Not to be emulated w/o proper Knee training/guard

STL Round 3: vs Pukeko

Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.-- Og Mandino

Two frogs fell into a bowl of cream. One didn't panic, he relaxed and drowned. The other kicked and struggled so much that the cream turned to butter and he walked out.

We will get better.....

Why is cohesion so important in team sports?

It takes a while in any team sport to build up cohesion and understanding between members in a team. We often hear so many times when coaches try to keep the same team playing whether it is soccer/football, rugby union or league or any sport for that matter.

A fine example of this can be seen on some touch rugby days where a team is strung together on the fly. Each player has their own style. Some people cannot help but run sideways, others run predictably straight while good players run into gaps with hands on the ball keeping the defender guessing.

Granted touch rugby is played mostly on a social level where a whole bunch of people gather and have a run around but it is still very interesting to observe different players, team dynamics and people’s attitudes.

The basic concept in touch rugby is to gain the meters in the first 3 or so touches and then spin it wide. When done effectively, gaps open up naturally as it leaves the defensive team in disarray. However, there are times when huge gaps of opportunities appear in center field, on the first touch that appears too good to resist. The ball is spun wide, fumbled, and turned over. This often results in a whole bunch of meaningless shouting and cursing.

General consensus on having a “wild” runner who ducks and weaves all over the place is split. It is good in that it can break up the defensive line, exploit gaps in different areas but againsts a well organized team, it could result in a whole lotta wasted energy. It also leaves the team mates of the attacking team just wonder what the heck the guy is up too!

Observing and understanding the characteristics of your team mates is very important and leads to an unspoken understanding that can help win games. From observing various players of the Shanghai’s touch team and those going to Singapore for the touch tournament, some players make use of the inside pass very effectively. More often than not the gaps seem to open up here. Others tend to run into gaps very effectively drawing 2 defenders and creating space on the outside. The wrap around or double round is not often used but when it is, it seems to be very effective.

Over running the mark is very common and allows the defense to reorganize. In high level matches the defense ends up constantly back tracking which is very hard work as leg muscles are made for running forwards, not backwards. Understanding should be maintained as in many situations there is no dummy half present and someone has to run in and pick it up. Supporting players should advise by calling out “take the touch” or “go left”.

As always, many things are always easier said than done. It takes a lot of time and practise to get use to each others play and style. With this in mind, do more observing, more communicating and less meaningless shouting next time you are on the touch field.

~ a blog article from Suzhou Creakers (http://www.suzhou-creakers.com/) ~

Orewa College tries at New Zealand Secondary school touch Nationals 2007

STL Round 1: vs 6-pack

Kongsberg Shadows gave their all to emulate last week's performance only to be let down by lack of experience and flaring tempers

The battle was already almost half won when a record breaking 12 players turned up, a flattering number indeed.
The mood in the Shadows' camp was all positive and gay as the lads bantered jokes while gearing up and "marked territories" all over Turf City side roads.
A wonderful start indeed.
Damien's boisterous presence at the sideline was definitely missed but as the game progressed the team found a surrogate in Loo. (more on this later)

Do you know....
Touch Referee, as you all must know, is a sensitive being, they are not used to criticism and quite emotionally unstable.
Therefore, in any circumstances or any time throughout the game, they shall not be judged nor be criticized upon. Such is the law of the game....
Otherwise, you may be asked to take a few minutes off the field for reflection (aka Sin Bin)

Anyway, back to the game.... or a bit of pre-game preview first...
6-pack, the 2006 National Touch League champions & 2007 finalist, has a lot of burden in maintaining their elite status in the Touch community
Kongsberg Shadows on the other hand is a newly formed team made up of Rugby enthusiasts who simply love playing the game and enjoy each other's company
There was supposed to be a huge handicap given the background of the team

Nevertheless, right from the get go, Shadows took the game literally to 6-pack's throat and made a few opportunities which were not capitalized
Experience played a huge part indeed as 6-pack soon settled down and flashed a blinding light over the Shadows for the 1st try.
Frustrations soon set in and the guys began a verbal assault on the referee. Not a wise choice ... (as they have got the whistle & see rule above)
Wise cautioning by our experience Coach, Grant "Axe" Rawlinson soon put things in perspectives
Realizing that we could not win the game by shouting at the Refs, the lads pulled a collective effort to create the 1st beautiful try....started by D.Teo's nice clean dump and hands down the line through Loo, Su & finished off by Mephine
The rest of the 1st half was pretty much a see-saw battle......thus ended with a 2-2 scoreline

The 2nd half was more organized after a pep talk by Axe.....
Mephine, Jonty & Rob were critical and precise in his dumping allowing the platform for quick attacks & recycle
Suhaimi, Alex & Andre were work-horses in defence, a critical aspect in the match or any match for that matter
Derelyn was a commander in communication
Loo was sashaying in his new haircut
Kenny & David kept things real and lifted the team up by sticking to basic Touch Rugby game play
and Bryan, though he was quite lost throughout the game, tried hard and had quite a number of breaks for the Tryline. He also gave the team some light moments when he voluntary rolled the ball. Realizing only moments later that the drills we did earlier require us to actually touch the opponent, embarrassingly yelled "Aiyar, play on lah"

Alas, the pep talk during the half-time break felled on deaf ears as we turned our verbal assault on our own teammates with every inexperience mistakes we made.
The Shadows could not recover in time and their confidence was slowly chipped away by their own heavy criticisms
The game ended 5-3 to 6-pack

Try Scorers: Mephine, David Teo & Kenny
Shadow of the Day: David Teo, for scoring the 2nd try and creating the 3rd try
Dick of the Day: It was a contention between Andre (for getting burned) & Bryan, for the voluntary roll ball then "Aiyar, plan on lah!" remarks. Bryan won the Dick of the Day hands down

As we do not have any photos nor vids for this game (coming soon for the next), I have attached a photo of our own week 2 Shadow of the Day during his Touch Rugby heyday