OKGA E-News 23 rd May 2014 Vol. 1 No. 16 TWO GENERALS VISIT KNOX IN A WEEK! Governor- General Visits Knox Australia’s new Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Ret’d) visited Knox yesterday to give the Address at the Sir John Monash Commemorative Service in the Great Hall, on behalf of The Spirit of Australia Foundation . The Foundation was established to remember and commemorate Australia’s heritage. Its aims are to educate Australian’s, especially school students, about the great Australian role models who have made a significant contribution to our country in a variety of endeavours, and to remember and commemorate Significant Australian’s and events. Students from many other schools around Sydney joined with the boys and cadet unit of Knox, in a packed Great Hall. The Knox Honour Guard, Catafalque Party, Pipes & Drums, the Bugler, Speakers and the Knox Symphonic Wind Ensemble & Combined Choirs all performed magnificently, and received high praise from the Official Party and guests. The Governor-General is welcomed by Headmaster John Weeks The Governor-General takes the salute from the Honour Guard. Standing behind the G-G is Headmaster, John Weeks (right) and Chairman of Council, Peter Roach (OKG’79)(hands clasped) General Sir Peter Cosgrove inspects the Guard of Honour. Inspecting the Pipes & Drums Guests depart the Great Hall after the Ceremony .The Knox Symphonic Wind Ensemble in the background ANZAC Memorial Service for the Old Knox Grammarians Association and Ceremonial Parade of the Knox Grammar Cadet Unit On an unseasonably warm morning last Sunday, the OKGA Memorial ANZAC Service was held at the School. As it has done for decades, the students and cadet unit put on a wonderful display at both the Service and Ceremonial Parade. The Reviewing Officer, Lieutenant General David Morrison AO, Chief of Army, gave the Address and took the Salute at the March Past. Lieutenant General Morrison took the unprecedented step of publicly praising the Cadet Unit at the end of the parade, saying they were a credit to themselves, their school and their Country. Your humble correspondent understands that Lt. Gen. Morrison actually phoned the Governor-General to say how impressed he was, knowing his fellow Army colleague would also be reviewing a Knox Guard of Honour in the days ahead. It was wonderful to see a number of WW2 veterans still attending the Service. Eric Thew (now 98), Barney Greatrix (94), Richard Miles, Don Caldwell-Smith and Marsden Hordern (all 92), and young Arthur Pardey (91). Lysle Roberts had a touch of bronchitis and was advised not to attend. They all vowed to make the 100 Year Anniversary next year. Old Boys will be interested to know that with over 700 cadets, Knox is the largest army cadet unit in Australia. The number has increased in recent years with the addition of some 100 cadets from Ravenswood School for Girls. Several of the girls are CUO’s and the Second in Charge of the Parade & Unit was CUO Jessica Hunter (cousin of Charlie OKG ’12 & Harry Year 8). No wonder numbers in the cadet unit are increasing. And you will probably be astounded to know that the Pipe Band, or the Pipes & Drums as they are now known, has a total compliment of 70 members. Truly a massed band! President of the OKGA, Mr. Rob Tulloch (OKG ’75) and Prep School Captain Nicholas Reynolds The Guard of Honour at the Commemoration Service Lt. Gen. Morrison is received on the Parade Ground The Pipes & Drums march past the Reviewing Officer Lt. Gen. Morrison inspects the Cadets on Parade Presidents Dinner – Friday 20 th June It is now only four weeks until the Annual Presidents Dinner at Pymble Golf Club. This promises to be a great night and during the evening we will also be honouring Old Boy, Dusty Ireland (OKG’46) with Honorary Life Membership. We already have several year groups who have booked tables along with the Rugby Club, Football club and Pipe Band. So get a group of friends from your year and register now. To register your attendance and join a year table, click HERE Knox United Football Club Premier League The step-up to the KDSA Premier League has so far been challenging. After six games both the First and Reserve Grade sides are 10 th on the ladder. The boys are training extremely hard and playing some good football, but are lacking a bit of maturity and a lack of good finishing. Given that the average age is just 22, this is not surprising .The next four weeks will be crucial to their hopes of avoiding relegation as they play a number of teams in the bottom half of the competition. Division 3 With only one loss from 12 matches, the Division 3 squad is the form team within Knox United. They have scored 15 goals in just 6 games and currently sit on top of the league. Division 7 With a small squad and a number of injuries Division 7 is having a pretty tough season to date. The boys don’t have a problem scoring goals, it’s just that they concede at a bigger rate. The boys will need to fix-up their defensive play if they hope to win games. Over 35’s The ‘old boys’ are still undefeated and are continuing to string together some highly impressive performances. Despite being short of players at the start of the season, the Reserves squad is starting to click into gear and sit fourth on the table with only one loss. If you would like to join the Old Boys Football Club click HERE Two Old Boys in Wallabies Squad A 32 man Wallabies squad was announced yesterday to play 3 Test Matches against France next month. Two Knox Old Boys were selected in the squad. Prop Ben Alexander (OKG ’02) who has 62 test caps to his name, and Nathan Charles (OKG ’06) who was chosen for the first time. You may recall that in the E-News a couple of weeks ago former Wallaby hooker Bruce Taafe (OKG’62) said he rated Nathan the second best hooker in Australia. Seems like the selectors agree! We are proud of their selection and wish both boys the best of luck for the coming representative season. 1st XV Knox vs. Trinity Your humble correspondent said last week that Trinity posed a real threat to Knox after also being unbeaten after two rounds. But I am pleased to report that Knox continued on their successful quest for the 2014 premiership by disposing of Trinity by 53-7, scoring 9 tries to 1 in the process. We play St. Aloysius at home this week before facing Cranbrook the following week. Results to date would seem to indicate that the Knox v Cranbrook game could decide who the dominant team is this year. The 2 nd XV are also having a successful season, defeating Trinity 50-10. In fact we won all the Open games from 1 st XV to 5th XV scoring 232 points to 49. Last week I mentioned that the Knox 1 st & 2 nd XV’s had big wins over Waverley. In fact the Knox 1 st , 2 nd , 3 rd , 4 th , 5 th & 6 th XV’s all won their matches, in the process scoring a combined 299 points to 51. Doesn’t get much better than that! Old Boys Rugby Last Saturday’s away games against Mosman were generally disappointing, with only two wins from six matches. Kentwell Cup returned to form with a solid 43-29 win, whilst Whiddon Cup had a narrow win 22-19. Burke Cup lost 10-15 but had plenty of possession and numerous chances in the second half. Time and again passes went astray with the tryline begging. The Colts also lost 18-27 and will need to do plenty of work to find the form they displayed in the early rounds. There is plenty of talent but more commitment is needed. And Judd Cup and Sutherland Cup were easily beaten. With many changes in personnel each week it is hard to develop combinations. It doesn’t get any easier this Saturday with the Bravehearts playing the strong St. Patricks Club at Lofberg Oval, West Pymble. Get along to support the boys on what is shaping as a beautiful afternoon. Kentwell Cup team taking the field. Burke Cup action at Rawson Park, Mosman. OKGA vs. School Basketball The Old Boys played their traditional game of basketball against the school on Saturday May 10th (Gala Day). Six Old Boys played against some very talented and fit school premiership winning players, as well as a few others. The School started out on fire and led easily after hitting every shot from all over the court. The Old Boys slowly clawed their way back over 3 quarters to lead at the end of the 3rd. The final quarter saw the Old Boys hang onto the lead to win 76-70, in the last 30 seconds. It was a great game and a well- earned win after a few years of defeats to the school! The Gala Day game has been going for at least 30 years, and is one of the few sports that are still played against the school annually. Knox Basketball appears to be very strong, with every player on the school team shooting well and contributing. The OKGA team was made up of recent and not-so-recent Old Boys: Leo Turner (2013) Scott Muirhead (2013) Ed Colyer (2013) Tim Seccombe ( 2002) Steve Church (1992) Rob Paterson (1988) OKGA Basketball Team & Knox 1sts Congratulations Paul Taylor (OKG ’95) & Cassandra on the birth of their son Elijah Scott, on 15 th May Have you got news that you would like to share? Click HERE .