made the coaches really proud with their efforts.

13s                                                                                                                                                                   The under 13s were playing against the competition leaders Wollongbar who, with 13 representative players in their squad, were always going to be tough to match. 
From the opening whistle the boys played with vigor and skill, and whilst they were up against the larger and more experienced team, they tackled their hearts out and held Wollongbar for several periods.
The half time score was 45 to nil, a good result considering the difference between the two sides but after a rousing halftime talk, our boys came out determined to take it to the opposition in the second half. For most of the second period the teams were evenly matched with Ballina crossing for the first try to be scored against Wollongbar this year. This half was a better reflection of the improving skill of the Ballina boys (a team boasting 60% of first time rugby players this year), with the second half score a respectable 19 – 5.

Under 12s & 16s (report to follow)

During 2010 we will be putting a monthly newsletter together to keep everyone associated with our Junior Seahorses up to date with all of the latest news and events. There is also a part draw in there showing the next 4 or 5 rounds for all grades. A printed copy of the newsletter will also be available at training tonight, so please grab a copy and stick it on the fridge.

PDF Version of the Newsetter is here

The Ballina Junior Seahorses were away last Friday night in the 8s, 10s & 16s. The 12s & 13s had the week off due to the Junior Country Championships being played in Lismore over the weekend.

Under 8s

The Under 8s travelled to Bangalow and came away with a draw making 3 Draws from 3 games ! Players showed improvement with their Ball Skills, tagging and field position and it was a very entertaining game.

 Under 10s

The Under 10s made the trek to Lismore to take on the Lismore White Under 10s and despite trying hard all game and playing some good football at times, unfortunately were a little outclassed by a side that obviously had some guys playing in their 2nd year of Under 10s. These older boys jumped on any mistakes the Ballina boys made and showed them what areas of the game we need to work on.  The Ballina players showed a fighting spirit all night and tried valiantly until the final whistle. Jarred, Hamish, Alecki and Hayden ran with purpose all game and broke many tackles with Hayden being unlucky not to score a try. Zach led his forwards well with some fine running and tackling. Ryley, Dre, Malik and Heath tussled well all night in the mauls against the older kids. Kyuss tackled  some of their bigger guys really well. Very proud of all the lads as they never gave up and are turning into a very competitive outfit. Well done Under 10s.

 Under 16s

The Under 16s provided sound opposition to a Casino team that sported  a couple of large and fast backs who provided tries at crucial times in the game. The Ballina forwards played very well and retained a very reasonable 50-65% of possession in the first half. Tries in the first half to Will Budden and second half to James Heath kept the Ballina team in touch but were not enough to put Ballina on the winners list. Great defensive games were had by Djati Harrison and Corey Power in the backs and forwards were well led by try scorer Grant Knight and James Heath while Tom Carruthers continues to impress as his confidence builds with his lineout technique.

Ballina Junior Rugby Union play their first games at home this Friday night with all grade represented. The bar will be open from 6pm and all club member are welcome to attend. There will be a jersey presentation to each of the grades.

The club had a good start to the season last weekend, and while the results didn’t go our way, overall the club was well represented.

The under 8s played with spirit and had a hard game against the Lennox Head under 8s.

The under 10s and 12s played at Yamba and by all reports played well.

The under 13s under the watchful eye of first time coach Craig Dangar, were soundly beaten by Lennox Head, but played the game hard. In his round up of the game, Craig, noted the hard tackling of his team, and that there was an excellent base for the season ahead.

The club has enjoyed an excellent start to the season, with first, second and third grade undefeated, and under 19s one from two after a hard fought loss to Grafton on the weekend.

The club travelled down to Grafton in all grades on the weekend, with a bus provided and a Hawaiian theme for the trip home. Special mention should go to Robbo who forgot to bring a Hawaiian shirt for the night and was suitably rewarded for his effort.

The games against Grafton were played in good spirit and without Ballina giving an inch.

First grade started in a lethargic manner, which is common after the bus trip down, most pleasingly is that they played the entire 80 minutes, and although behind after 30 minutes maintained sustained pressure and finally ran up four tries in a 26 – 8 victory. Whilst this was the second bonus point from two weeks, the team still has a long way to go to play as a cohesive unit and will be looking forward to Jerry’s loving touch during the week.

The game was very stop start, with scrums being on the menu as top billing, Syd was heard to retract a statement earlier in the week that he loved scruming and Chucky decided to give away a few penalties just to have a break.

Second Grade controlled the game from the opening whistle, with two coaches who should have known better pulling on the boots, the game was a tough fought encounter. Special mention needs to go to Brent Horan, who not only coaches the team but also had several blistering runs from the back of the maul an done chip and chase that will go down in memory.