The Rogues Rant, an occasional look at all things Rugby.
Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2025 9:05 am
The Camden Rams defense of their hard won 2013 Premiership is off to a mixed start. After 4 Rounds of footy they have two wins and two losses on the board and are sitting in fifth spot. Things are not going quite as well as they would have hoped for at this stage. It would appear that the playing depth at the club may not be as strong as it has been for the last few years. Tyler Aitken has left the club and joined Wollongong University. Big center Sam Campbell is yet to make an appearance. Halfback Josh Holman was missing last week which took a considerable spark out of their attack against University. But I reckon the biggest missing link is that of Lock Mark Knightingale. He has been a huge part of the Rams success for the past few seasons and without him the Camden forward effort becomes somewhat less effective. On top of this it looks like Gavin Holder, Ben Greentree and Lee Russell will be permanent fixtures in the Country Cockatoos line up over the next few weeks. As a result the clubs depth will be put to the test for some time yet to come.
The NSW Country Junior Championships came to the Illawarra last week with the Under 12’s, 13’s and 18’s tournaments conducted at Shoalhaven Rugby Park in Nowra. The Junior Illawarriors continued a very phone number library successful season for the zone with the Under 12’s and 13’s winning their respective age divisions to add to the Under 14’s title won in Newcastle the week before. The Under 18’s finished third after going down narrowly in the semi-finals to Central Coast. The under 12’s conceded the only try scored against them for the tournament in a hard fought final against Newcastle Hunter to win 12 – 7. The Under 13’s ran up some big scores on their way to a final victory of 22 – 5 over Central West. In their five match program they scored 247 points and conceded just 12. The Under 18’s were very unlucky to lose their semi against the Central Coast by one point 12 – 13. A strong win over Central North 21 – 10, secured them a third place finish. Five players were selected for the NSW Country Under 18 squad. With three Country titles in the bag it’s now onto the State Championships over the long weekend in June.
With six rounds left in the Super 15 for this year there are still eight or nine teams in with a chance of making the finals. Last weeks great win by the Brumbies over the Sharks has kept everyone in touch with the Sharks who are now just one point ahead of the Chiefs with the Brumbies one point further back. The Waratahs with the Bye last week now find themselves out of the six and need to get back in the winning list this week against the Lions. The Force with their win over the Cheetahs, keep their place in the six but have the job ahead of them against the Stormers in SA this week. The Reds look to be gone and watch out for the Crusaders who are coming home strong. My tips this week are Hurricanes, Crusaders, Reds, Stormers, Brumbies, Waratahs.
I’m heading over to Ocean Park this week for my first look at Kiama for 2014. Unbeaten so far this season they can expect to be tested by the Rocks who have shown plenty so far this year. Time to see if Kiama are pretenders or a force this year.
The NSW Country Junior Championships came to the Illawarra last week with the Under 12’s, 13’s and 18’s tournaments conducted at Shoalhaven Rugby Park in Nowra. The Junior Illawarriors continued a very phone number library successful season for the zone with the Under 12’s and 13’s winning their respective age divisions to add to the Under 14’s title won in Newcastle the week before. The Under 18’s finished third after going down narrowly in the semi-finals to Central Coast. The under 12’s conceded the only try scored against them for the tournament in a hard fought final against Newcastle Hunter to win 12 – 7. The Under 13’s ran up some big scores on their way to a final victory of 22 – 5 over Central West. In their five match program they scored 247 points and conceded just 12. The Under 18’s were very unlucky to lose their semi against the Central Coast by one point 12 – 13. A strong win over Central North 21 – 10, secured them a third place finish. Five players were selected for the NSW Country Under 18 squad. With three Country titles in the bag it’s now onto the State Championships over the long weekend in June.
With six rounds left in the Super 15 for this year there are still eight or nine teams in with a chance of making the finals. Last weeks great win by the Brumbies over the Sharks has kept everyone in touch with the Sharks who are now just one point ahead of the Chiefs with the Brumbies one point further back. The Waratahs with the Bye last week now find themselves out of the six and need to get back in the winning list this week against the Lions. The Force with their win over the Cheetahs, keep their place in the six but have the job ahead of them against the Stormers in SA this week. The Reds look to be gone and watch out for the Crusaders who are coming home strong. My tips this week are Hurricanes, Crusaders, Reds, Stormers, Brumbies, Waratahs.
I’m heading over to Ocean Park this week for my first look at Kiama for 2014. Unbeaten so far this season they can expect to be tested by the Rocks who have shown plenty so far this year. Time to see if Kiama are pretenders or a force this year.