Auckland Rugby 2021
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@african-monkey no he won't be playing NPC.
Grindlay will be suiting up for the Naki I heard. -
@tim said in Auckland Rugby 2021:
Grammar TEC play College Rifles next round, whereas Eden play Waitakere, University play Manukau, and Ponsonby play Otahuhu, so Grammar TEC could well miss the playoffs.
Is that all the club's in Auckland now? Or is there a small 2nd Div still going?
"Back in my day ..." there were 21. And even then that had shrunk from a few years prior. (That is only on the Akl side of the harbour.)
Just did a mental exercise to see who is missing.
From that 21:
Grammar TEC have combined 3 into 1. And before my time Teachers joined with Eastern, and Cornwall and Grafton (I think) became Carlton. So one club essentially merged from five, but for my purposes that's minus 2.Roskill looks to have gone. Have a feeling they "merged" with the mighty Eden. Roskill Districts was itself an amalgamation of Mt Roskill and Hillsborough a year or so before my time. (Liking the Auto correct for Roskill ... Roadkill).
Te Papapa seems to have disappeared. Tamaki, East Tamaki and Mt Wellington nowhere to be seen. Neither is Te Atatu.
So there's the 8 I'm missing.
Probably sadly indicative of the diminishing number playing sport (Not just rugby).
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@booboo said in Auckland Rugby 2021:
Probably sadly indicative of the diminishing number playing sport (Not just rugby).
Our society has changed, and leisure options have changed.
Back in the day, there wasn't much else to do at the weekend - shops (if they were open) closed at noon Saturday... so people genuinely had free time.
I'm not saying we should go back, but there's a key driver right there
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@nzzp said in Auckland Rugby 2021:
@booboo said in Auckland Rugby 2021:
Probably sadly indicative of the diminishing number playing sport (Not just rugby).
Our society has changed, and leisure options have changed.
Back in the day, there wasn't much else to do at the weekend - shops (if they were open) closed at noon Saturday... so people genuinely had free time.
I'm not saying we should go back, but there's a key driver right there
I agree. It's not just having different leisure options. How many people work routinely on the weekend now?
Also, I missed Bay-Lynn (who, from the name , would appear to have been some sort of amalgam as well) off my list of the missing.
I now recall someone previously saying that Bay-Lynn has merged with (into?) Suburbs, and Te Atatu had become Waitakere (which didn't exist in my day). Or some permutation of those three clubs.
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@tim said in Auckland Rugby 2021:
For what it's worth, there's still 21 clubs for junior rugby.
Thanks Tim.
I recall Waiheke having a club at Junior level, but didn't count them.
I see Marist looks to have invaded and taken over Tamaki.
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@tim that’s not bad from Jock McKenzie considering he made his debut for GT 4 weeks ago against Ponsonby in round 8…staggering 🤔
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Top Auckland rugby club fined $15k for breaching rules
Auckland rugby club College Rifles have been found guilty of paying a player, therefore breaching the rules of the amateur game, and must pay a fine and costs of $15,000.
Perhaps even more significantly, the club will be docked 30 competition points should they be found guilty of a similar breach within the next three seasons.
The Herald revealed this morning the details of the Remuera club's transgression in agreeing to pay an Eden under-21 player what has been described as a "substantial" amount of money over two years.
The matter came to light after the player wanted to return to Eden after a couple of games for Rifles and told his original club of the contract which was understood to have been typed on a Rifles letterhead. This goes against the terms of the Club Participation Agreement.
Auckland Rugby informed the Herald on Friday of their sanction handed down to Rifles after mediation of the affair finished on Thursday night.
An ARU statement read: "A mediation process has concluded between Auckland Rugby and College Rifles Rugby Club. That process has found that there has been a breach of Clause 16, Material Benefit, of the Club Participation Agreement."Auckland Rugby takes the commitments made within the Club Participation Agreement seriously and as such has spent considerable time and resource to ensure a thorough and robust process has been conducted between the parties.
"College Rifles have agreed to pay an up-front fine, a donation to the New Zealand Rugby Foundation, and a contribution to the legal costs incurred by Auckland Rugby."It has also been agreed that there will be a suspended deduction of 30 competition points to be applied at Auckland Rugby's discretion should there be any further breach within three years."
The Herald has obtained a copy of the decision, co-signed by Auckland Rugby council of delegates chairman Brent Metson and Eden Rugby Club president Peter Kempson.
It found that College Rifles admitted the breach and "openly shared information to assist the investigation process" and that "the player in question played only a limited amount of rugby for the club".
It also found that the Participation Agreement was "limited" and needed further development. Specifically, it found there was a "lack of clarity over the consequences for any practices that are clearly outside the rules, and the spirit of the rules".
Rifles agreed to pay a fine of $5,000 to Auckland Rugby, plus a further $5000 to contribute towards AR's costs. Rifles will pay an additional $5,000 to the New Zealand Rugby Foundation. All must be paid within 21 days.
The suspended deduction of 30 competition points will be applied to College Rifles' senior teams – men's and women's premiers, first grade, and/or under-21 – should a further breach occur within the next three seasons.
College Rifles' men's premiers are currently on top of the table ahead of their final regular-season game against Grammar Tec on Saturday.
The club, which wields considerable influence in Auckland rugby circles due to its wealthy backers and connections within Auckland Rugby, would not comment on the matter when contacted this week.An Auckland club insider said the widespread rumours of clubs paying players was "massively frustrating".
"This is grassroots rugby and it's not a level playing field. Obviously, if we're trying to recruit and retain players and you have a club offering money then we're always going to lose to those kinds of clubs and it becomes an expectation for kids coming out of school and that sets a pretty bad precedent," the club insider claims.
"Rifles isn't the only club... Everyone knows what's happening. We all know there are players being paid.
"There are other clubs that probably don't want to speak about it because their backyard isn't that clean either."