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GA Nationals 2010

G-unit — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:11:06 GMT

Since we now have a set date for nationals and the brotherly love of the UK tour has started to wear off it must be time to focus the smack across the state borders...

Most regular seasons are finished or into playoffs and individual state programs are underway so lets band together and send the love right across this fair land...

News I have heard:

1. Every victorian player has to undergo a level one field goal kicking course
2. SA boys are trying to get cloning legalised so they can have a full team of bennetts
3. ACT are just trying to stay awake living in the most boring city in OZ
4. QLD have just handed a set of jerseys to the stingrays and told them they have a road game in april
5. WA are checking out potential strip joints i mean sponsors in victoria

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Outlaw63 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 18:11:06 GMT

[quote][b]Load66 (19/04/2010)[/b][hr]I've started putting a few up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1BJWCor3DA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGncoZ8zXUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fz3NQ5fZzE

Don't have final tape yet, but will put a few highlights up when I do.[/quote]

Awesome blocking in that first clip, you could drive a bus through that hole... Good job o-line!!!

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Load66 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 07:10:07 GMT

I've started putting a few up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1BJWCor3DA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGncoZ8zXUQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fz3NQ5fZzE

Don't have final tape yet, but will put a few highlights up when I do.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

ozcar — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 05:38:20 GMT

The Nationals were awesome. Congratulations on a great effort by all teams.

I took a fair bit of video from the Vics ACT game and will try and edit it up but this is the best video so far - a monster hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2CLlkUFC2A

RE: GA Nationals 2010

51 — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:32:23 GMT

[quote][b]keepthepeace (19/04/2010)[/b][hr][quote][b]

Did anyone get an unbiased look at the game winning TD forACT v QLD..unfortunately I wason the sideline icing an injury and missed it, I have only really heard from my guys as to their thoughts on it...obviously saying it was incomplete pass as the slidingreceivers legs were OB when he gained control.The WA v NSW game was a cracker! It certainly will make for a massive 2012 Nationals over in Perth!!

[/quote]

yep i got a great look at it and it was a td no part touched out of bounds before the catch and he had control all the way to the ground his hands didnt move an inch.[/quote]

Thanks Keepthepeace. Were you reffing that game or spectator?

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Gaff — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 01:21:46 GMT

in answer to Butthead's questions.

The League AGM is always held on the weekend on or around that years nationals tournament (either senior or Junior). I did not attend due to work committments.

Each state has a GA board member, and they would defiately have known about it

Im not sure where you are from but the state directors are:

NSW - Me (I resigned my position last year but had to take it back up again because noone else on the NSW board would do it)

VIC - Dan Levin (I think, it was Garry Wilson but he resigned as secretary after an illness)

QLD - Luke Chapman

SA - Dave Segewick

WA - Gert Boogerd

ACT - Stephen Komnacki (Treasurer)

Also on the board are:

Tony Martin (Agoa)

Michael Ryan (Independant Chairman)

Regards

Gaff

RE: GA Nationals 2010

benny j — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:27:13 GMT

Wayno our left tackle who alot of you may know dislocated his right ankle and broke his leg just above the ankle, he had surgery yesterday and it went well he is resting in hospital at the moment, he is more pissed off that he was unable to finish the game and that this season is a right off than anything else. But he is in high spirits and has alot of teamates wishing him a speedy recovery.

Benny J

victoria eagles 2010 #70

RE: GA Nationals 2010

milehigh — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:24:23 GMT

Nice post Nathan and I completely agree.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Coach19 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:12:56 GMT

Just a quick question: how is the Vic player that they got the ambulance for at the final? Wolfpack players, staff and coaches wish him a speedy recovery.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

51 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:36:46 GMT

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in from the Nationals. I thought that the venue and general running of the day to day schedule was probably the best I have played in since 98. The volunteers and Dan L kept things moving well on game day, the presentation dinner was a pretty decent show also with the guest speaker proving entertaining and insightful. Congrats to ALL teams that were represented, the quality and sportsmanship on the field shown from each state makes for an exciting time ahead with the formation of the next Australian Outback squad!
The other negative incidents are well known and have been discussed here, there and everywhere so no need for me to add to them.

Did anyone get an unbiased look at the game winning TD for ACT v QLD..unfortunately I was on the sideline icing an injury and missed it, I have only really heard from my guys as to their thoughts on it...obviously saying it was incomplete pass as the sliding receivers legs were OB when he gained control. The WA v NSW game was a cracker! It certainly will make for a massive 2012 Nationals over in Perth!!

I hope you're all enjoying being back at home and recovering well, all the best for the 2010 season!!

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Butthead73 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:58:18 GMT

Hello Gaff,

I was just wondering if you could shed some light on GA and the AGM that took place at Nationals.

My only question is, are all states notified of the AGM for GA before it taking place? and if this does happen who notifies the states?

Our league had no idea this was happening.

Cheers

Peter

ps Well done to NSW and well done to the ACT for joining the fray again.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Gaff — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:57:26 GMT

Nice post Nathan. I doubt you will get any answers , but you make good points.

I am a GA board member, but I am also on the GNSW coaching staff ...so i wasn't included in the discussions (rightly so), but ive not heard or read anything about the incident.

There was a GA board meeting following the tourney, so hopefully there will be some answers from that that I missed.

I agree completely with the transparency point though....

RE: GA Nationals 2010

HailToTheRedskins — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 08:48:18 GMT

Got back from Melbourne yesterday and still catching up on sleep. Apologies for the cut and paste from Word, but it was easier than staying online forever.

I was a young special teams player at the 2001 Nationals, but for that one we got to stay at home, so this was my first true experience of 24/7 football at the higher level. I loved it and would happily pack my bags tomorrow if GA said “wait, there’s been a screw-up, we need to play the tournament again next week”. More on GA later.

Some quick thoughts:

Water-based astro sucks. Our guys – especially running backs – now realise how lucky they are that our league plays exclusively on grass.

Congrats to NSW. Victoria looked better in the group games, but the Wolfpack were outstanding in the final.

Didn’t fully appreciate how cool other players and coaches would be. I thought there would be a certain quota of over-competitive a*$holes – very happy to say the number came in way lower than expected. The cheering we got during our win over Queensland was loud, genuine and a complete shock. One of the coolest experiences I’ve ever had around football.

But one thing leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Actually, that’s a lie. The farcial events surrounding the stripping and reinstatement of the WA win over SA on Monday has me angry, frustrated and disgusted. I’m not taking anything away from WA – they kicked our ar$es good and proper – and I’m not going into the rights and wrongs of whether they deserved a penalty or not. I don’t know, don’t really care. It’s not something I can control. My anger is directed at Gridiron Australia – I can’t single people out because it’s hard to figure out who is actually accountable for this incompetence.

Late Tuesday night, someone in the WA camp posted on this site that they were to be stripped of the result. I saw it because I was up sorting through the SA-WA game film and logging plays to match video we had recorded. Next morning our head coach made a phone call to ask what the go was. We were told this was basically the case and to await the meeting of the GA board that night to formally announce the decision.

We scouted the WA-NSW game just in case. While we didn’t get “official” confirmation, we were told that it was a fait-accompli. Every man and his dog knew that WA had been told, and one of the WA boys told our players Wednesday night – at our motel – that they had it confirmed they were playing Queensland for sixth.

On Thursday morning, we went ahead with prepping for SA. At some stage we had it officially confirmed to us that SA was our opponent. We made some tweaks, presented it to the players, showed them SA footage and then went out for walk-throughs at 2pm.

We got to the tournament dinner, where just before we went in, JR said WA management had told him they had lodged an appeal. Just before the entrees came out, we saw a WA delegate meeting with two GA board members. Apparently this was when they were told of the result.

Nothing happened until the team managers were called to a team meeting at 9.30pm after Bill Le Monnier’s speech. There, our manager was told that due to legal advice, GA had decided to reinstate WA. They were further told to not tell coaches or players until they got back to the hotel.

Something wrong with this picture? As a staff we wasted a full day and a half and our players’ last on-field session preparing for an opponent we weren’t going to play. SA got an even worse deal, essentially being told “you’re playing at 10am instead of 2pm – warm-ups start in 11 hours. Enjoy dessert!”

The appeal was lodged earlier that afternoon. How hard is it to pick up the damn phone and say “WA have lodged an appeal. We’re hearing it soon and will get back to you.” As a staff, we owe it to our players to give them the best preparation and best chance possible. At the very least, we would have developed two game plans – missing the tournament dinner if need be. WA knew they were lodging an appeal, so had a chance to prepare two game plans. I don’t know if they did, but they had the opportunity. We were denied that opportunity.

Instead, in a move that reeks of cowardice, our team managers were told to not tell anyone. Why? So that they wouldn’t make a scene? All indications point to the GA board meeting before the dinner and coming up with the decision. Some genius thought the right thing to do was wait three hours to tell everyone else.

We left as soon as we could to get to work, and were up to 3am afterwards producing video for our guys. We had come up with some thoughts on playing WA after dinner on Monday or Tuesday, but we had 20 minutes after the dinner to outline the plans, then an hour the next morning to install it. Needless to say it wasn’t successful – mainly because WA was a match-up nightmare for us – but that and making stuff up on the fly was the best we could do.

But what if WA had beaten NSW on that Gastorov to Fredericks pass? Instead of changing the 3^rd-4^th match-up, you are tweaking the National Championship game. Are you kidding me? Why did a full board need to be in place to make the decision? Why couldn’t the tournament director convene a hearing on Tuesday, make a decision and announce it, thus making sure any appeal gets heard earlier? If the full board needed to be in town to make a decision, why weren’t the board in town? It’s not like it’s the organisation’s showpiece event or anything...

And why couldn’t the process be more transparent? Or just plain transparent and not cloaked in excuses like “in-confidence” or “protecting the integrity of the tournament”. I think this only harmed the integrity of the tournament, or is that just crazy-person talk?

I know it’s a cliché, but if this happened in the private sector, or in professional sport, someone’s head would roll. But this won’t happen. We probably won’t even get an apology. They might even blame the Victorian-based tournament organisers. But I want GA and the board members concerned to know that how they handled this was cowardly, unprofessional and reprehensible. For an organisation that wants to be taken seriously and present a professional appearance, this was worse than amateur hour.

GA board members dismiss this site because of the anonymity it affords posters. So just to confirm, my name is Nathan Long, and I was on the ACT Monarchs coaching staff. Steve Komnacki has my contact details.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

The Dungeonator — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:42:00 GMT

Gotta agree with woll,when things are'nt workin you need to make changes,it seemed like the vics were happy to keep trying the same thing over and over again.Also it wouldnt have hurt to put sunshine in earlier as dom was over throwing receivers and didnt seem to let plays run there course.

Harpaggio pretty easy to rip into a bloke who was a spectator and gave his opinion on what he thought was happening,is the vic coaching so above a little criticism.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Buzz — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:57:58 GMT

Hear, hear Gaff.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Gaff — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 19:18:13 GMT

Congrats go to all the teams at this years Nationals...it was great to see the whole country finally represented.

ACT did a great job for their first year back in quite a while and hopefully will build on that first win.

SA also played great football even though they couldn't get that first win for rookie head coach Justin "owen" Rodgers (sorry JR).

WA were a definite force and will be very tough on home soil on 2012

QLD were a much better team that 2008 with a new coaching staff and a committed core of senior players

and VIC were as usual, strong across the board.

Harpaggio...i don't know why you bother with the armchair knockers, they are always going to have a dig just because they can. You guys had a great tournament and should be proud of what you achieved together.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Harpaggio — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 03:28:06 GMT

woll, were you even there for the post game speech because you must be deaf, there was no such thing said, what was said was that a lose is important but pails into insignificance compared to the lose suffered by 3 of our players during camp. This is a game, played by amateurs for fun, their lose is permanent. As for the slants, did you notice they were playing man if you know what that is and they were inside saying throw the fade. If thats what they give you thats what you take. I will admit thats a low percentage play and when you do complete it to have it called back on a penalty is shit. Yes off tackle runs were there because they stacked the middle with three massive defensive lineman so if they give you off tackle thats what you do. Did you mention the play actions, fullback in the flats, counters , go routes, screens, roll outs and crash routes we ran. What offense would you have us run against this team, wishbone, as i say get your coaching certificate and step up and make a call. I expect you to be coaching in 2 years in WA, see how you go....

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Load66 — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 02:13:35 GMT

Credit to Vic- they played tough. I think it's unfair to throw any one player/coach under the bus: they did nothing to disgrace the uniform.

What would be interesting is some feedback on whether Vic felt having the nationals at home was a help or a hindrance. I know they were in camp, but I could see it going either way.

66

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Warrior59 — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 23:12:11 GMT

you have heard wrong 'woll' what the coach was refering to was not infighting. But other stuff no matter because it had nothing to do with the game. NSW beat us and thats the way it was. They did everything on the field that was required of them and they won. I make no excuses here we were beat by a better team. But we are still a team and a young team at that.

Its easy to call plays from the living room.

Regardless of all the BS that will be said/posted/copied and reposted the fact is that on the field NSW played better then us. They won and they are a better team for it. Lion58 has bragging rights, all NSW has bragging rights.

But there was no infighting at all in fact I would say that we are the closets knit team Victoria has ever had including coaching.

You've had your chance, leave us to ours. ps: found a club yet???

RE: GA Nationals 2010

woll — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:43:11 GMT

you are kidding yourself pal the only calls u made were run off tackle with deker or pass long which clearly your starting qb cant do what about running between the tackles or passing some quick slants and flares to get the offence moving.The starting qb clearly had a bad night and should off been replaced much earlier and to then say in the speach after the game we did well considering the infighting in the team what a cop out you were flogged

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Harpaggio — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:31:18 GMT

By the way, the backup QB didn't know that play as we had never practiced it so you can't expect him to run it, idiot, Sunshine is a team player and knew exactly what the deal was so he didn't even question it, its called trusting the coaches decision something you wouldn't understand as you are not a coach.......

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Harpaggio — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 19:27:32 GMT

Woll, you are an idiot and you won't hear me say that often in this forum as everyone has their opinion. Did it occur to you that maybe NSW put all their back up players in in the fourth quarter and thats when we had our second group in who scored. You've got no idea so go and do your coaching course and make some calls. NSW is a good team solid all around, this is not club level where there is a guy you can pick on and the only way you beat them is no penalties, no fumbles, catch every ball, play brilliant defense and maybe, just maybe you beat them. We did none of the above. We had a few huge penalties at crucial times of the game. We didn't catch every ball and we did fumble. The only thing we did do well is play defense because these guys could put up 50 if you slip up. But to win you must score and thats where the offense let the team down Stuff worked against them but it was not consistent and thats what you need. So you want to make the calls, go ahead step up because if you haven't noticed the league is short of them.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

wildcats — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 14:27:14 GMT

[quote][b]aj51 (16/04/2010)[/b][hr]Okay it's been run and won. Someone, somewhere has got to have video and/or can do some game write-ups. Come on guys, something for those who couldn't get there.[/quote]

Both NSW and Vic traded turnovers to start the game. NSW then scored on a long TD pass that was deflected by a Vic DB to the NSW WR. In the 2nd quarter NSW took advantage of great field position thanks to their dangerous punt return team to run in a TD. A great drive by NSW proved to be the back breaking drive as they drove down the field through the air to go up 21-0 right before halftime. Vic connected on a hail mary seconds before the half but was called back for an illegal shift. The second half saw NSW play it safe on offence and their defence proved dominant. Aside from out patterns and a handful of runs to the outside, the NSW defence completely shut them down. A late TD through the air as Vic sold out on the run saw NSW go up 28-0 before a late drive got the Vics on the board to close out of the game 28-7.

RE: GA Nationals 2010

Warrior59 — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 10:14:43 GMT

Congrats to NSW. You played a great game. Enjoy the win tonight and over the next couple of years as you are deservedly the national champs once again. Eagle #34

RE: GA Nationals 2010

woll — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:12:02 GMT

just got home from the title game and a big congratulations to the wolfpack 5 straight is a great effort.Was actually ashamed to be a victorian tonight i no its an amatuer sport but fuck me the victorian coaching was the biggest amatuer hour ive ever seen we just needed some benny hill music and would of been complete.How can u continue to trail by 21 and refuse to try anything differant.Then when u do finally try something by changing qb's with 2 and a half minutes left when the games over the new qb drives down to 3 yards out and u pull him out to put your starting qb in.What a joke the starting qb couldnt get it done why give him the glory real poor form in my book.Oh well good luck in 2 years vics.

ps i dont have an affiliation to any team just an interested spectater