STCHRISTOPHERS JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB~ EST 1965

Weekend of 11th & Volume 15, Issue 10 12th July, 2015 River Road Express 25 Club Championships 89 Premierships 17 1st Grade Players

President’s Report With the semis only a couple of weeks away it is time to assess how we are going. Of the 12 sides that can play semis we have 9 in contention which is excellent! U9-2s: Currently in 4th with 2 rounds to go. Will be trying to get into 3rd for that valuable 2nd bite of the cherry. With the ‘footy whisperer’ in charge, anything is possible. U9-1s: Currently in 2nd with 3 rounds to go. Assured of a top 3 finish. The coach has plenty of grand final experience and will have the boys primed. U10-2s: Sitting 1st with 2 rounds to go. After losing last year’s GF, the team and staff are pumped to go one better this year. U10-1s: Surprise packet of the season. Have played tough footy all year and are 2nd. Assured of a top 3 finish and will make their presence felt. U11-1s: Currently 7th, 4 points out of the 5 with 3 games to go. Can get into the 5 and make an impact but must improve their attitude to training. U12-2s: Equal 1st with 2 other teams, 2 rounds to play. ‘The entertainers’ are assured of 2 bites of the cherry and with GF experience from the 7s and 9s, can go all the way this year! U13-1s: Equal 5th in a comp where only 4 points separate 3rd to 7th. Will make the semis and do their best in a tough comp. U17-1s. Just 1 point out of the 4 and can fix that this weekend - And with 4 rounds to go can get into 2nd. The 17s is now the ‘jewel in the crown’ of junior footy and our boys have the ability to win it. Get your heads on. 1st Grade – Equal 2nd with 4 rounds to play. Up against the leaders this week, and the other 2nd the week after, the boys can determine their own destiny. With many of the boys re-uniting this season for our 50 years, a fairy tale finish is on the cards.

If you can lend some support to any of the above sides this weekend, it can only help our quest for premierships.

Go the Saints John Grealy

ST CHRISTOPHER’S JUNIOR RUGBY LEAGUE CLUB EST 1965

Home Ground: Bill Delauney Reserve Cnr The River Rd & Henry Lawson Dr PICNIC POINT, NSW

Phone: 9773-3308 (Club House) Website: www.stchristophers.com.au Page 2 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Round 10 Results

Team Opposition Venue Result For Against U5s Bulls Bill Delauney Res Lost 28 36 U6 Div 2 Colts Killara Reserve Lost 20 0 U6 Div 1 St Johns Bill Delauney Res Lost 24 28 U7 Div 2 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res Won Forfeit U8 Div 3 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res Won 32 28 U8 Div 2 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res Drew 16 16 U8 Div 1 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res Won 24 16 U9 Div 2 Middleton Park Lost 16 22 U9 Div 1 BYE BYE U10 Div 2 Berala Bears Bill Delauney Res Won Forfeit U10 Div 1 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res Won 18 12 U11 Div 2 Berala Bears Bill Delauney Res Lost 24 28 U11 Div 1 Berala Bears Peter Hislop Lost 12 18 U12 Div 2 East Hills Smith Park Won 34 4 U13 Div 1 Moorebank W Bill Delauney Res Won 28 14 U14 Div 2 Enfield Cooke Park Lost 6 28 U15 Div 2 Penshurst Evatt Park Lost 0 38 U17 Div 1 Carlingford Cox Park Won 30 4 A Grade BYE BYE

Page 3 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

St Christopher’s JRLFC Annual Ball

Date: 31st July 2015, Time: 7pm-12am Venue: Trotting Club “Memories Room” 178 Eldridge Rd,

Ticket cost $100 per person in- cludes:

 3 course meal

 Beer, wine and soft drinks till midnight

 Photo Booth

 DJ

 Guest appearance from Rob Shehadie.

Seating will be in tables of 8-10. BOOK NOW. This is always a night not to be missed.

Please pay your deposits to your team’s manager or to the clubs ac- count, no later then 23rd July 2015.

ACCOUNT NAME: St.Christopher’s JRLFC inc BSB: 062 222 ACCOUNT NUMBER: 0091 3373 Use your family name and number of tickets being purchased (eg. Smith 2).

Get your tables of 8-10 together and let’s make this year’s ball Page 4 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Under 6.1 ~ Lost 24-28 v St Johns Our first loss in a long time but the boys played really well considering the very cold weather. Tries this week were Michael x2, Declan, Harry, Tyler and Noah scored his first try of the season. Well done boys!

The boys all tried really hard, the slippery ground made it hard to dart through the opposition but they defended well and ran strong.

Congratulations to Xavius! His consistency earned him the Encouragement award and Michael once again won Man of the Match! Good effort to you all.... Only a few games left in the season! Keep it up!

Under 7.2 ~ Won v Moorebank We pulled of a win this week with all the boys putting 100% effort and working together to help each other out in defence. Everyone is improving each week making us all very proud-well done boys! Tyson was first to score 1 of his 2 tries making a break and stepping around the defense – good Job mate! Dylan was next to score making a run through the defense. Awsome runs from Josh, Brayden, James, Alex, Aleric and Nicolas- Keep up the great work boys! Braydon scored his first try followed by some awesome tackling. Josh palmed off the defense to score an awesome try followed by Lucas who found the gap to score – Great work boys! Caleb made some awesome tackles and took the tap from the kick off to run the field and score- top effort! Casch was on fire with countless great runs and endless tackling earning him Man of the Match this week- awesome effort Casch! More great runs from Tyson who then crossed over for his 2nd try. Khoda showed his style and found the gap to score an awesome try followed by Brayden running the field to get us over for the win right on the bell. Great game boys, just got to remember to tackle on game day like you do at training. Keep up the great work boys you have come so far from last year – GO SAINTS! Under 7.2’s Man of MOM Casch. the Match ~ Casch ~ Page 5 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Under 8.3 ~ Won 32-28 v Moorebank Our first home game in over 5 weeks saw the team return to the winner’s circle, this time playing the very tall boys from Moorebank Rams ( we are the smallest side). The game did not start well for the boys who found themselves being down 14 nil in the first 8 minutes. A very smart try from dummy half by Maz Z late in the period saw us go into the first break trailing 14 - 6. Coach John couldn’t wait to get his hands on them and the talk rubbed off instantly with a much improved defence from all but particularly Zach T, Noah M and Brodie P. A great run leading to a try by Chris A and two more smart ones by Max Z brought us right back in the contest. The boys fought on gamely going into the next break 22 – 18 leaders setting up an exciting finish. The Rams scored two tries but not to be out done by his brother, Kristian Z, crossed to bring the scores to 28 all with a minute to play. Man of the Match, Max Z, stole the victory with a great try-dive making it 4 for the day. The team showed great resolve and calm heads to come away with a very entertaining win, but slow starts through poor defence are a real issue for the boys. That’s two weeks in a row they have trailed by big margins early. A couple of notables who made good progress where Rory W, with two good runs, and Michael K with a couple of strong tackles at crucial times. Keep up the good work boys. Tries - Max Z X 4, Kristian Z, Chris A Goals – Max Z, Kristian Z, Rory W, Brodie P MOM – Max Z

Under 8.1 ~ Won 24-16 v Moorebank Wow, what a turn around from the last few games. The boys took to the field and from the kick off were ready to show Moorebank that they were in for a big game. The boys were working as a unit in defence to shut down the Ram’s attack which saw some brilliant defence from Noah, Itula, Ryan, Tommy and Zeedan. This brilliant defence was followed up with some strong running from Lachlan, Isaac and Matthew who were delivered the ball so well from both Patrick and Lucas. The delivery and direction of the ball around the park For fine quality meats: from Patrick saw Itula bust through the Rams defence to score the first try of the match. The Rams fought RICHARDS back and managed to score a try which saw the scores locked at 6-6 at the end of the first third. QUALITY In the second third, the Rams stepped up their defence, MEATS however with continued strong running from Itula, he again showed his skills to score his second try for the 16 Selems Parade, match. The Rams came back and they managed to score Revesby two further tries which saw the Rams take the lead at Ph 9773-7386 the end of the second third, 16-12. Cont...... Page 6 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Under 8.1 cont…. But the boys saved their best till last and came out firing in the final third. Some great stepping by Lucas close to the line saw him dive over the line to score a brilliant individual try. However, it will be hard to beat Lachlan’s run of the season which saw him hit the ball at full pace on our own 30m line and bust the Rams line to runaway and score under the post. With the score now at 24-16, Noah stepped up to have his best game of the season as he made tackle after tackle to help keep the Rams from scoring for the remainder of the game. Well done boys, when you play as a team and for each other, you are unstoppable.

Tries - Itula 2, Lucas, Lachlan Goals - Lachlan, Lucas, Itula, Tommy MOM - Noah

Under 9.2 ~ Lost 16-22 v Auburn Warriors This week we finally met the Undefeated, Auburn Warriors, @ Middleton Park. The warm up was good and the boys seemed like they were up to the challenge. Like other weeks we started poorly with a knock on from the kick off giving the ball straight back to them. They swooped on this opportunity and quickly scored in the corner. Fortunately for us they missed the attempt at goal. They scored another try through our weak sideline defence and looked to be like one of those Horrendous score lines, but to the boys credit we didn’t lay down. Damon Taufa put on a nice try with his fancy footwork, along with some great defence. Half time saw us down 12- 6 and the message was stay in the contest, toughen up on “D”(especially on the flanks) and no mistakes. Well the boys listened! Zac Maarbani came out firing and was knocking em’ over like ten pins. Ben Pittman was saving tries, whilst Patrick and Taka made sure they didn’t cross our advantage line. Ben scored a brilliant try and Zac used his strength to cross for a four pointer as well. It was all square at 16-16 with under a minute to go until we coughed the ball up. We looked like we were going to hold them out until some tired defence let them in. They then made their only conversion of the match leaving the final score 22-16. No special mentions today as the whole team put in on all fronts. A near draw like this should put some belief into these boys minds and show they can beat any of these teams on the day. Now let’s see if we can get them in two weeks when we play them again.

Tries: Damon Taufa, Zac Maarbani and Ben Pittman Goals: Marcus Khoury, Ben Pittman M.O.M: Zac Maarbani Page 7 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Under 9.1~ Won 40-26 v St John’s (Round 9) Another great win at Billy D boys. In this game you guys showed that the C ball and Power sets do work, and it was great to see you guys pull it off. This attack showed in our score line. Mitchell Rowles had an awesome game, and punished their defence scoring 2 tries and kicking a goal. His tackling was outstanding and overall had a killer game. Your Man of the Match was well deserved mate hands down. Lucas Cassar, Nikitas Glynatsis and Mark Bishara all tackled well too. Liam Walsh used speed, and the field well, taking advantage of open opportunities with a keen eye bagging 2 tries. We converted our kicks for goal very well, getting 7 from 8 kicks over, so well done to all our goal scorers. Logan Collinet and Jack Hanratty scored a try each also, and played well in their positions at dummy half with quick plays. James Safi crossed the line as well and had a great game. Congratulations goes to all you boys as we are currently sitting 2nd on the Competition Ladder. We have 2 hard games ahead against , so bring your ’A’ game for those two, then we verse Milperra Colts to finish up before finals. Under 9.1’s MOM – Mitchell Rowles Man of the Match ~ Mitchell ~ Tries: Mitchell x 2, Liam x 2, Jack, Logan and James Goals: Josh, Zac, Mitchell, Jack, Adrien and Liam.

Under 10.1~Won 30-26 v St John’s (Rnd 9) This was not the best game we have seen from our boys and saw us go try for try with our arch rivals St John's. The game was however nail biting for all, and our boys only scored the winning try with two minutes to go. It was a great team effort by all and a great one to watch. The boys threw the ball around more than we have seen this year keeping us holding our breath but pulling off some great team tries. Thanks to Jack Hanratty and Itula Seve for playing up and helping the boys out. A massive Hi 5 to La who not only stopped every 10 year old running at him but scored a great try. I wonder if the score would have been different if we were not at home this time!

Page 8 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Under 11.2 ~ Won 30-22 v Greenacre Tigers (Round 8) It was a nervous start as we aimed up in defence in this MUST WIN game, not sure who their 1 or 2 strike players were. The talk was good and we had our strategy in place to nullify these key attackers, which worked well. We were well organized in attack and every one worked well together as a team. Our forwards played hard and straight and we were generally getting the ball out wide to see some great ball movement which resulted in 2 first half tries to lead 12 – 4 at the break. Alex, Liam, Jackson, Jarrod F and Mo at fullback all had busy and important defensive games to keep them to the 1 try in the first half. The Tiger’s defence was quiet solid across the park and we had to complete our sets well and force mistakes with our defence. This was the most impressive part of our game, which gave us good field position and there were some awesome sections of scrambling defence to pin them on their own tryline. Unfortunately, when ahead 18 – 4, we dropped off in intensity and there was NO TALK. This caused a couple of defensive lapses and resulted in 3 soft Tigers tries, when Saadi and Mo were rested in the second half. It shows that we need to keep the talk going every tackle for the whole game to stay focused in defence, especially in the coming weeks to stay alive. Alex played his biggest game of the year and lead from the front as captain, but was just pipped by Bianca with a solid performance in defence and attack for player of the match. After a stop-start beginning to the year due to weather and holiday breaks, we are starting to gel as a team and settle into positions and know each other’s game. It was only the 2nd time this year we have kept a team to 1 try in the first half and is clearly what we have to do to win games. If we can continue to play the same quality of football and improve our talk in defence we can win our last 4 matches for a chance to make the finals and finish the year on a high. With potentially only 4 games left, let’s work hard and put in every effort at training until the end of the season. POM – Bianca TRIES – Mo x 2, Alex, Ky GOALS – Zac, Mo, Ky, Jarred T

Under 11.2 ~ Lost 24-28 v Bears This was another MUST WIN game for us, but we did not have an ideal preparation with only 8 out of a squad of 15 at training on Friday and the coach getting there late. Berala got us by 2 in the 1st round when we were a little understrength and we knew if we played well we would beat the biggest team in the comp. From the start of the game we did not talk and move up as a team both sides of the ruck and Berala’s big boys made easy metres, with everyone high and getting pushed off. In attack we moved the ball around well, but lacked penetration and punch out wide in our backs. We were going sideways rather than forward at full speed, possibly intimidated by the size the Bears and relying too heavily on the speed of Mo to attack. Our completion rate was poor and we dropped the ball, went over the sideline twice early in our sets and a bad knock on call from the ref, on what should have been a zero tackle, gave them too much ball and field position. This resulted in them scoring 2 first half tries and Mo was able to keep us in the game with a try using his brilliant speed to trail 10-6 at the break. The second half was a draw, thanks to us making less errors in attack and using up our sets to even out the possession and field position. We still lacked the punch we needed out wide, but Bianca did a great job playing in a new and unusual position at dummy half. She was able to get over for 2 late tries, showing great vision and determination to catch them off guard. Unfortunately, our defence ultimately let us down by allowing them to score their 3 2nd half tries and 1 too many overall. It is disappointing that a ref’s call probably ended up costing us the game and our chances of making the semi’s, but their overall defence across the park was better and more consistent than ours on the day. Our team, once again, relied heavily on the usual suspects to do the bulk of the tackling with only half the team putting in an effort in defence and, as such, Berala earned and probably deserved the win. We are moving the ball around really well, but we now need to add some more forward movement, speed and punch for it to result in more tries and points that we then need to defend. With 2 games to go, let’s bring it on home and finish the season with some big wins and singing THE SAINTS victory song! POM – Bianca TRIES – Mo x 2, Bianca x 2 GOALS – Zac, Mo, Ky, Liam

Page 9 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

Friday 17/7:

Joker Draw raffle at Revesby Pacific Hotel from 5:30 – 7:00 ~ Under 7.2’s & 6.1’s Saturday 19/7:

(a) Revesby Pacific Hotel ~ Meat Tray raffles from 3:30 – 5:30 ~ Under 14’s

(b) Panania Diggers ~ Meat Tray raffles

from 4:00 – 6:00 ~ Under 11.1’s Raffle Roster Raffle Page 10 River Road Express Volume 15, Issue 10

This Week’s Games

Saturday 17th July Team Time Opposition Venue U5s 9.00 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res U6 Div 2 9.00 Dragons Clemton Park U6 Div 1 BYE U7 Div 2 9.45 Bulls Bill Delauney Res U8 Div 3 9.45 Chester Hill Complex U8 Div 2 10.30 Bulls Bill Delauney Res U8 Div 1 10.30 Bulls Ruse Park U9 Div 2 11.15 Moorebank Hammondville U9 Div 1 11.15 Milperra Colts Bill Delauney Res U10 Div 2 12.55 Bankstown Sports Bill Delauney Res U10 Div 1 12.05 Chester Hill Bill Delauney Res U11 Div 2 1.45 Moorebank Bill Delauney Res U11 Div 1 2.35 St Johns Bill Delauney Res U12 Div 2 2.30 Rhinos Neptune Park

U13 Div 1 4.10 Dragons Clemton Park Sunday 19th July U14 Div 2 2.00 North Ryde King George Park U15 Div 2 12.00 South Eastern Pioneers Park U17 Div 1 3pm Moorebank Hammondville A Grade 3pm Dragons Clemton Park