View this email in your browser What the Coach thought... Can't wait for Saturday..................... Ben Batger Competition ladders 1st grade 2nd Grade Colts 1 3rd Grade Leading Points and Try Scorers. With two games to go before the finals we take a look at who has been impacting the scoreboard across our five teams. Top Point Scorers 1s Tane Edmed * 95 2s Sam Dolores 60 3s Sam Cale 48 C1 Pat Reynolds 34 C2 Tom Ragell 38 * Tane equal first in Shute Shield for conversions. Top Club Try Scorers Sam Dolores 12 Tim Anstee 7 Matt Gonzalez 7 Josh Noonan 7 Sam has jumped to the lead after his haul of seven against Penrith. Leading Team Try Scorers 1s Matt Gonzalez 7 2s Sam Dolores 12 3s Tim Williams 4 C1 Josh Hickey 5 C2 Tom Ragell 4 RIP Lauren Reid Sadly, Lauren passed away last week after a battle with breast cancer Lauren and Scott Reid were well known to many Eastwood supporters back in the 1980s and 90s. Scott captained 1st grade, was Club Captain and played a monumental near 200 games in 1st grade. Lauren and Scott's three boys are currently playing in 3rd Grade for Warringah. This Saturday, before kick off in 3rd grade, our Club Chairman Rob Cusack will give a short remembrance and then lead us in a minute's silence. Catch up with our Australian 7s Reps It's been a long time coming to see our two Australian Sevens representatives Tim Anstee and Lachie Anderson, back in Eastwood jumpers making their grade debuts this season thanks to COVID-19 bringing International Sevens to a halt. We caught up with them this week to see how they're going: Congratulations Lachie on making your grade debut in Seconds against Penrith and then a run in Firsts. Scoring three tries on debut is something special. How did it feel to run out again on T G Millner in a Woods jumper? Lachie: Was great to finally get the opportunity to get back to TG Millner and have a run around. I last played there in 2016 so I was pumped to get back to the home of rugby and pull on the Woods jersey! Also congratulations Tim on your debut in grade earlier this year. How was it watching Lachie run in those three tries scoring one more than you on your debut – though in fairness you came on as a replacement against West Harbour? Tim: He actually told me he was going to score 5 all week Lachie is a quality player and he was a class above out there on Saturday. He'll add some real impact in the back end of the season. You have been playing together for a while now are you looking forward to playing together in a Woods jumper for the first time since Colts in 2016? Absolutely! We have both loved our time that we have spent playing for Eastwood through Juniors and in Colts, so it will be good to finish it off playing Grade together. Back in Colts you played with Max Stewart, Rhys Sherrif and Charles Granger how have they developed over the four years since you have seen them play? The Coasties are great value both on and off the field! Max is one of the most dynamic hookers going around and loves the contest, Shez has come a long way since colts and it's great to see him dominating come scrum time, finally it has been awesome packing down with Grange at lock and seeing him become a real leader at lineout time. So where and when did it all start with you and rugby? Lachie: I played my first game of rugby at 4 years old for Dural Rugby playing in my brothers team that my Dad was coaching at the time. Fell in love with the game and haven't missed a season since! Tim: I got hooked with the game after watching the 2003 Rugby World Cup. I started playing for Hills Rugby the following year and haven't looked back. You are not the only current international rugby players to have roots in the Hills. Nic Dolly has moved to the UK and represented England at Under 20 level. I believe you caught up with him in England last year. How was it seeing him in an England jumper? Lachie: Nic has been going great in England the last few years playing for both the Sale Sharks and most recently the Jersey Reds. Both Tim and I are good mates with Nic and we keep in contact quite regularly so when we are overseas and have the time to catch up it is always good. When did you first play for Eastwood as a junior? Lachie: My first game for Eastwood was in Juniors in under 10's and I continued to play for the club every year up until Colts in 2016 before I signed with the Australian Men's 7s Team. Tim: I made the transition over from Hills/Parramatta to Dural/Eastwood in the U14's. How did you both get involved in Sevens rugby? Lachie: We started playing Sevens in our final few years of school rugby. We played for the NSW 7s team in 2015 before getting selected to go to the Youth Commonwealth Games with the Australian Youth team later that year. The following year in 2016 we both got offered a full time contract with the Australian Men's National Team making our debuts that season. Tell us what it is like traveling the world playing rugby? Lachie: We are both very fortunate to have what many people would consider the ˜dream job". We get to travel the world and visit some pretty amazing cities and countries whilst doing it with some of our best mates and playing the game we love - rugby. Tim: The training for 7s gets be quite brutal sometimes but its definitely worth it as we get to some of the best cities in the world playing in front of some crazy crowds. What is your favourite overseas Sevens tournament? Lachie: Hong Kong Sevens is hard to compete with as it is the world standard when it comes to Sevens tournaments. However, Vancouver is a relatively new tournament on the World Sevens Series that absolutely kills it each year. Finally we have also both played at ˜Oktoberfest " in Germany which is an exhibition tournament which is just as fun as it sounds! Tim: Similar to Lachie, Honkers is obviously one you want to be playing at each year. Cape Town is probably my favourite, it's got everything - great weather, beaches, back drop of Table Mountain and the fans there love their rugby. What's next for you? Lachie: 2020 has been a rollercoaster year for the both of us. With the postponement of the Olympics due to Covid-19 and the cancellation of the World Sevens Series due to the restrictions of international travel, I was fortunate to join and play for the Melbourne Rebels for the Super Rugby AU season. As for 2021 I plan to juggle both the 7s and XVs formats of the game. I will continue to play for the Rebels within Super Rugby as well as the Australian Mens 7s team, competing on the World Sevens Series with the end goal of winning a Gold medal in Tokyo 2021. Tim: 2020 has given me the opportunity to play a lot more 15s than I expected and I've loved playing in the Shute Shield week in week out. I'm going to finish playing the season with the Woodies and hopefully winning a premiership. I've signed on with the Western Force for next season and again similar to Lachie I plan to give Super Rugby a good crack before hopefully linking back up with the Australian 7's team heading into the Olympics. Thanks Lachie and Tim we look forward to watching you for the rest of the season. All the best for 2021 2014/15 Shute Shield winning team reunion On the last game of the season v Gordon, the 2014/15 Premiership teams are having a big day back at TG. The History of the Eastwood Club Doctors Part 2 Dr Martin Jones Associate Professor Martin Jones is now teaching surgery at Shoalhaven Hospital for the Wollongong University and is head of department for Surgery but back in the 1980s Martin was training to be a general surgeon under the guidance of Dr. John Moulton. Martin came to Eastwood as John's assistant providing his services for free every Tuesday, Thursday nights and all day Saturday. He was referred to as the apprentice by the Woods coaches as he worked closely with John in developing the systems, working with the players and following John's instructions on player treatment. Martin was involved with Eastwood for 11 years not only attending training and games but also running the Sunday Clinic at Concord hospital. Through his connections with Concord Hospital Martin was given access to their casualty department and every Sunday any rugby player, across all grades and competitions, was welcome to attend to be treated for whatever injuries they had incurred the previous day. Sometimes there would be up to 50 players attending and eventually the Sports Medicine Clinic was born and is still situated across the road from the hospital. Martin Jones remembers those early days and making the break through with the coaches. "John used to wander around watching the players more than watching the game.