2010 ANNUAL REPORT - AllTeams

Brooke Vile - Merhts. The consummate professional and ultimate rugby technician.Every touch of the ball, every pass and every darting run were executed withprecision and accuracy. With a rugby brain beyond his years his decision makingwas impeccable all season.Gabriel Boshier - Halfback extraordinaire. Found his place in the team with somegood passing and well timed runs from the base of the scrum.Gabriel Ross - Mr Utility was just as at home in the front row as on the wing.Really came into his own in the latter part of the season and discovered the oldspeed to grab some well taken tries.Jack Duncan - The Turnover King. Made the rucks his own all season, the ultimatenumber 6 prepared to do the dirty work, tackled all day and proved the ultimatelink between forwards and backs.Jett Robertson - The Jett Fighter had the afterburners on full speed all season.Uncatchable once the opposition’s defensive line had been broken. Somefantastic work on defence throughout the season making for a top year froma top player.Joe Taylor - Smoking Joe was smoking hot all season. Decisive with ball inhand and punishing in the tackle he left his mark on every game. A top seasonall round.Lucas Bennett - A revelation with the move to the forwards mid season. Full ofvigour and enthusiasm and able to make a real impact when he hits the rucks.Look for an outstanding season to continue next year.Max Dunshea - Max the Unstoppable. A powerhouse up front, he worked hardall season and fronted for every game. Great straight running, ripping and a realmenace to the opposition in the rucks and mauls.Max Hackshaw - Another bruising season from the team’s southern man. Lookedbest with ball in hand and knows only one way to the try line. Another fantasticcontribution this season. Look forward to more of the same next year.Ollie McFarlane - Twinkles Toes carried on from last year remaining explosiveon the outside plus added a penetrating inside cut to his repertoire. Fearlessin the tackle, Ollie was one of the best cover defenders in the grade stoppingmany tries.Oscar Kingan - The Wall!! Says it all. Easily the best tackler in the grade andan invaluable contribution to the team from start to fi nish. Great season fromThe Wall.Samuel Snell - Side stepping Sammy got better and better with every game.Some great running with the ball in hand and a fearless tackler. Added a greatpassing game to his repertoire to make for the perfect player.Tanner Austin - Mr Go Forward. His confi dence grew as the season progressed.Did a great job taking the ball up with some straight and direct running. Will bean invaluable asset to the team next year and beyond.Nick VileCoachcity under 8 Restricted blueWhat a great season! The combination of experienced old timers (some teammembers have already played three seasons of rugby) and new high-energyplayers (some who were converts from the other beautiful game) meant thatthe boys were UNDEFEATED in 2010. Our fi rst 2 – 3 games were focused onlearning the basics with the coaches, Ray Fa’aofo and Leon Wijohn, teachingthe boys how to tackle and pass and how to lay the ball back when tackled.The benefi ts of having two coaches should not be underestimated; it meant theplayers were exposed to different ideas and that training sessions were nevercancelled because of coach’s commitments. A key coaching strategy was tobuild confi dence in individuals whilst simultaneously encouraging the boys towork and act as a team. The team scored 97 tries in 13 games for an averageof 7.5 tries per game and only conceded 40 tries (we may need to do a littlemore work on our defence and tackling).ROLL OF HONOUR:• Angus Chisholm for showing great heart and always going forward (wantsto be a back and could be if he does some speed work over the summer)• Denzal Collings who grew in confi dence through the season and became afi ghting forward.• Mr Improvement (Ryan Leroy-Dyson) who hung in there despite a numberof injuries• Jaiden (alias Bunce) Lindsay who regularly cut up the opposition with hisfantastic straight running• Tuanu Lindsay who at only 6 years old showed great courage against the‘always bigger boys’• James McKinney our speedster who other teams found very hard to catch• Peter Morris who developed into our super-sub and impact player and whosehigh passes caused us both joy and heartache• Mr Determination, Flynn O’Loughlin, whose attitude and efforts wereimpressive throughout the season• Daniel Otuafi who proved to be a strong, rugged go-forward forward• Grayson (commitment) Schwalger who ran great lines and never gave up• Jairus Swann a fast and focused fi rst fi ve who can also tackle• Luke Muir a small lion-hearted forward whose season ended early, but whothen became our best supporter• Luke (nee Going) Wijohn, a great support player and distributor of the ball• Also the awesome tiny tackler and ball retention expert, Joshua (I will notlet the ball go) Ahfar• Finally, Isaac (The Dive) Curtin-Symes, a great utility player whose acrobaticsshould have caused an injury.A big thank you to all the parents, extended whanau and supporters. The seasonwould have been impossible without you, your great encouragement, goodhumour, and fanatical one-eyed interpretation of the refereeing of some of ourgames. To our coaches Ray Fa’aofo and Leon Wijohn, our boundless appreciationfor giving their time and knowledge and turning our ragtag bunch of individualistsinto a successful rugby team.Finally, I would like to commend the boys on their positive attitude and their neversay die approach to the game. This attitude was epitomized in a great matchagainst another Ponsonby team (who shall remain nameless) when we weredown 20-nil early in the fi rst half, but came back and showed a lot of heart towin 35-30. We hope to see you all back next year.Craig SymesManagercity under 7 cityWe began the season with a 14 strong team of keen players, 9 of whom hadplayed together the previous year and ended the season with a team of happyand enthusiastic players. Coaches Tim Farman and Jeremy Hope once againled many fun practices and fostered a great team spirit.The scores did not always go our way but every week we had most, if not all,players turn up raring to go and by far the most support on the sideline. As theseason progressed and the fi elds got muddier the team seemed to up their gameand relish the rain and the sliding provided by the wet conditions underfoot.Highlights of the season were Phoebe scoring her fi rst try, Coach Jeremy’s halftime talks, Nicholas improving with every game, Reagan throwing himself at everyrip, Fred diving for the line, Tom’s run-away try, Ethan weaving his way to thetry line, Arch charging straight into the tackles, Wes getting ripping, Josh takingto the game like a natural, Isaac running through the whole fi eld of opposition,Toby getting a run on, Madoc scoring tries, Coach Tim’s unwavering fairness atrefereeing and George running, ripping and rolling over the try line. To sum theseason up: everyone getting ball time and being involved. You were all a pleasureto watch and you should all be very proud of the way you played.A huge thank you goes out to the parents and families for making sure thatnot only did the team players get to practice and the games, but they had fullsupport. Thank you to our cheerleading team of 4 year old little sisters (and thesubs on the sideline). Thank you to our fabulous coaches for their patience andpersistence.Thank you for a great season.Sonya LawsonManager8Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club (Inc.)