Stroud Go Undefeated at Festival

Everyone met at the festival site. What would happen today ? Would the tired kids struggle with the lack of sleep, or would the late night drinking of soft drinks and Slush Puppies give them enough of a sugar rush to get through today’s games? Keyan was on his 4th Mars bar of the morning so he was going to be OK.

The injury curse had continued overnight with Callum getting another whack on his injured arm from boisterous non-Stroud kids in the arcade/disco areas. Could we make it through the 2nd day injury free? We were already going to miss Callum helping out with the forward play.

Game 1 vs Reading Tigers

Tigers tamed as Stroud rampage.

Match Reporter: Mark O

I think it was Paul McCartney who said “I know Pipes of Peace was not my best one ever, but don’t write me off, I have a great one up my sleeve and it involves some singing frogs”

So, after a Saturday which all agreed had not seen the best performance ever for this side, with only two wins and four defeats, were they to be written off in this tournament? Absolutely not. As they all stood together, one got the feeling this was a Stroud side to be reckoned with. Looking fresh after an early turn-in, a good night’s sleep and then a 2 mile run before a muesli and yoghurt breakfast (not verified) Stroud were looking sharp for this their first Sunday match against Reading Tigers.

With a chill wind and a hint of rain in the air Tigers kicked off and put the ball into touch. Stroud restarted but a bit of loose passing saw the ball go to the Tigers. Jedd was having none of that and took on at least 5 Tigers to win it back for Stroud. It was clear that he meant business.

Will T was showing similar resolve and made a good strong run with ball in hand to be brought down on the halfway line by some great Tigers defence. There followed a passage of play where Tigers kept possession and made some ground but Stroud were defending resolutely with Stoner and Tom O putting in some great tackles.

Following a lineout restart the Tigers broke through and reached the Stroud try line. Stroud had managed to regroup very quickly and Will T held the ball up, ably assisted by just about everyone else in the Stroud side. Tigers were awarded a scrum a few metres from the Stroud line and a momentary lapse of concentration by the Stroud defence allowed a robust looking Tiger the opportunity to cross the line and score.

Stroud 0, Reading Tigers 1.

It is interesting, and encouraging, to note that Stroud heads did not go down. It was clear (especially with the benefit of hindsight) that Stroud were up for this and going to win.
The Tigers restart went into touch and from the resultant restart the action was full-on immediately with Jedd and Will T again imposing themselves and Laurie making a making a good straight run requiring three Tigers to slow and eventually stop him. Stroud were unlucky to lose the ball in the loose but lucky to have Arthur who stole it straight back and set off down the field with it before offloading to Fin who set up Dave for another of his dazzling runs which was cut short when he was bundled into touch in the corner.

Tigers restarted and put a kick deep into the Stroud half which was beautifully caught by Laurie who set off another of his penetrating runs but changed his mind, putting in a long intelligent pass to Will T, who ran the length of the pitch to score a magnificent try.

Stroud 1 Reading Tigers 1

There was only time for Tigers to restart, putting the ball straight into touch before the whistle went for half time.

Stroud kicked off to start the second half and Tigers went immediately on the offensive with a strong backs move move into Stroud’s half. Stoner and Tom O slowed down the advance and were joined by Arthur who snatched the ball and managed to offload in the tackle to Hammo who weaved his way nonchalantly through the Tigers for a great try.

Stroud 2 Reading Tigers 1

Stroud took the restart and again had to absorb heavy pressure from Tigers. Some messy rucking saw Tigers penalised and Stroud who, unlike many of the teams at the tournament, already had a well-disciplined formation in place, were able to take the penalty promptly, with Arthur Dave and Fin all making a few metres before off loading, all finished off beautifully by Tom H who broke through two tackles for a fine try.

Stroud 3 Reading Tigers 1

From the Tigers restart yet another great link-up between Dave, Arthur ,Laurie, Fin then Hammo saw Stroud arrive quickly at Tigers try line where sturdy defence arrested the advance and resulted in Stroud being penalised for holding on. Tigers put a hefty kick into the Stroud half which was ably collected by Dave who ran straight back at them with Laurie in support and didn’t stop until he was brought down by a brave Tiger tackle about a metre from the try line. The Stroud forwards piled on the pressure and were looking more and more dangerous. Tigers remained composed and thought they were out of trouble when they had a metre or so of space to put in a kick, only to have it charged down by the mighty Jedd. Tigers regained possession and not wanting to risk another kick over Jedd, tried to run the ball out of the danger zone. Arthur and Tom O had other plans, and fine tackles saw Tigers lose possession with the loose ball being deftly gather by Jedd and popped up to Dave who ran 5 metres to score in the corner.

Stroud 4 Reading Tigers 1

Fully embracing the team’s new strapline “Let’s add insult to injury” Fin caught the Tigers restart kick, ran a few metres putting himself in a position to spin a lovely pass to Dave who ran the length of the pitch to score, whereupon the whistle blew for full time.

Stroud 5 Reading Tigers 1

This was another great performance by this all-inclusive squad who were selfless committed and extremely determined.

Game 2 vs Havant

Havant a chance!

Match Reporter: Chris H

Stroud Team; Alex, Will T, Stoner, Keyan, Will H, Archie E, Arthur, Archie C & Dash

After the 'high' of the first game it was always going to be a hard task to replicate the form against Havant in the second match of the day. Tails were up and 'E-numbers' were kicking in as Will H kicked off for Stroud with Arthur immediately putting pressure on them by chasing and tacking the Havant catcher. Keyan, Stoner and Will T put in a solid performance in the ensuing scrum and the ball was sped out in a flash by Flash himself (Archie C) and before a few more changes of hands, Flash raced in for the first try.
From the restart there was great passing by Archie E and Will T then a loose ball was claimed and spun through several pairs of hands again before Will H danced in at the corner for try number two. Following the restart gain Alex put in some fine support play for his teammates and solid tackles before Lewis was let loose to run for the line, only to be tackled just short. The halftime whistle was blown-two nil to the blue and whites-wow!

Havant kicked off the second half and the Stroud boys took the ball straight back at them, putting them under pressure again and keeping them penned in their own half with some solid tackling again. Wave after wave of Stroud pressure ensued before Keyan ploughed a furrow through the Havant defence to claim the third try-nobody was stopping him, or indeed the team!
Another restart and more pressure on Havant as Lewis broke free again but was roughly tackled into touch with a bit of time out to follow. Laurie joined the scene for the injured Lewis and was straight into the action stretching his lanky legs, only to be brought down in attack. Stoner broke free from a ruck and ran half the pitch to bulldoze his way to the try line and get the fourth-damn these boys are on fire!

Final score Stroud 4 Havant 0.

Game 3 vs Topsham

Top dogs against Topsham

Match Reporter: Geoff

Team: Archie C, Keyan, Dave, Laurie, Arthur, Tom O, Fin, Stoner, Will H

This match came off the back of two comprehensive Stroud victories on Sunday morning. Could our sleep-deprived, pizza-fuelled heroes make it a hat-trick of wins? The sleep-deprived, fish-and-chip fuelled fans on the sidelines waited with bated breath to find out.

Stroud made a solid start with a sound Will H catch from the Topsham kick-off, but the ball was quickly turned over. Topsham had a good minute of possession, but really solid Stroud defence, especially from Tom O, meant that they went nowhere fast, and from a quick turnover, Archie C made an astonishing break, putting in approximately 25 sidesteps like a small, ginger Jason Robinson and taking the ball deep into Topsham territory. The game now became fast and furious with inevitable consequences for the quality of your reporter’s notes...

Following a scrum, Stroud went through several phases with strong running by Keyan and sniping by Archie. Stroud briefly lost the ball, but putting his early season injury woes well behind him, Arthur did one of his classic choke and steal tackles and went over for a fine try. The Stroud bandwagon was rolling again and the momentum was unstoppable. Stroud quickly regained possession, with Archie again in tremendous form, doing great work at the base of the ruck and distributing brilliantly under pressure. A wonderful flowing move saw Dave go close on the right, Fin go close down the middle and then Laurie touch down in the left corner for 2-0. The move was notable because Tom ‘the thinking man’s prop’ Stoner showed great awareness to step in at scrum-half as Archie was briefly missing in action under a pile of bodies.

At half-time the slightly surreal party atmosphere that had been developing on the sidelines continued to build. It may have been delirium setting in as a result of too much beer/cider/wine and too little sleep, but the Stroud volume was now starting to dominate, as yogurt knitting and yoga came to Weymouth in force.

The second half started as the first ended, with great Stroud pressure on the ball especially from Laurie and Keyan. With the Topsham line at our mercy, Stroud were mysteriously penalised, but there was no let-up: from a defensive kick, Laurie took a simply astonishing catch running-back, and turned to drive into the opposition defence once more. After more impromptu scrum-half work from Stoner, Dave was held up on the line. Topsham took a scrum, but Will H put their backs under typically intense pressure and they couldn’t clear their lines.

From a Stroud penalty a sensational handling move saw the ball moved right then left, a fine clear-out at the ruck by Tom O, a brilliant attacking line from Fin followed by a brilliant offload to Will H who touched down for 3-0. I’ve run out of adjectives for brilliant, but this was not just the try of the match, or the weekend. It may well have been the try of the century.

After 10 minutes of near-perfect rugby, Stroud finally made a single solitary mistake, knocking-on from the kick-off, and Topsham scored a consolation try in the corner. Briefly revitalised, Topsham put Stroud under intense pressure again as the clock started to run down, and the possibility of plucking a draw from the jaws of victory briefly crossed the mind. But Stroud were not to be denied: great defence, led yet again by Archie meant the final score was Stroud 3 – 1 Topsham.

This was a near perfect performance of intensity, courage and skill, and the celebrations were long and loud.

Moment of the match: a tie between Laurie’s running catch and the try of the century.

Question of the match: where is Topsham?

Game 4 vs Horsham Whites

Match Reporter: Russell

Stroud Team: Jedd, Will T, Keyan, Tom H, Dave, Dash, Alex, Finn, Archie E

Confusion had reigned before kick-off with the news that Horsham had to withdraw one of their squads due to a lack of players with the injuries they had suffered. Coaches Mark and Phil had spent ages re-jigging their playing schedule to give everyone equal playing time and were now on revision 7 of their plan. Minutes before we took to the pitch it was confirmed that Horsham would re-instate their 2nd team (and borrow players) so giving everyone a full set of fixtures.

At this point Mark showing his teaching skills said to ‘hell with planning’ and resorted to winging it with his squad selection. Phil, ever the diplomat, picked up Marks disregarded spreadsheet and went back 3 pages to the original schedule they had originally devised. Then the penny dropped that if we had to offer players to Horsham in the final game of tournament we would need another 4 pages to construct a fair playing schedule for the team. Poor old Stu was going to have a nightmare keeping tabs of this in the final match report of the day.

Stroud received the kick off and Jedd caught the ball cleanly and went on a great rampaging run. The ball was setup nicely and Tom H went on a sniping run and was unlucky to have been adjudged for a forward pass that had put Dave through for what we thought was the opening try.

Horsham came back with their own attacking play but Will T and Finn were strong in their tackles. The ball bobbled loose and an alert Alex dived on it. This setup Will T to pick up the ball and throw a long pass to the left that Finn ran onto perfectly and scored the first try of the game. 5-0 to Stroud.

Dave caught the next kick off and ran it back. Keyan took the pass and carried on the attack. Just as things couldn’t get any better an enterprising Jedd who had been a constant threat all festival received a nice pass and scored up the middle with 2 Horsham players hanging off him! 10-0 to Stroud.

Dave was on kick return duty again. He passed to Will T who then passed onto Archie E and Finn. Stroud were threatening to score again but Horsham did well to stop Dash. Horsham were still in the game though and made their own probing runs. Alex was again strong in the tackle, well supported by Archie E who seemed to be spurred on by his new found tackling technique. Every time Archie put a tackle in as well as the Horsham player wincing, it was Archie’s Dad Stu that also winced. Rumour had gone round that there was some bounty put on each tackle Archie did. Was it more or less than the £1 a try that Keyan was earning from Jon? Rumour had it was substantially more…..and one of the photos on this web site is proof that a reward needs to be paid.

Stroud were starting to dominate in the forwards as well. A great push in a ruck gave Stroud good ball and Tom H dug the ball out and Alex and Finn then made their own good moves to gain more space. Unfortunately Stroud couldn’t finish off the move and Horsham took over themselves. Horsham did well to work the ball up the pitch and were starting to look more and more dangerous. The ball came out to a big Horsham forward and he rumbled towards the line. Dash was more than up for the challenge though and managed to slow him down and just as we thought David had felled Goliath the Horsham guy re-positioned his body and scored Horsham’s first try. Score now 10-5.

Jedd was keen to impose himself on the game again so caught the kick off and went on a punishing run. Horsham did well to drag him down. The game broke down into a serious of rucks and short attacking runs from both sides. Archie E was alert to steal the ball in a ruck. The ball came out and Keyan caught it at pace and ran away from the chasing Horsham players. In true Chris Ashton style he did a swallow dive to touch down. Parents looked at each other in worry. Would this one get pulled back for another bizarre rule of no showboating? Fortunately common sense prevailed and Keyan celebrated his try with another tannoy announcer led jingle. Half time was taken at 15-5.

The 2nd half started with Dave kicking long. Archie E was like a tackler possessed. Ball came loose and Finn recovered but Stroud couldn’t benefit from the good attacking position. Horsham tried to run it out from deep but Alex and Will T both put in good tackles to slow them down. Horsham were still piling forward though. They managed to camp on the Stroud line but determined team tackling held them up so they were awarded a scrum 5. At the scrum the ball came out to the left and Horsham player ran in almost untouched to close the game up to 15-10. It was getting tense on the sideline.

Finn caught the next kick off and was well supported by Tom H and Alex. The game was getting messy though with no real attacking opportunities. It was tense though because any mistake in the tackling, or a knocked on pass could present an opportunity to the other team.

Stroud were awarded a penalty and Keyan barrelled forward. Dave took the ball on and with a well timed pass gave it onto Dash who wasn’t going to be denied and he sprinted down the left wing to give Stroud breathing room with a 20-10 lead.

Horsham decided to kick off and Alex ran it back on one of his full-back inspired weaving runs. Stroud attacked again with Tom H and Archie E combining well. Horsham jumped on a loose ball and created their own platform to attack from. More tackles from Finn, Will T and Alex stopped Horsham from finding some gaps. Horsham changed tact and started kicking the ball. Archie E was alert to this and fielded the ball and ran it back down the left wing. Confusion ensued as Jo called him out but the ref ignored the advice and let play continue. Players on both sides had stopped ready for the line-out restart but the ref just shouted for everyone to play on. Horsham re-acted quicker and threatened to break clear and score but Will T put in a big tackle and a knock on occurred so the ref blew up and indicated full time. Stroud had won another game and Sunday was getting better and better. Could we win the last game and go undefeated on Sunday?

Final Score: Stroud 20 – 10 Horsham Whites

Game 5 - The even mightier Stroud versus Horsham Greens

Match Reporter: Stu

Team: Keyan, Orgy, Stoner, Flash, Will, Dave, Arthur, Laurie, Archie E (subs used: Tom H, Alex, Dash)

The final game of a fantastic weekend and time perhaps to reflect, but only after Stroud had finished their programme with the 5th game of the day. 4 wins out of 4 sounds impressive and the chance for a clean sweep Sunday was there to take, but even that statistic could not accurately portray just how good the team were. The boys were alert and full of energy, clearly in contrast with the coaches who had appeared to have had a late night......

The team took to the field and confidence was evident. In fact, the earlier performances had clearly caught the attention of the Greens who reacted by not turning up. Eventually, a showing of 6 from Horsham – evidently the tournament had been attritional! Not only are we a great team, but generous too as first Finn and then Will T and Jedd opt to join the green party. Just to single them out even more, they are mysteriously all given bright orange vests to wear – I swear that Keyan started snorting and padding the ground!

Horsham to kick off and immediately Stroud are on the offensive. A clean take from Will who then pops it to Dave resulting in a great run and Try. 10 seconds on the clock and 5-0 to Stroud.

Horsham opt to kick once more and the fly half shows that he has learnt from the prior play. This time the ball is kicked away from Will and toward the forwards. Keyan leaps like a salmon to cleanly catch the ball, produces the side step of the day to beat the first tackle and then outstrips 4 further attempts to stop him on his way to the try line. Barely a minute was gone and the mighty Stroud were 10 nil up and on the offensive!

The pressure was clearly on from the boys. Could the reporter make his notes fast enough to keep up with the scoring?

The 3rd restart and the tactics changed again. This time the ball was kicked along the floor, bouncing awkwardly, before Will again made an excellent pick-up. Another mazy run ensued, with good ground made as the move drifted right. As the Green defence were outstripped an overlap appeared with Dave screaming for the pass. With the arrogance that only a half-back can carry off, Will ignored the pass and with great skill kicked the ball over the final Horsham head only to reclaim the ball off the second bounce with 10 yards to cover for the score. The inevitable 3rd Try resulted and the crowd went wild! Jo meanwhile, went a strange shade of purple as the reality of being in a confined space with aforementioned halfback for the journey home slowly sank in....15-0 and the game had barely started.

As a side note, at this point in the game, none of the Stroud exiles had touched the ball. Actually, 5 of the Stroud side had also not touched the ball despite being 3 scores to the good!

With the tactical penny dropping, Horsham opted to try receiving the kick. Struggling to ignore the bright orange vest, the ball was aimed straight at Finn. Putting his allegiances behind him, he produced a great run only to be stalled by Will, who in turn was penalised in trying to retrieve the ball. The Greens finally had the ball in hand, but a stunning tackle by Orgy produced a turnover. Further great work from Stoner saw Stroud once again advancing and a fine pass released Dave who accelerated unopposed toward try number 4. 20-0.

Ahh the life of a winger. Special mention to Archie E at this point in the game, who had managed to stay on the shoulder for 3 of the tries without convincing his team mates to ever consider passing the ball – keep up the good work!

Back to receiving the kick, this time a high looper put pressure on Arthur who had been unusually uninvolved at this point. Not for long, a mazy, determined run, beating 7 opposition players and Arthur had his first score of the day to notch up point number 25 for Stroud.

The Horsham team were looking as green as their name suggests at this moment and the match referee kindly blew up for halftime to at least temporarily put them out of their misery. Then, a touching moment as the ref approached Jo and asked if there was any objection to him applying a little leniency toward Horsham in the second half. Jo responded in the correct spirit, although possibly failing to hide the proud “expectant father” like expression on his face!

Halftime again brought some time to reflect. Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun in the centre of the Weald, West Sussex. Would the second half weald more tries for Stroud? (Reporters’s note – I know, I know – wield...)

Horsham again kicked to restart play and this time, just when they thought that the ball could not be returned any quicker, they picked out Dash. The ball was returned with the expected speed and only the touchline stopped another score. At this point, the Greens were competing much better and both Will T and Jedd were leading the charge, catching the spectators eye in Council Worker orange. Another turnover saw a great pick-up from Keyan who produced a mazy powerful run. Just when it looked like a try was inevitable, the referee stepped in and adjudged a hand-off on Finn. Just quite how Rick can blame Finn for stopping that play is a mystery!

The game then produced a fascinating side show of tackling. First, the moment the crowd had been waiting for with a coming together of Stoner and Jedd. All safe and well, but a heart stopping moment ..... Then, the cameo of all cameos from Archie C with 5 crunching tackles in the space of a minute, each met with a rising crescendo of noise from the touchline. The greatest accolade that I can provide is that he was downing Horsham players faster than his Dad was downing cider. The final hit saw an opportunity for Dash who did not need a second invitation. Flash to Dash – Try! Stroud 30 without reply!

Another decision from the Greens to kick and the crowd held their collective breath as another run back was anticipated. But no, a Stroud knock-on – have the boys not read the script. From the resulting scrum, Horsham get the ball to Jedd who makes ground before finding Will T. He drives through a tackle and releases Finn for a fine run and Horsham’s best attaching moment of the game before a fine steal from Laurie who was having a terrific second half.

As the game and tournament were in danger of petering out we had a moment of controversy. A steal from a ruck from Keyan produced a magical moment of power and pace to see him streak clear on a pitch length run for the line. The only Horsham player to get near him was inevitably Finn and the two Stroud warriors fell over the try-line together with Keyan making the put down. But NO! The referee deemed that the ball was not controlled and rules out number 7 bringing a lone voice of happiness from the Stroud fans as Jon celebrates saving a pound!

The game ends and special mention to the Horsham Greens. Beaten on the day but unbowed and they showed tremendous spirit to keep playing through to the end.

A clean sweep Sunday then for Stroud with positive contributions from all players – have we finally beaten the festival curse?

Final Score: Stroud 30 Horsham Greens 0

Now back to your normal match reporter Russell……

League Table and Results Summary

This is the final league table so you can see how competitive the festival was and how close Stroud were to nearly winning it. If we hadn’t lost to 7th place OG Duty we would have been joint 2nd. If we’d beaten the Roosters we would have been joint 1st !

Pos........................Points....For...Against....Diff
1....Dorking Roosters...18........28........13.........15
2....Haslemere..............16........34..........8.........26
3....Reading Sharks......15........29........10.........19
4....Dorking Cockerels..15.......23.........10 ........13
5....Stroud.....................14........29.........20..........9
6....Topsham ................12.......18...........7.........11
7....OG Duty...................11.......28.........19 .........9
8....Havant.....................10......19..........22.........-3
9....OG Faith....................7.......23..........19.........4
10..Horsham Whites......5.......18..........29........-11
11..Reading Tigers.........2.......11..........51........-40
12..Horsham Greens......1........4...........55........-51

Topsham only conceded 7 tries and Stroud scored 3 of these!!
Haslemere only let in 8 tries and Stroud scored 2 of these
Haslemere top scored with 34 tries but none against Stroud
Stroud joint 2nd try scorers with 29

Saturdays Results

10:30......L.....Stroud.....1 - 3......Dorking Cockerels (4th)
11:15......W....Stroud.....3 - 1......OG Faith (9th)
11:45......W....Stroud.....2 - 0......Haslemere (2nd)
12:30......L.....Stroud.....0 - 6......OG Duty (7th)
13:15......L.....Stroud.....0 - 3......Reading Sharks (3rd)
14:00......L.....Stroud.....1 - 3......Dorking Roosters (1st)

Sundays Results

10:45......W....Stroud.....5 - 1......Reading Tigers (11th)
11:30......W....Stroud.....4 - 0......Havant (8th)
12:15......W....Stroud.....3 - 1......Topsham (6th)
13:00......W....Stroud.....4 - 2......Horsham Whites (10th)
13:45......W....Stroud.....6 - 0......Horsham Greens (12th)

Played 11, Won 7 and Lost 4.

Cracker Racing and Wrap Up

As the festival wound down the kids congregated with the coaches to have their customary post-festival debrief. Jo thanked everyone for their efforts and the skill and passion they showed for the game and the great spirit they played the game in. No man-of-the-match was awarded. Instead it was agreed it was a joint team-of-the-tournament award. Everyone agreed to come back next year and try and win the tournament.

The players went off to collect their medals. Just as they thought the competition was over they were asked to line-up. Out came plates with 8 Jacobs crackers and they were set the challenge of how many could they eat in 2 minutes, without any water in sight. The whistle went. Various techniques were tried. Laurie was trying the stack of 8 in 1 go. Unfortunately his elasticated jaw couldn’t stretch that far. Other techniques witnessed were breaking them into small bits, trying to hide them, and throwing them over your shoulder.

As the clock counted down it became clear it was a Dave vs Keyan battle. Who would win? Would it be Keyan who could eat Mars Bars for breakfast or Dave who could eat adult sized portions of curry in his sleep ? The whistle blew and it looked to be a dead heat. Dave was sitting there unable to move due to having a paste of crackers in his mouth. Keyan jumped up to celebrate and then we realised that a number of cracker pieces had fallen to the ground so Dave was declared the winner.

People then made their way back to Caravan site and then back home. Most kids asleep within minutes of leaving Weymouth. After 2 hours of digesting crackers Dave announced himself hungry again and a Burger King stop was enough to refuel the kids in the Samak tour bus to get them back home.

Thanks to all the match reporters for their contributions. The competiveness by the kids on the pitch was expected, but the match reporters kept up the intensity post-festival with their reports. Thanks also to now official Stroud photographer Tori for her great collection of photos which gave the editor great trauma trying to narrow down the selection to the 30 or so that accompany this report. Also thanks to Delia for her continued medical prowess on both players and coaches. When Jenks asked Dorchester A&E for copies of Callum’s x-rays so Delia could confirm her diagnosis you could hear the panic in Dorset NHS Trust while they double-checked Callum’s diagnosis to make sure that Delia would not sue them for medical negligence!

Finally a massive thanks to the coaches for their season long preparation of the kids that has really borne fruit with their impressive season long results (minus Old Richians bogey team).

Well done kids. Let’s see how we get on next season when we go 13 a-side and play with a number 8. Based on this year when we successfully moved to 12 a-side next season should be very exciting.