News from Ballina Rugby Club

Club President, John Leon, is reminding anyone that wants to coach for the 2010 season that applications close on Saturday 28 November 2009 and need to be submitted at the AGM.

Whilst there is no prerequisite to have completed formal coaching qualifications, he reminds potential applicants that in order to be successful it would be helpul to have a lot of patience, an ability to juggle and a detector for props lying about injury.

In a shock to all those attending the Noses’ offseason training session, Boony has finally cracked the 65kg mark, having been hovering around the 60kg mark during the season. Granted the measurement was taken with wet clothes and sinkers in his pockets, but it is a great achievement nonetheless.

Now benching the bar without assistance, the progress that Boony has made has been exceptional. Boony promises that once he hits 70kg that he will stop wearing his sister’s jeans and will finally buy his own pair.

Beryl Jones of the local nursing home, says the new filled out Boony is much more of a catch than he was before, and the new prize at Bingo will be a date out with Boony. Boony more than happy to oblige.

AGENDA.

BALLINA RUGBY CLUB – AGM – 28 NOVEMBER 2009. 10:00 A.M.

AT QUAYS RESERVE, KALINGA STREET, BALLINA.

1. Confirmation of the minutes of the last AGM.
2. Confirmation of the minutes of the last general meeting held.
3. Receive the Presidents Report.
4. Receive the Treasurer’s Report and financial statement.
5. Receive any other reports such as Golden Oldies, Juniors, Coaches Report, etc.
6. Deal with and vote on any resolutions and business specifically listed for the meeting. (N.B. Any such business must be notified in writing to the Secretary at least 7 days prior to the date of the AGM.)
7. No other business shall be transacted at the meeting.
8. Appoint a Returning Officer and elect the Office-Bearers and committee for 2010.

NOTES IN RELATION TO THE MEETING.

Positions to be filled are as follows :-

1. President.
2. Two Vice-Presidents.
3. Secretary.
4. Treasurer.
5. Executive Committee members. Maximum of 10 and minimum of 6.

Nominations for all positions can be made at the meeting, or prior to the meeting, if they are lodged with the Secretary, Nathan Wallace.

The Quorum for the meeting is 10 members who are entitled to vote.

Only financial members are entitled to vote. If anyone is unsure of their status in regard to voting please contact Greg Hart who holds the register of qualified members.

NOTE :- Life members are not required to pay an annual membership fee, and are entitled to vote.

Paid up sponsors receive one voting membership as part of their sponsorship package.

All other persons voting, must pay an annual “players membership” or `”non-players membership” (commonly called the “social membership”), and must be 18 years of age.

This  week the Nose is nursing somewhat of a sore head after being given a leave pass during the last week. The Nose would like to thank Mrs Nose for the leave pass and promises that he will behave for the next year.

As The Nose is under the weather, Mrs Nose has agreed to write a guest columnn.

Leave passes and their value

The granting of a leave pass is one of the hardest things to value in a marriage, but with skill and experience you can get the most out of each leave pass. The Nose is only conditionally granted two leave passes a year, leave passes can be revoked at any time for any reason. Where the Nose escapes, like after the Tweed game, swift action has to follow to keep him in line. He is well trained but can be easily led astray by the untrained (Longy springs to mind).

In valuing your leave pass you need to be careful to get the most out of it, remember that the leave pass is only valid for the night in question and any follow up performances the following morning can be treated with the usual punishments.

Your Questions Answered

What reasons do you give for revoking a leave pass?

None

What do you do if the Nose goes out without a leave pass?

Generally I just blame Longy for leading him astray, and home discipline is applied usually involving the revocation of future leave passes, exchanging for Australia Fair giftcards or a short, sharp stab.

Is feeding Harry wizz fizz or any form of sugar a good or bad idea?

(ed. The original response threatening my life has been removed). No Harry is not to eat wizz fizz under any circumstances.

Off season training has been running well, with a rumour that one of the props who has ballooned already in the offseason will be joining the group for the second half of the season.

This week the Nose is covering injury prevention. His first recommendation is to not ever go out without a leave pass. After the Tweed Heads game the Nose went out wihtout permission and while Mrs Nose ‘forgave’ him she is still reminding him on a daily basis.

Other options for injury prevention are to main a high level of flexibility this includes stretching at least daily, even if you are going for a surf and maybe getting ready for rough and tumble of Byron, a quick stretch will make a world of difference.

Knowing your limits is important. Whilst the Nose claims to be able to ride 6m waves he also knows that in order to minimise the risk of injury that it is not a good idea which is the sole reason why he only surfs in the river…. When it is flat…. And he is wearing floaties…. It is all about injury prevention.

Your Questions Answered

Where can I buy white onions to tie to my belt (The Transvaal Lion)?

John, whilst admiring your fashion sense keep away from the white onions as once you have used them they sate not great for eating, focus on the brown onions.

Is training like they do on the biggest loser practical?

Absolutely not, the training regime they offer on the show is unrealistic and a risk to your health. Forthe bigger guys around the club if you are looking at.dropping some kilos gov me a call and we can have a sensible plan.

Is it wrong to eat pizza while watching the biggest loser?

No, whatever floats your boat.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/?ref=magazine

Thommo in a move that has put fear into local props and the local economy has announced that he is off the sauce for 2010.

Deciding not to want to deal with the wrath of coaches on saturday morning and to show that he maturing as a player, he has said 2010 will be his year.

When asked about this change of form one local publican was heard crying. A local bank manager said he was considering calling in all loans for local pubs.

The writer was sent the following email from John when asking about coaching courses. A prize is being offered to the first person who translate the email below….

Email from John…

There was no requirement for any “previous experience”.

A try was worth 4 points. Rucking was not only allowed but was required to win the ball. You had 15 players and “replacements” had not been invented. Injured players got bandaged and then played on. The ref called “pack !” and the scrum engaged.

Before my level 2 things were even more different.

I first played on the high veldt of South Africa in 1959. My boots were all leather. Including the studs which were made of 4 or 5 rings of leather held into the bottom of the boot with 3 metal pins. (Moulded soles had not been invented in 1959.). These boots were VERY good for rucking, especially when the leather wore down exposing the ends of the metal pins. My first try was worth only 3 points. I watched Pinetree Meads play at Ellis Park and was given a ticket by a friend of my Dads. There was no television so if you didn’t go to the game you listened to it on the radio. When I moved to hooker the coach taught me how to hook with my head if the scrum got low enough.

The above is testament to the fact I can not argue with “— silly South African….”

Regards, The Lion Of Transvaal.

The Battered Prawns have been rumoured to be putting forward a consortium to buy the Big Prawn and have it mounted on the clubhouse roof in anticipation of the 2010 season. Having considered all the options available for the Prawn this appears to be one of the less moronic ideas. The proposal includes having the Prawn battered and cooked before being erected on the roof.

John Leon, when asked about the Bid, muttered something about South Africa which was totally ignored by the writer.

A concern of many parents thinking about having their children play rugby is the safety element, things have changed in the last twenty years, where safety is of paramount concern for both clubs and coaches.

Rugby is comparatively safer than other forms of junior sports especially due to the ‘soft’ contact which reduces the risk of knee and ankle injuries which plague other ball sports.

A rugby coach is required to have undertaken a course called safety in rugby which provides training in risk minimisation.

For the younger grades there is a restriction on tackling, with progressive increases in the level of contact as you up the grades. An important element of training is learning proper tackling techniques for harm minimisation.

For smaller children we take an active role to ensure that they are equal on the field, especially in the younger grades where there can be a considerable difference in size.

The most important thing is your child has fun, and the environment we provide not only maximises safety by also makes sure they have a good time.

In the last week we have seen one of the best examples of the importance of staying fit and healthy no matter how old you are. Poppa has had great media coverage, the Nose thought it would be worthwhile to discuss some of the benefits of training later in life, (or younger if you are a tight head prop with the flexibility of a shot put).

Stretching

Whilst the nose is still recovering from a mid season readjustment (and still struggling to stretch), stretching is an important component of the offseason and training in general. Take for example, Dangar, who hasn’t done proper stretches since 1994. We all remember his pulling his calf at Casino and the laughs that followed, that was directly caused by failing to stretch properly before a game.

A good idea is to try and stretch for 15 minutes in the morning and night to increase your flexibility and before any exercise.

Keeping fit

There is a direct correlation between health problems and a lack of fitness. For all the miracle cures in the world, sometimes the best of them is to just keep fit. Take a walk instead of a drive to the shops and you are on the way.

Moderation is the key

This week there was an article about how bad red wine was for mothers, when you read the article behind the alarmist headlines there was a good point made. It was not a glass of wine which was the problem, it was finishing off the bottle and starting another.

Weights and maintaining strength

One of the best advertisements of the Masters Games was the 101 year old shot putter who can still bench press 35kg, or approximately 25kg more than some of the members of the front row. No matter what your age weights training can be beneficial and give you significant health benefits.

Your Questions Answered

Last week you mentioned that it was not good to get on the turps the day before a game, why?

There are a few elements you need to consider, apart from copping an earful from the coach. Your recovery time is generally 48 – 72 hours after a night out (just ask Frank Farina), you are setting yourself up to get injured during the game.

A comment from an anomymous coach was also that if you decide to go out with your little mate again on a Friday night before a game again, he would send Johnny Leon down to collect you.