A Hooligan's Game

New Years 2011

2012-01-03T09:35:00.000-08:00

All the best for 2011: I predict a step forward for the club this year in numbers (junior and senior), playing and the clubhouse.

We again had a good game of touch for the first game of the year. The temperature was a balmy 5 or 6 degrees but the field was quite soggy (at least it was better than a polar dip in Lake Ontario). We had about fourteen out with four or five novices although we were missing a number of regulars (probably to hung over). I was in great shape since I did not drink much on the 31st because I was recovering from Frank's 40th birthday on the 30th (Frankie did not make it). I got a few pictures but the camera ran out of juice. We played for about an hour and the final score was 7 -6 for the good guys.

Except for Andy, the guy second on the left who arrived just in time for the post-game picture a good time was had by all.

The Bob Mavro award for cooking was awarded jointly to Mike for cooking the burgers (left over from the season) and to Milli for organizing and bringing the roast beef. An added advantage was when James went out to find a lost game ball from the summer - he found it.

Since starting this blog three years ago we have had 6 124 hits and the most for an individual blog was this year's review of the game against Waterloo with 180 hits. At that time we only had around 3 500 hits. We could use a few more followers.

A few more pictures

organization

concentration

action

Gentlemen or Hooligan?

2011-12-30T13:17:00.000-08:00

The oft repeated quote that football (soccer) is a gentleman's game played by hooligans and that rugby is a hooligan's game played by gentlemen and is the source of the title of my blog about the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club is surprisingly not that old (or at least not that old compared to me). Sean Fegan in his blog JottingsOnRugby.com actually found that the earliest reference he could find was a quote from the Chancellor of Cambridge in "The Times" of London of January 30, 1953 in an article called "The Evolution of Football" which states:

"... a large family-Association, Rugby Union, Rugby League, Gaelic football, American football and Australian Rules. Each clearly has its merits and may safely be left to its adherents, but one cannot refrain from repeating the story of a certain Chancellor of Cambridge University (confessing complete ignorance of all football), who was asked to sum up a debate on Association and Rugby. "It is clear,"he said," that one is a gentlemen's game played by hooligans; the other a hooligan's game played by gentlemen."

Note the Chancellor did not determine which code was the gentlemen and which code was the hooligans but left it up to history and myself to decide; so I did.

Fegan's blog is a fascinating look at the history of rugby, check it out.

Hooligns: Police spoil all our fun.

2011-12-28T19:54:00.000-08:00

100 people were detained in Russia after police mistook rugby match as brawl

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Authorities in southern Russia detained over 100 people when police mistook a game

of rugby as a brawl. Police apparently received a tip that a large crowd had gathered
at an empty sports ground on the outskirts of the city on Sunday afternoon. Around
70 policemen arrived at the scene to find a large number of cars parked around the
area, and what appeared to be a crowd that was watching two rival gangs fight each
other.
The police stopped the event and around 100 people were detained until they learned
that they were actually playing a game of rugby. Everyone was released within a few
hours, but authorities were displeased that they had not informed them of the sporting
event earlier. A spokesperson for the police said,"Given the difficult, troubled situation
in the region, at a time when counter-terrorism actions are being actively conducted,
citizens are obligated to inform [authorities] either verbally or in writing of their
intentions".
"The fact that police took us to be hooligans, this isn't the first time," said one of the
organizers.

Letter to the Guy Above the Bar

2011-12-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Guy

Hasn't it been just great weather this fall? Here it is almost Christmas and we have not had any snow or ice and the temperature has been a lot warmer than one would think. Still you would not expect to look out your window and see a guy dressed only in girl's underwear and a shocking pink boa (you probably get to see more of this in the warmer months). The couple of men with this guy definitely should not have been ringing the doorbell or knocking and yelling. We should not have been doing this and have no problem with you calling the police (I guess if there no bank heists or serious crimes then they have to be somewhere). You might have waited until the next day to call your landlord to complain.

It was not planned to go outside during the awards dinner but several events came together like a perfect storm with this result. One significant happening was your hammering on the floor of your room while were were eating our dinner in the pub below. I understand that perhaps about 8:30 on a Saturday night you might want to sit back and drink a quiet beer while watching the hockey game (aren't the Leafs doing well this year, but don't count on them to make the playoffs) and that you would be upset by the noise from below. But the thing we were wondering was, do you realize that you live over a bar? Now I don't know how busy George is but at times I know the bar is going to get noisy (I have been there when some loud bands were playing).

Perhaps you expected that it would be looked on as a joke, but you have to be very careful to pull that off and you have to pick your crowd. This group certainly had no sense of humour. For example I told this great joke, well here it is and you decide, I will shorten it a bit.

This guy goes to a urologist to get his prostate checked and the doctor turns out to be youngish, cute and female. So she puts him on his left side and tells him to say "ninety-nine" as she explores. He says "ninety-nine". However, she says she cannot feel it properly and puts him on his right side and tells him again to say "ninety-nine". He complies. She still cannot feel it properly so she puts him on his back so she can check again but she says she will have to hold his penis out of the way. She again tells him to say "ninety-nine". He says "one, two..".

Now isn't that hilarious but surprisingly it did not go well, so don't expect a group like that to laugh at some knocks on the ceiling. (Maybe they do not know what a urologist is.)

One of the other things that happened was one player was given women's panties and a pink boa as a joke award, so of course he had to put them on and he was the one you saw out side. Here's where the weather comes in, if it had been snowing or very cold he would not have gone out, as it was he did not stay our long and you could tell it sure was cool when he came in. He gets the same gift and he does the same thing every year so we are kind of used to it but it probably is a surprise to the casual viewer like these big cops (you invited).

Another thing that would have taken up some time (after dinner and the awards we basically wait around until it is time to go to the Legion to cheer up the veterans, it was nice the police also came) was table surfing an event started last year and should have taken up a lot of time. I blame myself for not having coached the proper skills of table surfing and the first participant landed to the side table, pulling out all the screws so the whole top came off and he slid (quite hard) into the edge of the next table with his chest (he could have been hurt). In the interests of safety, I shut the activity down and the crowd's energy could only be released by them (three) going outside yelling and ringing door bells.

The next day (late the next day) everything does not seem so funny and could have led to more serious things like (as was suggested by your landlord) that you might come down with a gun or a knife (you wouldn't actually do that - would you?) and then where would we be. Perhaps may I suggest you invest in a very thick rug or perhaps you could work Friday and Saturday evenings or even you could could join us next year. We are always looking for players and we practice at Alway school starting in April. Just come up for a run around but tell us who you are (just say ninety-nine).

Yours Sincerely (I do go on and on)
Bill Stuart
President
Grimsby Gentlemen RFC

Ode to a Tighthead Prop

2011-12-16T08:40:00.000-08:00

Ode to a Tighthead Prop

Author unknown

It was midway through the season
we were just outside the four
and although I know we won it
I can't recall the score.

But there's one thing I remember
and to me it says a lot
about the men who front the scrum -
the men we call "the props".

We won a lineout near half way
the backs went on a run
the flankers quickly ripped the ball
and second phase was won.

Another back then crashed it up
and drove towards the line
another maul was duly set
to attack it one more time.

The forwards pushed and rolled that maul
They got tough set the ball up to a tee
the last man in played tight head prop
and wore the number "3"

The ball was pushed in to his hands
he held it like a beer
then simply dropped to score the try -
his first in 15 years.

Then later, once the game was done
he sat amidst his team
he led the song and called himself
the try scoring machine.

But it wasn't till the night wore on
that the truth was finally told
just two beers in, he'd scored the try
and also kicked the goal.

At 6 o'clock the try was scored
by barging through their pack
he carried two men as he scored
while stepping 'round a back.

By seven he'd run twenty yards
out sprinting their quick men
then beat the last line of defence
with a "Jonah Lomu" fend.

By eight he'd run from near half way
and thrown a cut out pass
then looped around and run again
no-one was in his class.

By nine he'd run from end to end
his teammates stood in awe
he chipped and caught it on the full
then swan dived as he scored.

By ten he'd drunk a dozen beers
but still his eyes did glisten
as he told the story of "that try"
to anyone who'd listen.

His chest filled up, as he spoke,
his voice was filled with pride
he felt for sure he would be named
the captain of that side.

By night’s end he was by himself
still talking on his own
the club was shut, the lights were out
his mates had all gone home.

And that's why I love my front row -
they simply never stop
and why I always lend an ear
when a try's scored by a prop

Club Dinner 2011

2011-12-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Another typical awards dinner with dinner, awards, a man dressed in women's underwear., noise, punches, violence, table breaking , cops and visiting the Legion. At least the meal was different this time. It was was Greek themed and excellently prepared and served by Bob's cousin John and helped by Billy. We highly recommend them as caterers. The club would also like to thank George of Nathan's Depot Pub for letting us have our dinner there for the third year in a row. We did not mean to cause you any problems George and will not likely be back next year.

Bob, John and Billy

The awards went well starting with the most improved player in Nick Howe. Nick came to most practices and became a stronger prop as the year went on. Nick was unable to attend the dinner as he .

Nick

This year we had 8 new players to senior rugby and all made a significant contribution. Our oldest rookie was Wally at 48 years of age. However, a player who made a significant difference to the club by attending most practices, bought his own weighted ball, drove to Bruce all by himself and joined the executive was Brendan Sculland and he is the rookie of the year.

Mr. President and Brendan

Comeback player of the year went to James Vienneau who brought his son to flag rugby and said even thought I haven't played in twenty years I can do this. And he did.

Two older guys trying to keep their eyes open

The Clubman of the year this year went to two individuals and one not even a man. Laura and Martin grew the flag program from a dozen a couple of years ago to three dozen this year and had a very successful season in getting young kids involved..

Mr. President, Laura and Martin Van Den Hurk

Our junior player of the year was a 17 year old player in Grade 11 at Beamsville this year and came to the club to score four tries in the league at center. Martin was not able to attend the dinner.

Martin Colyn

This year`s player of the year was Vic Blaney who got most of the man of the match awards, scored five tries (we only scored 19 in total) and played out of position to help the club. The award was presented by Club Manager Kyle Wilson.

Kyle and Vic

This year`s Deer`s Rear award went to Alex Millar who in a fall game at home against Bruce, managed to confuse the opposition by picking up the ball in goal running it out to the one and placing it down whereupon Bruce picked it up, took it back into the goal and touched it down. Alex's defense is that he was injured with a collapsed lung and slightly mixed up.

Mr. President with Alex

Also I forgot to announce at the dinner that we have two members on the Niagara All-Star B division team and they are Vic Blaney and Derrick Weber.

A few more pictures with no comments:

AGM 2012

2011-11-10T15:33:00.001-08:00

We were not many but we were enthusiastic at the 2011 AGM on Monday night. The following were elected (acclaimed) to positions of responsibility in the club for the 2012 season.

President: Bill Stuart

Secretary: Andy Breuls

Treasurer: Jeremy Young

Social Secretary: Jon Millington

Club Manager: Kyle Wilson

Club House Manger: Brendan Sculland

Fixture Secretary: Martin Wolff

Junior Co-ordinator: Martin Van Den Hurk

Fall League Week One: Hamilton at Home

2011-09-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Grimsby/St Catharines 14: Hamilton 17

Venue: Alway Field

Referee: Nick Carbone **

Weather: A lovely day for rugby.

Attendance: A couple of hundred as there were many competing attractions on. I guess most of the fans were on the other side of the field.

Presidents Report: Hamilton could have had a very strong side out as they won the NRU "A" division while we are at the bottom of the "B" but they had a mixture of players from their first and seconds and some old boys. Our club which is now a combination of Grimsby and St. Catharines' players, both of which did not do real well in the "B" division, managed to make a game of it. We did not have a lot of time to prepare as both teams had a number of players who showed up 5 minutes before kickoff or after (I mean Grimsby and St Catharines - Hamilton was ready and organized). I showed in the first half during which Hamilton scored two tries and converted one. To be fair Hamilton did have the wind advantage. In the second half we score early as Kevin Haner smartly? hung off a 5 meter ruck and took a pop to go over. A longish conversion was made by Derrick Weber. Then about twenty five minutes in Vic Blaney burst over the line to score and Derricks conversion put Lincoln (Gim/St Cath) ahead by two. With five minutes to go an errant kick was blocked and the Hamilton winger picked up and scored to make it a disappointing loss (for us) and a disappointing win for Hamilton who thought they should have done much better.

A classic eight pick up by Kyle, supported by Dean and Martin

Team: 1. Jon Millington, 2. Brendan Sculland, 3. Kevin Haner, 4. Jeremy Young, 5. Bob Mavro, 6. Martin Van Der Hurk, 7. Dean Crosier, 8. Kyle Wilson, 9. Jeff Innis (only wanted a few minutes), 10. Derrick Weber, 11. Setphan Johnson, 12. Vic Blaney, 13. Jason Hanes, 14. Alex Millar, 15. A. Nother

Ryan Coens went on for Milli, Wally Cone went on for Bob, Kyle McLean went on for Martin, Dirk Riechow went on for Jeremy and Mike Cuthbertson went on for Alex Millar in the second half.
Captain's Report : It was a rough game with a lot of pushing a shoving and some dirty play which needs to be sorted out. Only two yellow cards were handed out but more should have been done. St. Catharines has made a club suspension for their player player involved. It would have been nice to have some organization at the start and be able to get everyone on the same page at practice. Hopefully that will come. Congratulations to Mike Cuthbertson and Dirk Reichow (below) who played in their first ever rugby game.

I didn't get many action shots as the battery was low.

Man of the match: I don't know I wasn't paying attention, actually I was serving beer. Perhaps some of the many followers can remind me.

Lessons learned: I think we all agree that the team regulation that was emphasized at the end of the match by Kevin that anyone over two hundred and fourty pounds should not be kicking the ball will be in effect from now on. And anyone must get a fucking kicking licence from the coach.

Grimsby Grubbers Annual BBQ Aug 15 2011

2011-08-16T11:20:00.000-07:00

This year Martin and Laura again sponsored and organized the annual BBQ and parents- kids game. And despite the threat of rain at the start had 75 people (kids and parents) to the event.

Some were more interested in the parachute

Some were more interested in grasshoppers (Grimsby Grasshoppers would be a great rugby team name)

And some were interested in rugby.

Or Brian, the mad scientist

Thanks to everyone

Burlington III Away: Week Ten

2011-08-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 19: Burlington Centaurs 41

(picture taken at the end of the game when everyone was there)

Venue: Sherwood Forest Park

Referee: Not sure - did not catch the name

Weather: Very nice day - 26 degrees, probably a little hot for playing - slight wind

Attendance: Hoards of supporters were prevented from attending due to parking issues but Adam and Ben, Marie, Wally and his son, Nick managed to get there on time (even though players did not).

President's Report: Due to all sorts of things we were short at kickoff and managed to get a couple of NOB players (Niagara Old Boys) who had just played to help out. We still only had 13 and despite a lot of effort we were down 12 to 0 by the time we got two players on. We were down 15 to 0 by the time we got all our players on the field and sorted out into the selected positions. Not a good start, but we had a good ending to the first half. with 10 minutes to go Andy sent a probing kick into their corner, good coverage by Chris and Vic allowed us to get the ball back and send Martin C into the corner of the end zone. Chris made an amazing conversion in which the ball flew all over the place before splitting the uprights. A few minutes later, we put together a string of passes including Nathan, Vic, Kyle and a few others to send Chris to score his first try under the posts, which he also converted.

Half time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 14: Burlington Centaurs 15

Unfortunately that was a close as we would get. Burlington who had bulked up for the game had the advantage in the scrums and managed to get a lot more ball which allowed them to score often. They picked on our mistakes and came up with points. Near the end Vic made one of his runs and could not be brought down until he hit the try line.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 19: Burlington Centaurs 41

Team: 1. Nathan Rowbottom (eventually), 2. Brendan Sculland, 3. Jon Millington, 4. Jeremy Young, 5. Bob Mavro, 6. Philip Sullivan (40 min - first game this year), 7. Kyle Wilson, 8. Vic Blaney 9. Nick Limeaux (had to run from the Go station), 10. Derrick Spencer, 11. Trevor Trotman (eventually), 12. Martin Colyn, 13. Andy Breuls, 14. Chris Short (eventually), 15. Alex Millar. 16. Martin Van Den Herk (40 min)
and two NOBs.(thank you) Pabelo is soon moving to Grimsby.

Scoring:

Martin Colyn 1 T (makes 4 tries this year)
Vic Blaney 1T (Third game in a row)
Chris Short 1 T, 2 C (27 points in his last three games - remember the team only scored 3 points in its first three games)

Martin's Try

Chris's Try

Vic's Try

Coaches' Report: We had an outside chance to move up the table into a playoff position but Burlington had other ideas and put some weight and some quickness into their team. It did not help that were were down players for 20 minutes at the start. The score jumped up near the end as they got some bounces, were less tired and more into the game. Anyway at the start we played hard with the usual great games from Webs and Vic. We had some good support for a while. Alex who attended his first whole practice this week had a good game fielding the ball and counter attacking. Coaches man of the match went to Chris Short for scoring his first try and hitting two conversions. There was no pick of man of the match by the other team as we left fairly early and I don't think they did it for the other games.

This is the crew who put up the fence in Grimsby ( missing Philip Sullivan)

We even got a mention in The West Niagara News by D.I.A. Manager, Leigh Jamkiv, who stated "Special thanks to the Grimsby Gentlemen's (sic: I have always wanted to do that) Rugby Club for their help in the setup and cleanup of the park for this event." We put it up in a record 1 hour and took it down in 15 minutes.

A traditional Greek - Dutch welcome or a demonstration of a Greek wrestling move only they are not naked.

An important group at the Canada game.

Another important pair at the game.

A History of My Rugby: The Early Years

2011-08-09T11:56:00.000-07:00

There was a lot of interest in my shoulder resurfacing surgery, mainly by players wondering how long it would be before they will have to have it done. The short answer is I came late to rugby compared to present day players and imports and only started playing in the fall of 1967 at university. Trent University gets to claim me as an alumni only because they accepted me in 1965 after a not so stellar high school career.

One of the reasons my marks were not great is that in those days you had to write departmental exams in each course in Grade 13 for something like 75% of your final mark. Also to get into a university you needed two credits in English (Authors and Composition) and two credits in French (Authors and Composition). AND you needed two credits in mathematics to go to most universities. And if there was one subject I was poorer in than French it was Math, so in grade 13 deciding on Grade 13 courses, I heard the word most when in fact there was only one, namely Trent University in Peterborough. It got even a bit more complicated but basically that is how Trent won me over and eventually introduced me to rugby.

Trent was only in its second year of existence and was smaller than most high schools with an enrollment of about 350. I played football at high school and a couple of partial years of junior with the Hurricanes and Braves. So of course at Trent I had to play on the niversity soccer team who played the local Bible College and Normal (Teacher's) College. We might play some colleges from other universities.

Then in the summer of 1967, Paul Wilson came to Trent as athletic director and he was an English rugby player. Paul started the rugby team at Trent that year, I joined and played two years with Trent as a prop. However, this was not to be a story about me: this was to be a story about what the laws of rugby were back in 1967 when I started. The idea came from Scot Harland who sends out an information page from the North American Caribbean Rugby Association each week with worse pictures than mine. He has been asking specific questions about the laws in various years. These questions if you wish to try them are about the laws as I learned them (or didn't) in 1967. Answers will appear in a near future blog (as soon as I make them up): hey if you want real history; read a book.

1. The object of the game then was to win as it is now. Correct?

2. In 1967, a try was worth 3 points; a goal from a free kick or penalty kick was 3 points and a dropped goal was 3 points. So how much was a goal from a try?

3. The ball, at commencement of play, should be inflated to which of the following?

a) 9 1/2 - 10 lb per square inch

b) 0.6697 - 9.7031 kilograms per square centimeter

c) 65.71 - 66.75 kilopascals

4. What could the referee not do before a match?

5. According to the present laws, a knock on occurs when a player loses possession of the ball and it goes forward or when a player hits the ball forward or when the ball hits a hand or arm and goes forward and the ball touches the ground or another player before the original player can catch it. How was this different in 1967?

6. A referee would move a scrummage only in which circumstances?

7. Who got the scrummage if a forward moving maul was stopped?

8. What was the scrum engage sequence in 1967?

9. A player putting in the ball had to put the ball straight along the middle line of the scrum in a single forward movement so that it first touches the ground immediately beyond the nearer first player. How was this different in 1967?

10. How far did the laws allow a scrum to wheel in 1967?

11. How long did the loose forwards have to stay bound to a scrum at this time?

12. In 1967, what determined the maximum length of the lineout?

13. If a team was awarded a penalty kick on the 50 yard line and a player kicked the ball directly into touch at the other teams 20 yard line, what would happen?

14. If a player in general play at the 50 yard line kicked the ball directly into touch at the other teams 20 yard line, what would happen?

15. Back then a place kick would be used to start the match and on the resumption of play after half time (we use a drop kick now). A place kick would also be used for penalties and when else?

16. What were kicking tees made of in 1967?

17. It is not a law, but who threw the ball into a lineout at this time?

New Club Crest

2011-08-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

Lately there has been a lot of support in modifying the club crest to include things that are happening right now. We would just like to add two supports to both sides of the escutcheon that is the present shield. We simply need the OK of 75% of the members and Paul Rohner's willingness to add to his tattoo. The new coat of arms would look something like this.

The fly swatters could of course be orientated upwards.

Gentlemen and Aliens: A Friendly

2011-08-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 30: Hamilton Hornets II 19

Venue: Alway Field

Thanks to Philip who painted the numbers on the lines for those players who get lost on the field but it must have tired him out as he did not play.

Referee: Paul Whaling*** an "international" referee from Rochester. Paul did a very good job; he knew what he wanted and was decisive about it. He might not come back again because of the following picture. There is something defective about this camera and I need a more expensive one.

Weather: A nice sunny evening (7:00 start) mid twenties.

Attendance: A nice evening and relatively well attended although there are a lot of other distractions this time of year. Martin Wolfe was not there and for the first time this year we won without him. Perhaps it was because of Frank Shulte (courageously coming to the game on his 10th wedding anniversary) who encouraged the boys but did not get on the field. Injured players Nick, Dean and Wally came out to support the side along with Elizabeth and some friends.

Thanks to Frank who did the BBQ and Dean who worked the bar.

And below is [insert name here] showing her Dad, Alex Millar, how you are supposed to run with the ball.

Team: 1. Nathan Rowbottom, 2. Brandan Sculland, 3. Jon Millington, 4. S.T. Cath, 5 Bob Mavro, 6. Martin Van Den Hurk, 7. Alex Millar (60), 8. Vic Blaney, 9. Derrick Weber, 10. Andy Breuls (60), 11. Trevor Trotman(40), 12. James Vinneau (40), 13. Martin Colyn, 14. Chris Short, 15. Nick Limeaux and thanks to three players pulled up from the farm club who played in the second half.

President's Report : Overall it was a good game played in good spirit which does not always happen between Hamilton and Grimsby. We have not played them for a couple of years and they obliged by coming to us. They had some fairly large players and we did not play the same level of aggressive defense we had last Tuesday against Niagara. The scoring was back and forth in the first half. Hamilton scored first after about 15 minutes of 10 man rugby. At about 20 min we caught a lineout in their end (not a sure thing this year) and drove the lineout until Nathan grounded the ball. Chris converted. Shortly afterward, Derrick picked up a ball from a ruck and found a gap (I missed it as I was chasing a ball in the bush). Again though we sat back and let the heavy runners from Hamilton do their work and they scored twice, converting one. Five minutes to the end of the half, Chris hit a penalty goal and we reduced the lead to four.

This is Nathan's try off a drive from a lineout.

Half time score: Grimsby 15: Hamilton 19.

In the second half, Hamilton introduced some younger subs and we got away with some runs in the center. Vic took a crash ball through the centers at our fourty and out ran everyone to score. Chris Hladrick ? later crashed center to score . One of these was converted. Hamilton seemed to less offence in the second half and at 80 minutes, Chris got a chance to hit a 40 meter penalty goal, which he slotted.

This is Vic's run through the centers in the first picture to score in the second. The rest of our team was sensibly conserving energy for the restart.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 30: Hamilton Hornets II 19

Scorers:
Nathan Rowbottom 1 T (second game in a row) ; Derrick Weber 1 T; Vic Blaney 1 T (second game in a row); Chris Hadrick? 1 T
Chris Short 2 C, 2 P

Coaches' Report: Well done Gentlemen. I suspect they thought it was going to be easier. Pictured is a dejected Hamilton side line. We did well on the scrums again and better in the lineouts. Some good kicking often got us out of trouble in the first half. Hamilton seemed to play a lot of 10 man rugby running with the ball into a ruck at every opportunity. We were slow covering the rucks, ball watching, not communicating and not attacking (taking away time and space). We put together better runs in the second half but I think Hamilton was weaker.

Coaches Man of the Match: A lot of honourable mentions, Webs, Vic and Chris. Chris's record in two games of kicking is 18 points (6/8 conversion goals and 2/3 penalty goals - he has both made and missed a 40 m penalty). The man of the match (consensus on the sideline) went to Nathan Rowbottom for his scrum work, and play around the field (hard tackles).

Hamilton's Man of the Match: Derrick Weber

Some Hamilton players felt we should be higher in our table than we are but I think the A1 teams are not as good as the B.

There is some question if I am a life member in Hamilton since I am on their web site as being one but no one has ever actually officially told me. Tom Edwards, Hamilton president, said he thought that if it was on the website then it must be true but he also thought I had played for Canada. So who knows.

Bored of the Flies

Niagara III (?) at home: Week Nine

2011-07-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 28: Niagara Wasps III 21

Venue: Alway School: the field was good considering the heat and lack of rainfall for the last month.

Referee: Nick Carbone ** He did alright but took a lot of flack from Niagara supporters, his own club. We need to get used to his not release call but the fact we were right there taking the ball away meant that they were not and the player was isolated. It does show that there are not a lot of refs in the area.

Weather: The weather at 6:45 on Tuesday evening was much nicer than 1:30 on Saturday (mid twenties instead of mid thirties, thanks Scotty. However, the sun was lower in the sky and shadows were longer. It took a bit of time to get used to.

Attendance: Not capacity but a good turnout for a Tuesday. Eddie, Bill , Steve, and below is life member Paul who had not seen any other games this year (kids) and Martin our fixture secretary who has been at every game we won this year and only one that we did not. Martin also did the cooking and set up for the meal afterward. He also closed the bar. Great job Martin.

Eddy paid his social dues this night and became our only paid up social member this year.

Team: 1 Jon Millington, 2 Brendan Sculand, 3 Nick Howe, 4 Jeremy Young, 5 Dean Gibson, 6 Martin Van Den Hurk, 7 Vic Blaney, 8 Kyle Wilson, 9 Nick Lemieux, 10 Derick Weber, 11 Chris Short, 12 Levi Rowbottom (guest player) (40 min) , 13 Martin Colyn, 14 Trevor Trotman, 15 Alex Millar, 16 Nathan Rowbottom, (60 min) 17 James Vinneau (40 min)

(plus assorted guest players)

Dean Gibson (20 min injured) - Nathan Rowbottom

Nick Howe (30 min injured) - guest player Jason Haynes

Casualty Ward

I should be in the causality ward as I now have gout in my big toe as well as a resurfaced humerus.

Presidents Report: Expecting Niagara to bolster their team, we arranged for a little more strength than usual. Thank you to those extra players. It was an exciting game, played hard with lots of straight ahead running. A nice game to win but their team was a lot different than the team we played and beat handily the last time. As happened last time, they controlled things for the first twenty minutes and we had to defend mightily (or whatever). At about twenty minutes a bit of confusion from a lineout on our five led to a pass being delivered to the wrong person who tried to run it out of the endzone and was stripped of the ball. But quickly we came back and after a saving dive by Nick we scored (I missed it), I think by Nathan Rowbottom. * (need reference) A few minutes later, Martin V picked up a ball at a ruck about 20 meters out, made a quick dash the ruck, avoiding all contact, and scored under the posts. Then after a lot of grity rugby by the gentlemen to get the ball into Niagara territory, Vic charged under the posts for our third try. Near the end of the half however, we relaxed and Niagara came back with their own crashing try.

Half time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 21: Niagara Wasps 14

At the start of the second, Niagara came out running hard with their big boys and a new and shifty #10. They won the territory battle and we had to defend mightily (again) to keep them out of our try zone. Webs made several good kicks to get us out of trouble. The other team said from the side line that kicking was all he could do. Then at about 20 min Webs did the other thing he is good at and took a quick ball to the blind side of a ruck, found a seam and headed for their fullback. Freezing the fullback he fed to our fullback (a guest player but we will give it to Nick who usually plays fullback) who scored. Niagara came on and with about 7 minutes to go managed a final try.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 28: Niagara Wasps 21

A final note was the extraordinary kicking of Chris Short. Chris, playing in only his third game of rugby ever and first as a kicker, kicked all four conversions and missed on a fourty meter penalty by only a bit wide left.

Scoring

Nathan Rowbottom? 1 T

Martin Van Den Hurk 1 T

Vic Blaney 1 T

Nick Lemieux (although the other guy got his ass burned) 1 T

Chris Short 4 C (8 points)

The following is me trying to photoshop a rugby ball for Martin's head just after he scored and Chris is coming in to kick the conversion.

The following is Vic scoring his try through a slew of Niagara players and our players cheering him on (barely in picture) but not supporting well.
Coaches Report: It was a nice bonus point win which could have gone the other way if we had not held fairly firm on defense. It was nice to see a team poorer at lineouts than us. Due to a couple of brain cramps, I played a couple of guest players before our players and I do apologize (thanks to Dylan to point it out). At times we had some continuity in moving the ball but we still need work in that area . Scrums were again excellent and a problem for the other team. The referee seemed to be calling the not release law different than the other refs and we had trouble with it an got penalized several times. Speaking to him afterward, he seemed to know what he wanted and we will have to play to the referee (a lot of refs are calling or not calling it differently). Thanks to all for being respectful and not like the visitors who were on his case almost every call. They must not have read the missive from HQ this week.

Although we will not make the playoff, but we still have a bit more rugby to play, starting with a friendly game against Hamilton on Thursday August 4 and a return game in Hamilton August 27. Thanks to your captain, Derrick, who raised $110 for the social committee with his keg party at his house after St. Catharines.

Note: Think of some witty and/or unexpected statement that summaries the whole blog.

St. Catharines away (Brooker Cup V): Week eight

2011-07-17T16:04:00.001-07:00

FIFTH PLAYING OF THE BROOKER CUP

Grimsby Gentlemen 5: St Catharines Tigers 13

Brooker Cup Results over 5 years

Grimsby Gentlemen 1 : St Catharines Tigers 2: Tied 2

Venu: Ridley College a hot, hard field

Referee: Gareth Jones ****

Weather: about 30 degrees but felt like 40: a day that was probably too hot to sit by the lake and drink cold beer - so we played rugby

Attendance: The Wolfs showed up - Martin Wolff and Dan Wolfrack - Jeremy's uncle, and Laura and Marie and the ref's daughter who was cheering for us. Beth was there only to drive me and she took the pictures.

Team: Jon Millington, Dylan Kinch, Nick Howe, Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro, Martin Van Den Hurk, Brendan Sculland, Kyle Wilson, Derrick Weber, Andy Breuls, Trevor Trotman, Vic Blaney, Martin Colyn, Chris Short (first game ever), Jamie Scully, Nathan Rowbottom and Dean Gibson (injured but ran touch)

President's Report

It was a hot one which perhaps kept tempers down and it was one of the better games between the two teams (the only better time is when we win). We started slowly and the Tigers controlled a lot of the play in our end. After a turnover at a lineout they attacked quickly in the backs and scored after about 12 minutes. We gradually started to gain more confidence and put on some pressure. At about 30 min, Derrick took a quick tap penalty and a quick pass to Martin C. opened the scoring for us. At about 37 min, we again lost a lineout and a similar try was scored by the same Tiger as before.

Half Time Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 5: St Catharines Tigers 10

After giving up a penalty in the first minute of the second half, we played much of the half in their end but could not score. Strong effort.

Final score: Grimsby Gentlemen 5: St Catharines Tigers 13

Coach's Report:

A good effort, it was hot and we only had one replacement (they had a number). Again we damaged them in the scrum, but did poorly in the lineout. We caught them a few times in kick coverage, but missed a couple of times. We do alright with the initial play but do not move the ball on quickly - too many slow rucks. One of the cleaner games we have played with our local rival and I think we play better when we concentrate on the game.

Congratulations to Chris Short for playing in his very first rugby game, he played the whole game and played well.

My pick of man of the match was Kyle Wilson for his leadership during the game. Their pick was our youngest (under age)and our lone try scorer, Martin Colyn

A couple of pictures of our forwards and backs in Brooker Cup action.

The older guy is Rick? the father of Jeff Innis, their scrum half, who is getting a couple of knees replaced and wanted to play one last ceremonial scrum with his son. The dad did not want to leave as he thought he had made the team (they are pulling him off).

I am glad you didn't make me play with Mike before they replaced my shoulder. Everybody says this oxycodon is dangerous but I find if you are careful and take two every four hours, there are no side effects. Except, as Mike recommended, you should take a stool softener or you may not take a dump for longer than the six days it took me. It is very boring as you cannot do much with a bad shoulder, thank God for women's soccer. It also takes a long time typing all this with a left hand. Also, while I think of it, wiping yourself with your wrong hand should be an Olympic sport.

Norfolk at home Week Seven

2011-07-11T08:46:00.002-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Norfolk Harvesters 39

Referee: Nick Carbone (a little late due to traffic: start 1:40)

Weather: Warmish 25 degrees, clear, so clear you could see the individual blades of grass or that might have been from the oxycodon I was on

Attendance: not as many as the blades of grass

Team: Jon Millington, Brendan Sculland, Nick Howe, Jeremy Young, Dean Gibson, Bob Mavro, Martin Van Der Hurk, Kyle Wilson, Derrick Weber, Trevor Trotman,

Vic Blaney, Martin Colyn, James Vinneau, Jamie Scully, Alex Millar, Nathan Rowbottom (we now have 27 registered players - about 7 more than last year at this time-

but we only have sixteen today

Some of the Causualties

Unfortunately, we had to go well down in our depth chart for our 10 today. I only saw the first half which did not look that bad and Vic played very well in the loss for his first time leading the offence especially since he is naturally a back row.

It took over twenty minutes for Norfolk to score first and even though they generally controlled possession did not look that impressive. They started to chip kick which put some pressure on our backs and scored again with a couple of minutes left in the half and again on the half.

Half time score; Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Norfolk Harvesters 17

Missed the second half as my drugs were wearing off - if anyone remembers anything interesting tell me and I will add it

Last year we played Norfolk in Norfolk in week six and lost a close one in the last minute 7-0 and again we only had sixteen players at that game. However 5 of those players are not with the club for various reasons (Frank Della Fortuna, Alex Stevenson, James Tulloch, Scotty Walker, and Jon Jeske) So we have made those numbers up and had several serious injuries (4)to cover for. Also 5 of the new players are 21 or under. Norfolk is better this year and is leading the Niagara B league. We are coming along.

Waterloo Renegades at home: Week Six

2011-06-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Waterloo IV (Renegades) 27

Referee: Paul Byrne (from Grimsby) ***

Weather: kind of overcast at the start about 20 degrees

Attendance: low turnout (Was the Pride parade on today?)

Team: Jon Millington, Brendan Sculland, Nick Howe, Dean Gibson, Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro, Martin Van Den Hurk, Dan Wolfrath, Derrick Weber, Andy Breuls, Trevor Trotman, Vic Blandy, Martin Colyn, Jamie Scully, Nick Lemieux (is that right Nick?) Nathan Rowbottom, Dylan Kinch, James Vinneau.

President's Report: The plan was that we would work hard on defense and deny Waterloo scoring chances. The plan worked well in the first half as they had the ball in our half for most of the time. We made some great tackles and and stopped Waterloo several time from in close but they finally scored at 23 minutes. Near the end of the first half we started to get into Waterloo's end with some great running by our centers Martin and Vic. Vic scored from 25 meters and Derrick converted at about 38 minutes.

Half time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Waterloo Renegades 5

Waterloo looked like they were faltering at the end of the first but they took over in the second half and scored at 10 minutes. An injury to Dan our #8 resulted in changes to the lineup and we lost focus and our defensive abilities. Waterloo again scored at 20 min, 30min and 40 min. It is a good thing they could not kick. Waterloo, the first place team, gets a deserved win.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Waterloo Renegades 27

Coaches Report: I am not sure if it means anything but we have had three home games and three serious injuries to three significant players. Also Martin Wolfe, our talisman, was not present and our winning streak ended at two. It was a great defensive effort in the first half but we could not sustain control and keep the ball for more that two phases. Again we did well in the scrums and poorly in the lineouts and we started to argue among ourselves in the second half, when the game was still close. Unfortunately, we kicked at their fullback a few too many times.

I took a few pictures first half but forgot to take any second.

Man of the Match: The captains pick was Vic for his hitting and running. I was not around for Waterloo's pick but will report it. Found pieces of slightly burned toilet paper around the club and wondered what that was about.

Great defense

Our only try, a long run.

Milli going for a run

I though Martin would get all the way but was caught on the 5.

Webs getting a kick off

Quote: "Since there is no game next weekend, don't anyone show up for practice this week"

If you heard this, it was actually a plea to get people out for practice. The old reverse psychology ploy.

If you read all the way to the end then you will find that this is the 60th installment of "a Holigan's Game" starting December 19, 2008 and has been viewed 3, 583 times as of right now.

Burlington at home: Week Five

2011-06-19T07:22:00.001-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 41: Burlington Centaurs III 0

Who already looks to be the better rugby player?

Venue: Alway School

Referee: Jeff Dahl ***

Weather: A warm 29 degrees at 12:15 when the game started

Attendance: Was between 30 and 900. They all liked the weather, we miss our half time tree.

Team: Jon Millington (40 min), Brendan Sculland, Nick Howe (40 min), Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro (40 min), Vic Blaney, Kyle Wilson, Dan Wolfrack, Derrick Weber, Jim Graef( 30 min injured), Andy Breuls, Martyn Colyn (40 min), Trevor Trotman (40 min), Jamie Scully, Nick Lemieux, Nathan rowbottom (40 min), Dean Gibson (40 min), Martin Van Den Hurk (40 min), James Vinneau (40 min- first game for Grimsby), Alex Millar (50 min).

President's Report: There were two good teams out there today and they both were Grimsby. The last time we shut anyone out, they shut us out. The last time we scored at least 6 tries was against Stratford at home two years ago on the 4th of July (with Jeff Dahl refereeing, by the way). Burlington were short a player at the start but played well unless they were in a scrum or lineout. We had a few attacking plays repulsed but managed a penalty kick by Jim at about 20 min. However Jim got hurt at about 30 min and while we were taking him off Martin C scored (which I did not see- we need to tape these games) for his second try in as many games. A little later Derrick who was trying some tricky kicks all day, managed to gather his own kick and score under the posts. Derrick made both goals.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 17: Burlington Centaurs III 0

About 5 minutes into the second half, Derrick makes another kick which hndcuffs the full back and he snags the ball to offload to Kyle for a score. Later in the half, Nathan and Brendan make two more forward tries. And the final score is by our full back Nick who scampers through several defenders to touch the ball down between the posts. Burlington was glad the whole thing was over. Overall it was a busy day as we had under 14's and under 16's play just before us, we found out the water was going to be turned off late Friday night (no water for washrooms) and the carbon dioxide on the keg ran out.

Final score: Grimsby Gentlemen 41: Burlington Centaurs III 0

This is a picture of no one paying any attention at all to the coach as usual, as he tries to look busy and like he knows what is going on.

Coaches Report

Lots of good stuff in the game. Martin has set a new record (since records have been kept) for the club of scoring tin the first two games he has played. Brendan, another rookie scored for the second game in a row. Our set pieces were good and we had some good plays with players in support. Defense was better although we still do not communicate with each other well enough. The next time we play them it will be different as they will have all teams at home and will bolster their side, which is fine as you all would be playing for their firsts or seconds anyway, but we need to be ready. With 21 (the most in the last three years) players available we had lots of energy and flexibility. We still need everyone possible, as we only had 16 at the last game, to make a good run for the playoffs.

Thanks to James (below) who played his first game for Grimsby.

Scoring:

Martin C 1 T, Kyle W 1T, Brendan S 1T, Nathan R. 1 T, Nick L 1T, Jim Graef 1 P, Derrick W 1T 3G.

Man of the Match: Burlington all took off quickly so they could support their team in Hamilton, but they lost about thirty to nothing anyway. This is why we had to play at noon. Anyway, on the way out, they selected Derrick Weber as their pick for man of the match. We had a lot of players play well but I (and a few coaches on the sideline) also selected Derrick Weber for his exciting game at 9 with lots of box kicks that caused problems all day for Burlington. Honorable mentions went to Vic, Andy, Wolf and Brendan.

So much exciting stuff happened that I forgot I was supposed to be taking pictures except for a few of the tries in the second half (which did not turn out very well).

This is Nathan's, I think

And this is Nick's??

So I took pictures of the fans.

Martin's cheering section. Martin's friend, her brother Dylan, and their mother. (Bob)

More of the ladies.

Elizabeth and two members of the new ladies club, the St. Catharines Badgers

Guess who's dad this is.

Martin our fixture secretary, the man who did the cooking and our good luck charm

Eddie, formerly our only social member, but has not paid his dues recently.

Someone wasn't going in, so he joined the other team.

Who said Jon wasn't tough.

Another rare picture, Frank working.

I was going to open this blog with a picture of the dump someone left in the toilet after I left and did not get water to flush it. We can't leave stuff for the town to find and complin we are not taking care of the clubhouse. I am glad to see you knew enough to wipe yourself. Next time get some water from a neighbour and to make it up to me do something extra for the club.

Flag Tournament at Grimsby

2011-06-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Laura and Martin present the first Niagara Flag Rugby tournament of the year in Grimsby. They have about 34 players signed up for the flag program and they took on teams from St. Catharines, Niagara on the Lake, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie. We parked over 60 cars on the lawn.

This is Laura with the junior players.

And Martin this the senior players

And here are a few pictures from the action.

Oops going the wrong way.

A former player Brian

What a great feeling.

My first try.

Lots of action

This is the debut of the new Grimsby haka.

Thanks Laura and Martin. Next tournament June 20 in Niagara Falls.

Niagara Away: Week Four

2011-06-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 33: Niagara Wasps III 19

Referee: Ian Stewart **

Weather: Overcast, 20 degrees

Attendance: A few only, the place is hard to find. Chris was there and Kyle who was spectating and not playing, Martin Wolf (we have not seen him since last team dinner).

Team: Nick Howe, Brendan Sculand, Jon Millington, Wally Cone, Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro, Martin Van Den Hurk, Dan Wolfrack, Derrick Weber, Jim Graef, Jamie Scully, Vic Blaney, Martin Colyn (first game for Grimsby), Trevor Trotman, Alex Millar, Stu English (subbed 40 min)

President's Report: You might be forgiven to have thought that if we were playing an away game, missing a number of starters and having several players playing different positions with only one sub after three straight defeats scoring only 3 points in total against a team that defeated the team we lost to last week at home; we might not do well. BUT, WE DID WELL!!! A BONUS POINT WELL!!

It might have started on Tuesday after a particularly annoying practice that Wally (above), our 48 year old rookie, pointed out that we might do better if we scored some tries. As annoyingly obvious as that was, it was correct. So after not doing well at the start of the game, we drove down the field and after 435 minutes of tryless rugby, Vic powered over for a score which Jim converted.

This is Vic (#12) starting out on his historic try.

Niagara came back and scored, but after an errant penalty kick to the sidelines and an even worse return kick by Niagara, Vic ran around the end and scored again at about 35 minutes of the first half. Niagara not to be outdone came back and scored and converted to tie the game just before half.

Half time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Niagara Wasps III 12

In the second half our new young players put on a clinic. After about 10 minutes Martin C. found winger Trevor ( third game ) running a great slash line and scoring under the posts untouched.

Then Brendan (fourth game) jumped on a loose ball and scored. Niagara came back and managed a try and conversion but Martin C (playing in his first game with the club) managed to run around the defense in our half to score under the posts.

Jim converted the last three tries.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 33: Niagara Wasps III 19.

Scoring

Vic 2 T

Trevor 1 T

Brendan 1 T

Martin C 1 T

Jim 4 C

Coaches Report: Well done Gentlemen, it was nice to see you getting the ball out and finding gaps. There were good decisions made and continuity that was missing in the other games. We seemed to feel the field a bit better. However we should note that Niagara were big which we handled but they also lacked fitness and did not pressure us very well on defense nor take advantage of our some of our lapses when they had the ball . In the one game they won, 18 to 17 against St. Catharines, they admit is was against the run of play and they had a couple of lucky breaks. The Tigers claim they inserted some first team players.

Good job by some players playing in different positions. Bob and Dan connected in the throw-ins, Brendan figured out the hooker position after a few scrums. Dan was around the field at eight, Scully, Alex and Trevor (Stu) worked well in the back three. The scrum seemed to be more stable. Derrick had a great game at scrum half, but my man of the match was Jim Graef at 10 for his play selection, delivery and defence. Well done Jim

The other team's pick for man of the match: Vic (he has been selected by the other team 3 out of 4 weeks- I think he only plays well to get an extra beer)

We are not in last place any more, vaulting over Niagara. Bring on Burlington.

Beamsville at OFSSA

2011-06-09T06:55:00.000-07:00

Both the Beamsville Bucs rugby teams went to OFSSA last week. It was the third year in a row for the Frank Schilte and Chris Brown coached girls team and they have gone up in the standings each year. This year they lost to the eventual winners Trenton and lost in the bronze medal game to Norwood. This gives them the antique bronze medal and a fourth place at the AA OFSSA. The team came fifth last year and sixth the year before.

It was the first year for this Beamsville senior boys team coached by Darren Moore and Dave Franklin and was built on last year's strong junior team. Inexperience showed in the first game against number seven ranked Queen Elizabeth of Kingston but a strong game against Erin High School put them in a consolation semifinal against Appleby College. Beamsville played well but Appleby, who were ranked sixth, scored a try and conversion with a couple of minutes to go to win 12 to 5. Grimsby player Martin Colyn scored Beamsville's only try. It was a very good showing for an inexperienced team and hopefully shows what they have to do next year.

St Catharines at home:Week Three

2011-06-06T11:39:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 3: St Catharines Tigers 27

Venue: Alway Field

Referee: Hedis Fetic ***1/2

Weather: After thunderstorms in the morning, it was a nice day around 20 degrees and sunny with the field fairly wet.

Attendance: 500 or maybe a few less (a whole bunch came about 4:00 to drink beer but missed the game).

Levin came to give his dad some pointers and did not like what he saw.

It was nice to see "El Presidente" again, aka Chris Atkinson, former president of the club and present life member and also the ORU's new Child Protection Officer (no- he was not on patrol)

Team: Nick Howe, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Bob Mavro, Wally Cone, Dan Wolfrath, Vic Blaney, Kyle Wilson, Nick Lemieux, Jim Graef, Mike Stuart, Andy Breuls, Jamie Scully, Alex Millar, Derrick Weber, Brendan Sculland, Nathan Rowbottom, Martin Van Der Hurk

President's Report: Jim Graef made his return at fly half after being away from the club for a lot of years. The last game I remember him playing is the playoff in Sarnia that went into overtime (Jim scored in that game) and he scored again against St. Catharines with a nice penalty from the right side about 20 m out. It was our first points this season and the last points in the game. We have not scored a try in 415 minutes of rugby.

Unfortunately, we lost Mike Stuart to a reoccurring knee injury in his first game in two years.

Jim had one more chance at kicking but did not make it and we did not get close again.

Coaches report: While we seemed to have a better sense of the field on defense we still were not aggressive enough and tended to sit back on our heels and let them come to us. St Catharines were not spectacular but gave a workman like effort on both offence and defense. We were pressured most of the game. We had a few individual runs on offence but could not put it together into a complete attack or we could not hang onto the ball. Anyway, more fitness and practice and it should come together, maybe this weekend in Niagara.

Coaches Man of the match: Vic Blaney for his aggressive play

Other teams pick: Vic Blaney

From under the willow???

These guys look like they had more fun doing whatever it is than we did playing rugby.

Thanks to Vic who got the food and to "Bubbles" for cooking it. And to Andy who was so worried about knock-ons that he bought two new game balls for the club.

"Ref, it's not my fault I couldn't get the ball out, it was stuck under my belly"

And a brick to their captain who would not let us bring a player back on after he was off for a blood sub (maybe it was a bit long).

Crusaders away: Week Two

2011-05-30T17:35:00.003-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Oakville Crusaders IV 29

Venue: Crusader Park in Oakville their second pitch which was a lot muddy and very smelly

Referee: It definitely was not Steve Scott as advertised but Rose Labresche ***

Weather: not raining, cloudy about 18 degrees (the sun was shining after the game to watch the Crusader Firsts play.

Attendance: Andy had an extended group of encouragers and Mary was there (she must have found it chilly but the supporter's bus must have broken down.

Team: (18 players!) Nick Howe (20 min), Dylan Kinch, Nathan Rowbottom, Bob Mavro, Dean Gibson, Brendan Sculland (first game) Dan Wolfrack, Kyle Wilson, Nick Lemieux, Andy Breuls, Vic Blaney, Alex Millar (60 min), Jamie Scully, Trevor Trotman (60 min) , Derrick Weber,Jon Millington (60 min), Wally Cone (40 min), Martin Van Den Hurk (40 min)

President's Report: Crusaders IV were a bit of a surprise in that they are made up of some very good players who are still interested in playing but not in practicing as regularly with the club as they would need to. In fact this team is stronger (they claim) than their third team which plays in the TRU. So they had some talent with a lot of experience and a lot of players as the thirds did not play. We let them replace freely but are keeping track when we need to do the same. We are certainly not bitter even though this is the second loss and have not scored any points yet and we had to play a team with ugly uniforms.

Coaches Report: The Crusaders came out fairly confident and were much more ready for the game than we were. They moved the ball down the field until Tyler Legatt (who played a couple of game for us last year) let loose a drop goal after 3 min. We took the ball down the field and made an attempt for a kick at goal but missed. The Crusaders came back down the field and we spent much of the second half in our end. Tyler scored at about 10 min and again at 25 min. One more try was scored in the first half.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Crusaders IV 24

The second half was a little better for Grimsby and we were able to play part of the game in their end and came close to scoring a couple of times. Crusaders finished their scoring with one more try in the second half at about 65 min. Overall the Cru had players who moved the ball more quickly and got into position faster. We had trouble getting a continuous offence going and our defense was slow getting into position. They found gaps and took them with speed. We had some good runs and tried several plays but could not keep it going. Depending on how well they travel we could have difficulty with them when they come to our place unless we get more organized and fitter. Maybe we can blame the loss on their camouflage suits.

Close

Closer - but no cigar
The captains choice for man of the match was Trevor Trotman

Their choice was Andy Breuls for his tackles but they settled for Dean Gibson

We picked Tyler Legatt.

Next week (June 4) is our first home game this season and it is a derby game against St. Catharines and we are without our tree.

Note: Frank Shilte and Chris Brown have taken the Beamsville girls to their third OFSAA in three years and the Beamsville boys are going on Wednesday to Belleville to their first. Their coaches are Darren Moore and Dave Franklin have one of our signed up players on the team, Martin Colyn and hopefully a few more.

Warning : Do not get on a bus with the following man no matter how nice he is to you. Weird things will happen !!!!

Stratford Away: Week One

2011-05-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Stratford Black Swans 15

Venue: Stratford Nortwestern High School

(I think I saw Justin Bieber coming out of the bar)

Referee: Eric Ciezar ***1/2

Weather: About 18 degrees with a soft ground, overcast

Attendance: the Breules family (Melanie, Mason and Dylan) and Elizabeth.

The regular fan bus was cancelled.

Team:

F.R.: Wally Cone, Alex Millar, Dean Gibson, Jamie Scully, Andy Breuls, Nick Howe, Nick Lemieux

B.R.: Jon Millington, Bob Mavro, Trevor Trotman, Dylan Kinch, Vic Blaney, Kyle Wilson, Jeremy Young, Derrick Weber, Daniel Wolfrath, Stu English

Nathan Rowbottom came about twenty minutes later.

President's Report:

I got a nice chauffeured drive in a brand new Cadillac all the way up (thank you Wally). I thought the game could be cancelled because it was raining so hard on the way up but Stratford seemed to miss the afternoon rain.

We had three players play their first game as a Gentlemen. Wally "You don't quit playing because you get old but you get old because you quit playing" Cone is pictured below. Well done Wally.

Trevor Trotman who needs black socks

and Dan Wolfrath (We have a second Wolf on the club), here being lifted.

Also we welcomed back Andy Breuls who took a year off, Stu English who took two years off and Nick Howe who took three years off. I am sure the coach and captain were ecstatic when they realized on Thursday that they could have as many as twenty players for the game. A surprise change in the schedule a late as last Monday resulted in this game against Stratford and made the whole league more competitive with the addition of Stratford, St Catharines and Norfolk. After doing a lot of travel in the last couple of years, this is the farthest we travel this year. I recommend that the coach should run the team a few more laps to get rid of the weight we got from the food provided by the Swans. We at least won the man of the match drink off, the boat race anchored ably by Nathan, and the sing song.

Coaches Report:

The Swans came out very strong and kept us in our end for a considerable period, scoring after about 5 minutes and again after 20 minutes. We eventually got into their end and had some chances to score but could not finishing.

Half time score: Grimsby 0: Stratford 10

The second half was actually fairly even but they scored again at about 60 minutes. Near the end we had several lineouts inside their 10, but could not punch anything across. A lot of our inabliltiy to score and to stop them was rustiness from many players and inexperience from the new players who played better than could be expected. The scrums were good, the lineouts need work. It looked like we were just bashing against the other team without a plan. We need to activate our patterns and then make them happen. We did well for the first game of the season and so many new players. Stratford out agressioned (new word) us, especially in the first half. However, we did deny them a bonus point.

Coaches Man of the Match: Jeremy Young for getting around the field and putting pressure on the other team.

The other team's pick: Vic Blaney his play in the centers had may Swans avoiding that area. Vic won the drink off (but it was against an underage kid who then threw up in the urinals).

There is no under the willow this year because there is no willow. But we may have a third "Wolf" at the clubhouse.

New Year's Day 2011

2011-05-14T18:39:00.001-07:00

The annual New Year's Day Match was played this year on January 1, 2011. A thawed pitch led to a lot of soakers.

Frankie pointed out that to his recollection he has never lost a New Year's game and he was on the winning side again.

Here's Frankie looking a lot like Jonah Lomu in that he has number 11 on the back of his All Blacks jersey.

This is Webs chasing again as Nick takes off.

Derrick and Milli tied for the Bob Mavro food preparation award for their renditions of chili.

A good time was had by all.

Letter to the Grimsby Legion

2010-12-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club

494 Ridge Ridge Road West

Grimsby, On

Royal Canadian Legion
West Lincoln Branch 127
233 Elizabeth Street
Grimsby On

Dear Sir (or Madam)

First let me congratulate you for all the work you and your group have done with the veterans of foreign wars and peace actions and also your work in the community. You are doing a wonderful job.

I am writing commend you on the actions of your security people who have worked the last couple of years when our group the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football club have come in. Every year we have our annual awards night and the tradition is that after the awards we head for the Legion drink a few more beers at more reasonable prices (how do you do that?) and to cheer up any veterans and others who are present.

We now realize that you are not allowed to be on the dance floor with drinks and most of the members are aware of this rule. Warning a person 6 times and they still do not comply, I believe justifies their ejection and has nothing at all to do with their race. And thank you for not allowing him back in with his cigar, as we all know how dangerous fires are at the Legion. This year it seems to have gotten out of hand (I was not there), but I do accept that nudity should not be permitted in a public place (unless all agree of course). Now I am sure you realized that there was the alcohol factor and we have to look at the natural exuberance of young (well, middle-aged young) men. So I am glad your security did not call the police or anything like that and I suspect they had a good laugh later on. After all, you have to admit, when you think about, it "I dare you to tackle a naked man" is funny (maybe not right then but later).

I would also like you to congratulate the D.J. She played some gay (joyful) Greek Island dance music (gay) for the our members. She did not have to do that.

While we are on the topic, we were thinking that next year we might rent a room for our Christmas/Awards dinner in 2011 right at the legion and save the travelling. Perhaps I could come in and get the types of meals you provide and costs. This would not happen until next December so you have lots of time to consider it (I think we would like to avoid Santa Claus Parade Night).

Thanks for all the good works you do and please remember to give my personal congratulations to your security for their restraint and tell them if I ever need any security, I would hire them. Same goes for the D.J.

Yours sincerely,

Bill Stuart

President

Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club

Awards night 2010

2010-12-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

For the second year, as we haven't pissed off management or the waitresses yet (almost), the Grimsby Gentlemen RFC Awards night was held at Nathan's Depot Pub in Grimsby with about 300 attending.

Jon Millington on the left below was presented with the Clubman of the year award by last year's winner Bob Mavro.

Player of the year for 2010 was Derrick Weber on left, presented by Club Manager Kyle Wilson

Comeback players of the year was Martin Van Der Hurk being presented with the award by President Bill Stuart in the great vest and tie.

Most improved player Jamie Scully honoured by Captain Dereck Weber.

Michael Stuart won the rarely given out Fall-Down award as he got hurt before the season started and did not play a game.

The coveted Deer's Rear Award was won by Derrick Weber for his perfect pass to the opposition St. Catharines which allowed them to score when suddenly he realized that we might win the game after all. Derrick had he promised to buy a keg if we won. His scheme did not work and we won anyway.

Some table surfing was tried later on. (no winner was declared)

Later on we all went over to the Legion (see next blog) to wish the veterans there a happy holiday. Unfortunately no pictures are as yet available.

In Sports History (Club dinner 2009)

In the following picture, one of the following things is happeing.

a. The person on top is demonstrating a Greek wrestling hold.

b. The person on bottom is getting a Greek lap dance.

c. The person on top showing his latest Greek expilation procedure.

d. Or you many not want to look.

Warning this picture is rated only for mature members over 14 or with parent's permission.

In other words (d) is the most correct answer.

St. Catharines away (home); Week Fourteen

2010-09-17T20:35:00.001-07:00

Brooker Cup Result for 2010

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: St. Catharines Tigers 0

Referee: Scott Flemming ***

(in a fog)

Venue: Alway School Field

This is from the field looking at the clubhouse about 20 min before the game.

Weather: Wet, foggy and dark. (British Rugby Weather)

Attendance: Not the 500 expected, many must have got lost in the fog.

We had a few ladies in attendance who must have lost a bet.

And Frank who must have lost a fight.

And Martin who was just lost.

And Andy who was lost in the fog.

President's Report:

So to explain this all quickly, St. Catharines won the Brooker Cup last year and got the right to defend it this year at home. However their field at Ridley College was taken away from them and so they wanted to do it Thursday night at Ridley instead. We agreed but at the last moment they took away the field at Ridley again. So it had to be played as St. Catharine's home game at the Grimsby field.

And of course it had to be a rainy day with lots of fog. No wonder our attendance is down, we come up with a boring no score tie game. This means that St. Catharines retains the cup, (I made the rule up last time there was a tie and could not change it this time) and will defend it again next year.

We actually had two subs on the sideline and it was wonderful that Nathan and Bob thought it was more important to play rugby with Grimsby rather than do their job which was to attend a grade 9 parents night. What is even better is that they managed to persuade a vice-principle the same thing.

We did not have time to get a license for a beer up at the clubhouse, so we went to the Depot but St. Catharines must have gotten lost in the fog and did not show up. There are rumors that one player was roaming in the back fields for several hours, having been separated from the group.

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Bob Mavro, Dean Gibson, Martin Van Der Hurk, Kevin Cooper, Phil Sullivan, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Vic Blaney, Alex Millar, Jamie Scully, Mark, Nick Lemieux.

Nick lasted one play so Nathan Rowbottom came as prop, Jeremy to lock, Bob moved to flank and Martin went to winger.
At sixty minutes, Kyle Wilson came on at lock for Dean Gibson

Captain's Report:

What can you say about a 0-0 tie except that my defensive systems worked perfectly. My offensive systems not so much. Although we played mostly in our end it was not inside our 22 very often and the first actual threat came in the middle of the second half when St. Catharines took a long penalty which overmatched the kicker. In the last twenty we spend some time deep in their end and had one kick at goal which went wide. We had a couple of lineouts and scrums on their 5 m line but could not get it across. Thanks to Mark and Kevin, who played their first game for Grimsby, we actually had 17 players for the game.

Coaches Man of the Match: Vic Blaney for his straight ahead running and crushing tackles.

Thus the season endth, not with a bang but a wash.

Wilmot Away: Week Thirteen

2010-09-12T06:24:00.001-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Wilmot Warthogs 36

Referee: Eric Ciezar ***

Venue: Waterloo Oxford District Secondary School

Weather: cooler that our last bunch of games around 20 degrees with little humidity (expect the boys to run better)

Attendance: 1 (Jes as seen below)

And she wasn't actually watching the game but studying.

President's Report:

Well the wish that they would have lost a lot of good players to university, was just that. They were the same as us and only lost one. The good news is that Wilmot is getting older and looking more like us as a club. But of course we are much better looking.

We started with fourteen as per usual but really hoped for fifteen. Wilmot, against the wind, had most of the ball and scored after 10 min just before our fifteenth player arrived. Wilmot scored again at 20 min. Then we had a burst of rugby which kept us within 15 m of their goal for about 10 min. However we could not put one across. The closest was a 40 m penalty attempt. A turnover and poor coverage ended with them making a long run stopped by Webs. The half wended with Wilmot scoring again with Kyle off injured and Webs on the ground injured.

Half time score Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Warthogs 21

The second half was similar except we played most of it with fourteen players. Offensively Wilmot had more ball and more push, defensively Wilmot had good coverage and put us on our back foot for most of the time.

Final Score Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Warts 36

Team: Nathan Rowbottom, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Scotty Walker, Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro, Dean Gibson, Kyle Wilson, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber, Alex Millar, Martin Van Den Hurk, Jamie Scully, Nick Lemieux.

Coach's Report:

After the hot, humid weather we played in for much of the summer, I expected a burst of energy from the players but maybe I have been watching the university boys too much and we looked slow out there. We did run our patterns a couple of times but we were slow to set up. Bring on St. Catharines.

Coach's man of the match: Nick Lemieux for a number of big hits on some big bodies.

Michael has complained that I write too much and he has to scroll down and he gets out of breath. He thinks it is because I think that no one really reads me (except 5) and so I ramble. I think it is because I am putting in more pictures. Hope you don't hurt your arm Mike.

From under the willow:

Bob made two punts in the game, one of which actually cleared the zone and was not returned. Stick to running with the ball Bob.

Webs has more stitches.

If Kyle had known about the nurse at the start of the game, he might not have lasted through the kickoff.

Nice ball

Nice mall

Nice wall

Nice place

Nice ruck

Nice lift

Nice team

Nice team as they all look up my shorts. (And they call me the voyeur)

Cambridge at home: Week Twelve

2010-08-28T17:14:00.002-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 17: Cambridge Pirates 24

Referee: Jeff Dahl ***, very patient with the other team.

Venue: Alway Field

Weather: nice, 25 degrees, strongish wind to the north (made a difference to the game)

Attendance: Not the 500 expected

Celebs: Donny MacPherson made a surprise visit and intends to play this year. Looks fit as in the photo with a possible new young player, Ryan Henderson, Steve Catagin, Greg Russell and Donny.

Also present was former president Dean Nasby. who was immediately put to work as a line judge which was difficult.

Also in attendance was Frank Schilte, former social member Eddie Vieira, Larry Jaraslawski, Jim Leavens, Adam Wilson and Ben. Also seen around were Alex Easton and Sean Padulo. Andy did not show.

President`s Report: Cambridge is at the top of the table and beat us 66 to 10 in the away game last June. We expected a good set of quick backs and they did score early. They would really have been dangerous if they could have passed the ball well. Strong center work led to a second converted try in the first half but the Gentlemen took over near the end of the half by dominating in the forwards.

Half time score: Grimsby 0: Cambridge 14

Second half, new game. With confidence building with a strong scrum, we came back with a nice run and a try early on in the half touched down by Vic. The convert by Derrick was off the post. Continued forward possession and pressure and a few soccer kicks by the centers led Derrick touching down and which he converted. With less than twenty minutes to go, against the run of play and a scrum we pushed over, Cambridge jumped on the ball when it came out and quickly scored. Convert missed. A nice elusive run set up a try under the posts for Grimsby, but the conversion was missed (down 2). Cambridge scored near the end under the posts and missed the convert.

Final Score: Grimsby 17: Cambridge 14

Team: Nathan Rowbottom, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Scotty Walker, Joel Lenard, Bob Mavro, Phil Sullivan, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Jamie Scully, Vic Blaney, Alex Millar, Nick Lemieux, A. Nother

Coach`s Report:

It feels good to have a full team to start unlike our past 4 games and with the added bonus, the other team had to play one short. But even with dominance in the scrum and a good lineout and an extra man, we still could not capture the win. We did not have the killer instinct to put away a team that was essentially falling apart, complaining to the ref and trying to delay the game. Our skills and fitness let us down. It looks like Cambridge will forfeit its last two games in September to support their two other teams in the Jones division. This will give wins to Kent and Bruce. It is better we played and lost than not have played but the forfeits by the leading team does not look good for the league. Anyway it was nice to have Joel back for the first time this year and Alex for the first time since June.

Coaches Man of the Match: Vic Blaney for strong running and tackling and a try

Other teams pick: also Vic Blaney

Scotty getting lifted.

Jeremy getting stepped on.

Mystery try scorer.

Grimsby at Bruce: Week Eleven

2010-08-22T19:10:00.001-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Bruce County Barbarians 28 (Default Score)

Referee: Their coach

Weather: Humid, with a light rain, 25 degrees.

Venue: C.A.W. Park in Port Elgin

My wife selected Inverhuron Park for camping in March (I did not know where the place was), and the league schedule came out in April with us in Bruce in June and them in Grimsby in August. Bruce asked for a change in May as they had all away games at the end of the season and we agreed. I still did not know where we were camping or when, but it turned out that the last day of camping was August 21 about 20 kms from the field. It looks like the gods wanted me at the game, unfortunately they did not want many of the rest of us at the game. It is a good thing some players showed the flag as it is important for us to do that or you would be looking at my vacation pictures instead.

I showed up late about 10 min before game time and it was a forlorn five sitting on the sideline. Then at about game time, the Profast truck showed up four as they took the more scenic route probably gazing at windmills and cornfields. By the way, if you want to listen to a rant, just ask someone from the county about wind turbines. Sometimes you don't have to ask, they just tell you.

Proud players but a lot disheartened as the team did not come through for them:

Jeremy Young, Jon Millington, Phil Sullivan, Scott Walker, Kyle Wilson, Vic Blaney, Derrick Weber (C), Jamie Scully, Andrew Jolly

Andrew was supposed to stay another week but had to go back to Scotland (something about finishing a paper, but maybe to get rid of us) He did say he would be back next year despite the weather, the travelling and the number of players. Thanks Andrew and good luck in Dundee.

Anyway, we borrowed a few players and our guys played a strong game although were a little let down by the tackling of the borrowed players especially in the backs, but whose complaining. Half time score was 4 tries to Bruce to 2 for our side. My man of the match goes to Jon Millington who scored and ran with the ball, always attracting attention from the Bruce tacklers.

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Derrick had a great game and was excited to be at number 9. He had to make a lot of tackles, but scored a try and a conversion. This is actually a picture of the girl in the black dress but Derrick got in the way.

We had a few players hook this game, the ref who got hurt, Phil who got hurt and
Jeremy.

Also special mention to Vic and everyone else who spend a lot of the time tackling.

Derrick says they had a great beer up with lots of corn and he was sorry we couldn't stay later as it looked like to be a great party. Too bad for Bruce about the game but what do they expect when you bring scaffolding to record it.

O what the hell, some holiday pix.

Grimsby Gentlemen vs Kent Havock Week Ten

2010-08-13T23:44:00.000-07:00

Nothing to report as Grimsby did not have enough players to make the 3 hour trip to Chatham. We had to default, which I think is the first time for the first team in the modern era. I hope everyone enjoyed their rugby free weekend with a little guilt.

I thought I would update a little on the history of Grimsby Rugby since I have the time. These historical moments are in no particular order and are only published when I think of them ..or I should say research them.

It seems many years ago up at Alway school a few of the boys were kicking around a ball when William Webb sent the ball accidentally onto the road presently known as Ridge Road (then too) where it got run over by a hay wagon with eight work horses, each of whom stepped on the ball with each foot. The others chided William for his incompetence and lack of skill. William defended himself by saying he meant to do it as he now had a ball no longer round but in an oval shape.

He said " There are thirty of us and I will take half and we are going to run this oddly shaped ball down the field and touch it down in the endzone. Try to stop us you scrummers." This was a word that William did not know what it meant but it sounded bad.

The words were barely out of his mouth when he was hit by a number of opposing players and only just managed to offload to a supporter who did a DSP to make a break and with help managed to put the ball down in the endzone in about 10 phases.

A passing school teacher observed what happened and called the boys together. "Gentlemen" (some say this is how we got our name), he said, " You have just invented a new game and I think we will call it Alway after the school."

Unfortunately he was not very bright and lived with his mother and didn't get out much. It was, in fact, 1978 and rugby had been invented some hundred and fifty five years before at Rugby School in England. Its a good thing William Webb Ellis had not gone to school in Penetaguishene. I only mention the whole incident as it was one of the few times Grimsby Gentlemen has had 15 players on the field.

Flag Rugby Celebration Aug 9 2010

2010-08-13T22:50:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the almost end of the flag season, with a party mainly organized by Laura and Martin Van Den Hurk. It did not look good at the start as the weather was not cooperating. But about 20 kids, 15 parents and 1 dog showed up.

After a meal the weather improved and it was a full field game of the slower but crafty parents against the faster but with better lung capacity kids

At some point I found a new setting on my camera that had sports on it, so I tried it but without my glasses I could not see what was happening. So I got some interesting pictures, some good and many bad.

And Andy was no help in getting in my way.

Norfolk at home Week Nine

2010-08-08T10:08:00.004-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 15: Norfolk Harvesters 20

Venue: Alway field

Referee: Steve Scott ****

Weather: nice, 24 degrees, less humidity

Attendance: less than 500 but life members Bill Stabler and Paul Rhoner were noted celebs

President's Report:

Unfortunately short players again, with players arriving late, good thing the game did not start on time. We had the wind in the first half but Norfolk scored first as a result of us playing one down. With our scrum forty meters out from our line, we sent the blind side winger into the scrum but Norfolk wheeled the scrum, we lost the ball at the base and they charged down the blind side and scored after 20 min. We came back and kicked a penalty by Dylan and then a try by Derrick off good forward pressure in the next 20 min. A couple of dust-ups near the end of the half resulted in a warning by the referee about any extracurricular activities. Players would be sent off.

Half time score Grimsby 8: Norfolk 7

Norfolk knocked on the kick off and from the ensuing scrum our center Alex scored a 40 m try and the conversion bounced off the post and in. With the wind now, Norfolk kept the ball in our end and were rewarded with a penalty in front of the posts after about 20 min. With about 10 min to go, Derrick kept the ball up in the end zone, but the push on the ensuing scrum caused their front row to go back and up resulting in a penalty against us. A quick tap gave Norfolk an unconverted try. Tie game. Unfortunately, a quickly taken penalty by Norfolk from about 35 m out resulted in a last minute try.

Full time: Grimsby 15: Norfolk 20

Team: Nathan Rowbottom, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Phil Sullivan, Bob Mavro, Kyle Wilson, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Andrew Jolly, Alex Stevenson, Vic Blaney, Martin Van Den Hurk, Nick Lemieux.

Coaches Report:

Welcome to Phil Sullivan back with the club and playing his first game in a couple of years. Also welcome to Andrew Jolly who is over from Great Britain for the month of August and plays with Dundee University in Scotland.

Andrew (above) thinks its bloody hot to be playing rugby.

This is the third game in the last four we have lost with a try in the last minute or very near the end of the game. It would probably indicate a lack of fitness. Even with one man down we could have won the game. I know with the lack of players, it is difficult, but we need to get motivated to win and get stronger on defense.

Captains pick for Man of the match for his timely try, strong running and powerful tackling: Alex Stevenson and Norfolk also picked Alex. Well done.

From under the Willow:

Well done Bob for the food celebrating that rugby power: Greece. Next time we think we will have reindeer burgers to recognizing rugby in Norway.

Thanks for taking the lead on the poker tournament Derrick, not as successful as we had hoped, but you came away with a bit more money at night and a few more scars from the day.

When coming to the club, we invite you to be sure to visit our unique gift shoppe, right now specializing in an assortment of products that mask strong odours. All our merchandise is endorsed by every person on the club and especially their families. The shoppe is to be found in the south-east corner of the main room, you cannot miss it (or ask directions from our courteous staff).

Wilmot at home Week Eight

2010-07-25T11:11:00.003-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen a little : Wilmot Warthogs a lot

Record now 5 and 3 with no wins in July. Some one said that more is learnt in defeat than in victory,because often with victory comes arrogance and pride while, loss comes with humility and a need to workhard and smart for better results next time.
We should do great in August.

Venue: Alway Field

Referee:Andrew Nowak **

Weather: Tropical warm, humid, 30 degrees, kind of rainy

Attendance: did not hit the magical 500

Presidents Report: The president was fulfilling family obligations by going to a local wedding (under duress). You think you were hot, you should have been in church in Winona. So this report will be essentially hearsay and mostly made up.

Playing one player short for the full game, we had the ball in Wilmot's end for 80% of the time but three mistakes resulted in three long tries for Wilmot.

Half time score Grimsby 3: Wilmot 19

They scored early in the second half but we came back and had a certain try from a line out drive called back. See below.

In the second half, the heat and the numbers go to us and the score got run up. If something doesn't kill, you it makes you stronger or maims you forever.

It got a little too emotional for Milli and the Wilmot player.

Final Score Grimsby 3: Wilmot 43

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Scott Walker, Dean Gibson, Kyle Wilson, Martin Van Den Hurk, Nathan Rowbottom, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber,Vic Blaney, Alex Stephenson, Jamie Scully, Bob Mavro,

An interesting event took place, I am told, during the beer up, when Greenpeace came along and threw water on this guy and tried to shove him back into the ocean.

Man of the Match as selected by Wilmot: Alex Stevenson. We all know which one Alex is in the picture (the one tackling from behind), but others may not.

From under the Willow:

Someone was having fun. What's with the Burlington shirt, anyway? Ben, tell your dad you won't hang around anyone dressed like that. How embarrassing.

Windsor away 2010 Week Seven

2010-07-18T17:38:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Windsor Rogues 20
or
Grimsby Gentlemen 24: Windsor Rogues 31

Venue: AKO Fratmen Club Field

Referee: David Jameson

Weather: 33 degrees but with humidity it
seemed hotter.

Attendance: two injured camp followers (Bob and Mike)and Michelle

Presidents Report: For the first time this year we were short players at the kickoff. Actually we only had 12, which included a guest player Levi Rowbottom who was hi-jacked and forced to come on the trip by his brother. Instead of trying to play with a lopsided team we decided to borrow some players who were not going to get into the game for Windsor. Windsor played well in the first half and scored at the seven minute mark with just good hard running and us missing tackles. They continued to score two more tries in the first half mainly due to our poor execution and tackling. However, at the end of half we took the ball into their end and with a lot of work keeping the ball alive by the forwards, Vic finally scored for us on the outside.

Half Time Score: Grimsby 5: Windsor 19

At the start of the second, they brought the ball down and a miss handle in the endzone led to a 5 m scrum and a score for them. However, We did seem to have had some good moments with the ball and had been able to put some pressure on the other team. This led to a couple of runs and a try by Levi followed quickly by another try, this time by Alex and with 10 minutes to go one of the guest Windsor players scored. The score was now 24 to 24. and we were in a game. However for the second week in a row, the opposition scored in the last few minutes to win the game.

Final Score: Grimsby 24: Windsor 31

Team: Nathan Rowbottom, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington,Scott Walker, Frank Dela Fortuna, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Jamie Scully, Levi Rowbottom, Alex Stevenson, Nick Lemieux.

Thanks to those players who made the effort to travel to Windsor even though we knew we would lose the points. Not going would have meant us covering their expenses for liquor license and referee. We would have put the onus on next year's team by causing them to travel twice to Windsor. Also it is good for rugby for us to fulfill our fixtures as well as possible. And it turned into a good game whether or not it was for the league or just an exhibition. You don't get to play in many comeback games like that.

Coaches Report: It was an unfortunate set of circumstances that led us to be down players with a couple of unexpected injuries, car problems and work. But with a small team, each person missing is important. Congratulations to all who went, it would make things much more difficult next year if we did not. Thanks? to Bob, who arranged very reasonable rates for a nice hotel in downtown Windsor. Having a player like Levi in the centers who is actually an eight enabled us to set up some runs later on in the game. We worked on some improvements in our play and they seemed to help.

Coaches Man of the Match: Levi Rowbottom

Their Pick for Man of the Match: Vic Blaney

Thanks to Michelle who actually did wash the kit and used a complete package of dryer freshners.

Norfolk Away Week Six

2010-07-10T19:24:00.005-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Norfolk Harvesters 7

Referee Rambir Dhillon (over special from England)

Weather: a bit warm and very sunny with a little wind.

Attendance: A few made the trip but a lot less than 500

Presidents Report: Well it was a nice trip through the country and we can report the corn crop looks good. Unfortunately the game , for us, did not look good. Rambir did a very good job of refereeing but the game was mainly played between the 22's. Both teams offences could not make many breaks although we looked like we would score good in the first ten minutes. At the end of the half their 10 was red carded for mugging our 10 and we played the whole second half with an extra player and with the wind. We could not take advantage and Norfolk scored with about 5 minutes to go.

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Scott Walker, Bob Mavro, Frank Della Fortuna, Martin Van Der Hurk, Nathan Rowbottom, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Alex Stevenson, Vic Blaney, Jamie Scully, James Tulloch, Nick Lemieux.

Substitute: Dean Gibson for Martin at half.

Coaches Report: Since Norfolk has not had a good record, I think we thought we could easily beat them with whatever. But we did not do well on our lineouts especially at the start, could not get the driving mauls going and they equaled us in the scrum. They had a couple of players who liked to hit in the backs and basically we could get nowhere on the field. They only gave us one penalty that was remotely kickable and it went to the side. We need to use the forewards a bit more and move the ball more in the backs.

Coaches Man of the Match: Scotty Walker

Their Man of the Match: Derrick Weber

Flag Tournament at Grimsby

2010-07-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

Grimsby celebrated soccer day in Canada by having a youth rugby tournament with the Niagara Flag Association. There were about 70 kids at all ages running around on a nice day. It ended with a parents vs kids game (which of course is the purpose of youth rugby- to get the parents off their butts). Congratulations to Laura and Martin Van Der Hurk who keep the Grimsby bunch organized and having fun. Well done.

A Moment in History

2010-07-04T20:40:00.000-07:00

A well-known story from the definitive and authorized, The History of Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby by W.W. Alway Vol II, 3rd Edition, is the one about the time, in the spring of 1953, Alway Public School was visited by Queen Juliana of The Netherlands. Now this was the old school before the present day building. The old building was over where the north end of the parking lot is now, near the willow. Although it was not officially noted at the time, but it has been reported that someone thought they overheard what she might have said as she looked over the playing fields of the school, "Forget about trying to teach kinden here," she stated with a only a suggestion of a Dutch accent, "this place would make a wonderbaar rugby pitch. You must build a field and clubhouse for the Gentlemen of Grimsby." (Some say this is how we got our name). It, however, took more than fifty years for her advice to become reality. She then began to demonstrate off loads to the junior classes.

The Dutch people, in thanks to the Canadian forces who liberated Holland, keep sending over tulips for the Canadian people. TULIPS!!! What on earth do you do with TULIPS. At least they should send HEINEKIN.

Bruce at home: Week Five

2010-06-27T18:04:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 5: Bruce County Barbarians 34

Referee: Jeff Dahl

Weather: no wind, a little wet, low twenties, better than expected

Attendance: The whole town of Kincardine showed up while our supporters were moving Frankie or watching the U.S. get beat.

Presidents Report:

After two wins in a row we lost for the first time at home this year to a very good Bruce County team. Their team in only their third season has a lot of players who are enthusiastic for and committed to rugby. They seem to be well coached, organized and relatively fit. Bruce brought 23 players down although it looked like more but then how would I know what 23 players looks like. The have the advantage of being the only team in a large area with lots of high school rugby and a number of "accents".
Their disadvantage is the players have to travel a long distance to even practice and longer distances to play. They did however play a good clean game with no whining and complaining. Well done Bruce, deserved win.

However, it was a bit disconcerning to arrive at the club at about 1:30 to have a couple of guys with British accents ask "Hey, boyo. Is this where the rugby game is? The team came down last night, slept in the parking lot, ate a couple of squirrels for breakfast, warmed up and had an intersquad game this morning." I said our players should get here soon but we started the game with only thirteen men, but Bruce mishandled the kickoff and we got a scrum around the 22. We won the ball with 7 forwards and a few cycles later we were given a penalty kick. Thinking we needed more than three points from this chance, as Dylan explained later, he decided to kick the ball off the upright into the hands of Alex our center who would then score a try. In retrospect, Dylan said, it probably would have been better to go for the three and practice the play a little more as Alex just mishandled the rebound. We came to full strength in players with two late arrivals but the next thirty-eight minutes were mainly spent in our end except for restarts. Bruce scored tries at 10 min and 25 min converting them both and got two penalty kicks. We did well on defense after their first try to keep the score down but a few penalties undid lot of that work.

Half time score: Grimsby 0: Bruce 20

We continued to have difficulty getting out of our end and at the 55 minute mark Martin took a yellow card for his second offence of laziness?? Martin claims it was really slowness but agreed he should not have interfered with the player. This was a real shock to the team as the book had it at even money that Derrick would be the first to get carded this season and that it would be for a punch. Bruce scored again within a minute and converted.

For most of the game, Bruce had difficulty with restarts and mishandled the ball again in their end and with some aggressive tackling we ended up with a lineout round their 5. A drive and rolling maul took the ball over the line and Nathan put it down with the help of the pack. Bruce scored another nice try at about 70 minutes and converted.

Final Score: Grimsby Gentlemen 5: Bruce County Barbarians 34

Thanks to all who helped with the beer and food (Mary, Jonelle, Martin Wolff and Salad Billy. It was our best beer-up of the season so far with an enjoyable group of opposition players and supporters who bought all our cider and most of a keg. We even had an unexpected zulu. A special thanks to Captain Derrick who donated a keg for our win against St Catharines (I wondered why he served up that interception to put them back in the game).

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Nathan Rowbottom (late),Bob Mavro, Martin Van Den Hurk (late), Frank Della Fortuna, Kyle Wilson(AC), Jon Jeske, Jamie Scully, Derrick Weber (C), Vic Blaney, Alex Stevenson, James Tulloch, Nick Lemieux.

Coaches Report:

It was a good defensive stand for much of the game they did not exactly have their way with us but we had little offensive punch and really did not look threating very often. It would be nice to work on that aspect at practice and use some of it in Norfolk in two weeks.

Coaches Man of the match: A force in the scrum when he eventually got here, Nathan Rowbottom.

Their Man of the match: Nathan Rowbottom (first time they are the same this year) and he had to drink fast to beat a skinny full back in the drink off.

Here is Nathan in action at loose head and his opposite number is hurting. And this was when the guy was prepared as Nathan had him a foot off the ground on the first scrum but I was so in awe, I forgot to take the picture.

From under the Willow:

G.B. Shaw once said that rugby was useful in that it occupied 30 bullies on a Saturday afternoon and kept them away from the center of town. At least were were not in Toronto burning police cars and breaking windows. But they were still keeping an eye on us (actually three).

"Grimsby scored? I just came in to watch the U.S. soccer game."

"How can an anarchist complain about the police breaking the law by beating them up if they do not believe in laws." I'm confused, oh wait, maybe I'm not

"No I don't know if Mike is playing or how his knee is, he never gets in touch with his dad."

"I don't think we have any more rugby balls."

St Catharines at home: Week Four

2010-06-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 11: St Catharines Tigers 5

Referee:Heather Jones (an international ref)

Weather: Warm and humid, but not as bad as expected, with a significant wind blowing away from the clubhouse.

Attendance: We did not quite hit the 500 but we had enthusiastic fans working on their tans and one enthusiastic cheerleader.

Presidents Report:

Well done team, we have not been 3 and 1 in a long time and it has been a couple of years since we last defeated St Catharines in a league game. It must be because of the coaching. Thanks to all those who make things a little easier for the players afterward. Bill behind the bar, Frank and Bubbles on the BBQ, Billy making salad and all the others, you are appreciated. Jeremy even managed to sell some air freshener.

The game was mainly played between the 22s probably due to some strange interpretations of the law by the referee. And although Dylan was not as on with the kicking (2/5) as he was last week, he hit for two penalties, one in the first half and the other in the second.

Half time score: Grimsby 3: St Catharines 0

When we did get inside their 22 we put on a great display of ball control by cycling the ball several times before Martin V. finally put it down on his second attempt. Later on, a handling error resulted in an interception by St. Catharines and a score between the posts. The points after denied by the ref because they could not find a kicking tee.

Final score: Grimsby 11: St Catharines 5

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Scott Walker, Dean Gibson, Nathan Rowbottom, Bob Mavro, Kyle Wilson, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber, Vic Blaney, James Tulloch, Jamie Scully, Martin Van Den Hurk, Nick Lemieux

Coaches Report:

A good week of practice during which we were able to work on some back row plays and use them in the game. Thursday we had the most out for practice since the first one on April 1. We only had fifteen players but for probably the first time in years, so did the opposition. They had a few injuries and had to play short for a time. The referee caused both teams problems but we need to read the ref quicker and us him/her to our advantage. We need to work on kicks and lineouts for next week's test against Bruce.

Scoring summary: Dylan K. 2 P: Martin V. 1 T

Coaches Man of the Match: Martin for doing well on the wing (not his normal position) and scoring our only try (in photo)and for bringing a cheerleader.

Other teams pick: Nathan Rowbottom who laid a beating on St Catharines in the boat race.

From under the Willow

I can't tackle them; they are in orange like the Dutch football team.

How are Father's Day and a World Cup Soccer game the same? You just know someone is going to get a tie.

"I can't hear you over the sound of how epic I am"

Check out the nude rugby in Dunedin N.Z yesterday compared to the semi nude rugby in Grimsby. This is not a link as I don't know how to do that.

http://www.3news.co.nz/Thousands-to-farewell-The-Brook-nude-rugby-a-success/tabid/423/articleID/161719/Default.aspx

Kent at home: Week Three

2010-06-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 9 : Kent Havoc 6

Referee: Brian Chappel

Weather: Turned out to be a nice day the got cooler as the game went on and fog started to come in with a heavy rainstorm just after the game ended.

Attendance: We did not reach the 500 mark again for the second home game.

A new fan and my Granddaughter Tayla with my daughter Erin

President's Report

Once again we just got enough players at kick off but it is difficult to organize and a demoralizing for the team to not get enough preparation time. We need to make a better effort. Kent seemed to get more possession and position in the game but could not effectively make much ground and threatened only one or twice in the whole game. Our forwards were able to establish themselves at the set pieces and stop them from punching the forwards off the ruck. They did not effectively kick and did not really put us under much pressure. They hit for one penalty after about 20 min but Dylan answered with a forty meter kick soon after.

Half time score Grimsby 3 : Kent 3

Second half was more of the same with neither team really making any significant headway. The ball tended to get locked up in the rucks and become unplayable. Kent struck for a penalty but very quickly Dylan answered with another almost 40 m kick. Grimsby went up three points with another penalty soon after and were unlucky not to score near the end when Kent seemed to tire and we had a flurry of plays in their 22.

Final Score Grimsby 9 : Kent 6

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Nathan Rowbottom, Dean Gibson, Bob Mavro, Kyle Wilson, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber, Tyler Leggatt, Alex Millar, Jamie Scully, Frank Della Fortuna.

Scoring Dylan Kinch 3/3 penalties

Dylan lining up one of his kicks.

Coaches Report

It is difficult to get anything significant going in coaching with limited number in practice - we need work at tackling and going into contact. Our advantage is that we have not yet met a pack that can push us around and so we have some opportunities to work with that strength. If we try to keep everything simple and straight forward we should be able to do alright. It is not as demoralizing for the team if everyone was at the clubhouse or game earlier so we can get organized.

From Under the willow

We should have been able to score a try.
Thanks to Bob and Billy (the Greek wet-on-the-back)for the food and social and thanks to Bubbles for cooking in the downpour.
I think I will drive where the other people have driven and I won't get stuck.

Coaches Man of the Match: Jon Jeske - all over the field

Their select: Dylan Kinch (the kicking machine)

Cambridge Away: Week Two

2010-06-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen 10: Cambridge 66

Weather: Warm and humid with a wind

Ref: Eric Ciezar

Attendance: a few supporters but most missed the bus

Presidents report:

I was not available for this game as I was away in Wales watching Wales lose to South Africa 34 to 31. I was hoping for a much closer result (the Grimsby game).

This is me before my tryout with the Gwent Dragons.

This is me with Colin Charvis who is the coach of the Newport Gwent Dragons who wanted a picture with me. Colin has been the captain of Wales and has been a British Lion. He has the world record for a forward in scoring tries (22) in test matches and is the most capped forward in Wales. He is considering coming to Grimsby for coaching experience.

When Colin stands up, I come up to about his knee.

The following report was compiled by the team captain, Derrick.

We started flat and had no pressure on Cambridge who created overlaps and scored within two minutes. The continued to move the ball wide which we could not answer and by 20 minutes we were down 21 points. But on the ensuing kick off our forwards led by Nick Lemieux(?) took charge. We realized we matched up well against a younger inexperienced pack and with a few crashing plays Victor sliced through the line and scored dragging bodies with him. The convert was missed.

However, we lost the ball in a ruck on the ensuing kick off and Cambridge ran wide to score and added one more try off a quick lineout before half.

Half time score: Genelemen 5: Cambridge 35

Last year it was a very similar score at half and we took it to Cambridge and won the second half but this year was not to be.

The second half was similar as we over committed to the Cambridge forwards and they passed quickly to the outside center who scored twice more. We were held up once in their try zone The next scrum led to a high tackle by Cambridge on Nick L. and a penalty try was awarded. The convert was again missed.

Victor went into the backs which helped but Cambridge scored three more times

Final Score Gentlemen 10: Cambridge 66

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Nathan Rowbottom, Dean Gibson, Bob Mavro, Kyle Wilson, Vic Blaney, Martin Van Den Hurk, Nick Lemieux, Derrick Weber (C), Frank Della Fortuna, Alex Millar. Jamie Scully, James Tullock.

From under the Wilow:

We need to use the forwards more as in rolling mauls.
Do I still get credit for the try? (not really but we will make an exception)
I wish I was five years younger.
Players need to be more organized and get to games earlier to have a proper warm up and preparation.

Captain's man of the match Nick Lemieux

Cambridge's pick was Derrick Weber

Windsor at home: Week One

2010-05-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 22: Windsor 20

Ref: Scott Flemming (thank God)

Weather: turned out to be a great day

Attendance: Should have had all Grimsby there but did not make 500
Presidents Report:

Not many of the veterans could remember the last time we beat Windsor and those put it in the distant past before the Grimsby renewal. So it was a great come from behind win (we were down 15 -3 at the half), came back to tie, down by a try with 10 minutes to go but score and convert with three minutes in the game. Exciting stuff. Well done boys. Thanks to Bob for the beer up and Frank for the set up.

Team: Nathan Robottom, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Scott Walker, Dean Gibson, Martin Van Den Hurk(a special welcome back after several years), Vic Blaney, Kyle Wilson, Jon Jesky, Derrick Weber(C), Jamie Scully, Alex Stevenson, Bob Mavro, Frank Dela Fortuna, Nick Lemieux, with Alex Millar coming on at 30 minutes and Tyler comming on at half.

Coaches Report:

When I woke up this morning I thought I had thirteen players for a home game which did not look good for the season. Then Dean phoned and said he would play and when I got to the field, Frank, said he would play if needed but had a bad wrist and should not. Then Alex Millar said he could make it but would be late and Tyler showed up to play. Sunshine everywhere except we still had to play Windsor who we have not beaten for a longish time (no one can really remember when).

We scored first with a penalty by Dylan after 5 min but at about 25 min we turned over a ball in their end and a quick kick down field resulted in a Windsor score. Difficulty handling the kicked ball resulted in two more scores and with some injuries we it looked like it could be more of the same in the second half.

However at half time, the forwards realized they could take control and did not want to quit and wanted the ball in the tight. We played most of the second half in their end. A drive at the lineout led to Dean putting the ball down in the endzone and Derrick converted to get us close. A nice charging try by Nathan and a missed convert resulted in a tie score with about 20 min to go. We seemed to be able to dominate in the forwards. However Windsor had some life in them with a deserved try after an amazing tackle by Derrick in the endzone on their player to keep the ball from touching down. However Grimsby did not seem to lose confidence and urged on by Frank Shilte managed to set up a great try by Vic which led to a conversion by Derrick and an unlikely come from behind two point win.

A lot of players stepped up and played hard even though we were down by a lot. Well done.

Scoring:

Dean 1 T, Nathan 1 T, Vic 1 T, Dylan 1 P, Derrick 2 G

going

going

going

gone

Coaches man of the match: Prop Nathan Rowbottom (scored his first try for Grimsby and survived the ass burning better than most.

Frank's Top Three Tackles (from a man who doesn't tackle)

1. Dean's try saver on the wing at about 10 m out. (Dean says if you avoid enough rucks, someone will run into you)

2. Nick's mid-field tackle.

3. Alex S.'s quasi legal hit (the ref did not call it) on his opposing number.

Other teams pick for man of the match: Dylan Kinch (who let us down on the chug)

Heard from under the Willow:

Loved the retro kit

Wow! Looking good

Turned a corner

Flip was generous

Go Dad, Yeah Dad

Get off the touch line

Tony Brooker Memorial Game

2010-05-27T12:52:00.000-07:00

On May 15 we held a memorial game for Tony Brooker at Alway and raised some funds for diabetes research. Tony's family was able to make it.

Along with some former players

and friends

This watching is serious business and Frankie actually has his mouth closed.

But not for long.

Some rugby was played.

And a nice picture after a friendly handshake. We actually won captain.

Tony Brooker

2010-01-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

August 9, 1939 - January 6, 2010

Tony Booker passed away at his home on Wednesday January 6 2010 at the age of seventy. Beloved husband of 45 years to Ann (Corbett) Brooker. Dearly loved father of Alicia, Janet and Michael Brooker. Dear brother of Bill, Chris, Peter, Pat and Moira and brother-in-law of James Corbett.

Tony spent the last 35 years developing rugby in the Niagara Region. He helped to develop the Niagara Wasps, the St. Catharines Tigers and the Grimsby Gentlemen. He was instrumental in the administration and coaching of these clubs at different times and took a keen interest in starting and coaching high school teams at different times in Grimsby, St. Catharines, and Niagara Falls. A lot of players, both men and women, were introduced to rugby by Tony. His dedication to the sport is very appreciated and he will be missed.

Tony was honoured three years ago at the opening of the Grimsby clubhouse and field with the Brooker Cup to be played for annually between St. Catharines and Grimsby.

New Years Classic 2010

2010-01-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

It was the pre-Olympic, 2010 New's Year's Touch Classic, live, on ice and in 3-D.
This years game started at 1:00 (1:30 Grimsby time) and the weather was good with the ground frozen and a dusting of snow. We are starting a campaign to get rugby also admitted to the Winter Olympics.

FR: Rick K., Bill S., Ross M., Ian M., Mark B., Ross Mc., Mike S.

BR: Derrick W., Jon J., Jon M., Bob M., Jeremy Y., Kyle W., Craig E., Alex E.

Milli was in mid season form

Bob, Kyle, Ross and Evi

Jeremy passes to Alex

Mike makes a break

Rick has nice form while Mark awaits pass

Mike intercepts pass thrown by Ross while Kyle gives moral support

Bill tries to make a break between two defenders

The winning try by Derrick

Jon Millington gets the Mavro award for his chilli.

Awards Night

2009-12-20T15:25:00.000-08:00

The always dignified Awards/Christmas dinner took place on Saturday December 12 2009 at the Depot Pub in Gimsby.

Thanks to Bob Mavro for arranging the function and for the thirty or so who attended. The food and atmosphere was exceptional. We had some celebrities attend. Our only actual social member Eddie Viera and former Grimsby players Ian and Ross Matheson were there along with Melissa? a friend of Martin W. who he met that afternoon at a funeral. Nick Lemieux attended having just come back from Australia the day before. It was good to see Kevin Erb in attendance, he will be getting surgery on his knee in February and will unfortunately miss next season. And Prince, the player formerly known as Scully, was a hit showing his mutilated appendage to anyone who would look.

This year's player's awards which are voted on by the players themselves went to:

Rookie of the Year: Alex Stevenson
Most Improved Player: Jeremy Young
Comeback Player of the Year: Dean Gibson
Player of the Year: Jon Jeske
Clubman of the year: Bob Mavro

A new annual award was introduced this year and is called the Deer's Rear award and is intended to go to the individual who did something so outstanding that he represents the arse end of our stuffed deer head at the clubhouse.

The story behind this year's award goes back to our away game in Windsor in July. We are down 14 to nothing and with about 5 minutes played in the second half, Windsor punts which is retrieved by our side and we start the counter by giving to our center who makes a pass that is intercepted by their center who runs the ball in to score a try just outside the posts. This is bad enough, but our fullback chases gives the scorer a bit of a shove, which brings in their team to shove our fullback and this brings in our winger to help the fullback. The result is a converted try and two yellow cards. In the next couple of minutes of play, Windsor punts but our flanker late hits the kicker and gets a penalty which turns in to a yellow through arguing. Windsor scores quickly between the posts. The net result of this series of plays is two converted tries and three yellow cards (a new club record). So this year's Deer's Rear Award goes to the player who made the original pass that was intercepted, Mike Stuart.

This year the fun? awards were again given out by Bob Mavro and Kyle Wilson.

The Frank Shilte indispensable award was again won by er. Frank Shilte

Jon Jeske, Martin Wolfe, Kyle Wilson, Bob Mavro

This was the first year for the President, Bill S., who also took on the duties of Head Coach and so he announced a top ten list of things he learned this year. He noted that if you do not understand some of the topics on the list, then you are not around the club enough.

10 A kilometer of fence is a long distance.

9. Always listen to your elders, especially your parents who have a lot of life experience and probably know something about life. Your father knows a bit about rugby and so do not just tune him out when he is trying to get you to do something.

8. Always wear sunscreen, especially if you father has explained to you several times that you cannot put sunblock on once in a day and run around in the sun at a beach without a shirt. No wonder you get burned and can't play rugby.

7. Windsor is a long drive.

6. However in Windsor, you can earn enough money from older ladies to buy another jug by taking off your shirt and pants and dancing wildly in public.

5. Don't send an electrician and an accountant to put up a ceiling.

4. Don't let anyone stuff your ass with toilet paper and light it on fire, no matter how nice he seems.

3. Don't treat players like they are in high school, even though you are a former teacher and they act like they are.

2. It is never too late in a game to get a card nor too late in a career to get a drop goal.(as an aside Frank S. got a yellow at the 79th minute but was beaten by a former Grimsby member playing for St Catharines who got a yellow right after the final whistle and immediately retired from playing rugby)

1. Any "voyeur" joke is always funny (not).

At the end of the evening, as is our tradition, we went to the Legion to cheer up the veterans. In an unfortunate incident, Bob M. was escorted from the establishment and has already set the bar high for next year's awards.

The executive wishes everyone a good holiday and expect to see you for touch on January 1 for touch rugby.

Most Improved Player : Jeremy Young

Clubman of the Year: Bob Mavro

Player of the Year: Jon Jeske

Comeback Player of the Year: Dean Gibson

Deer's Rear Award: Mike Stuart

Nick Lemeux back from down under the day before and trying to keep warm with Australian ear muffs.

AGM 2009

2009-12-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

We had just enough for a quorum for the 2009 AGM held on November 2 at the clubhouse.
Reports were given about the year and the following members elected as executive members

President: Bill Stuart
Secretary: Jon Jeske
Treasurer: Jeremy Young
Social Secretary: Bob Mavro
Club Manager: Kyle Wilson
Clubhouse Manager: Jon Millington
Fixture Secretary: Martin Wolfe
Junior co-ordinator: Martin Van Der Herk

Thanks to all who attended and ran for office.

At St Catharines August 29

2009-08-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 7: St Catharines Tigers 20

Referee: Tony Kearsley

Conditions: Surprisingly nice considering it was supposed to be very rainy. Temperature about 20 degrees.

Attendance: Bubbles, Wolf, Kevin, Mark, Elizabeth, Jamie, two big black dogs

Presidents Report

It could have been better if we had come in and blown them away and won our last league game but St Catharines had a deserving win. Our problem was again a short bench and a few niggling injuries. We had several blocked kicks which led to complications and scores for the Tigers. At about 13 min a blocked kick resulted in a try and a lost lineout at 25 min caused them to drive over for a try. Derrick made a good play on a poor pass by the opposition and as little kick on resulted in a Grimsby try at 30 min and Dylan made a difficult conversion. The half ended with yellows being given to goth teams.

Half time score: Grimsby 7; St Catharines 10

In the second half the Tigers got their short lineout working well and we started taking a lot of penalties. A high tackle on the five resulted in a try for St Catharines at 53 min and a another blocked kick and pick up let to the fourth try at 68 min. Their coach (who was playing) got a yellow card on the last play.

Final: Grimsby 7; St Catharines 20

Team: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Kevin Murphy, Joel Leonard, Kyle Wilson, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Alex Millar, Mike Stuart, Andy Breuls, Scott Walker, Alex Stevenson.

Subs used: Bob Mavro for Andy Breuls at 50 min.

The beer up was a an interesting place (a boat in the Port Dalhousie harbour) but the food was not good and it took a long time (one of the poorer beer ups).

Coach's report Once again we were struggling for numbers but put up a spirited effort against the Tigers. We did well defensively but had little real offence for a long period except for a period early in the second period when we recycled the ball about ten times. Vic did very well on the lineouts and we were a bit stronger in the scrum. It has actually been a long season since last March but I hope we will get a few more games in the fall.

Coaches Man of the Match: Derrick Weber

Their pick: Vic Blaney

final record: Won two (Kent and Stratford at home), lost twelve.

Family Day Aug 15 2009

2009-08-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

We are amazed by the job that Laura and Martin did with a very diverse group (size and age) in introducing flag rugby to Grimsby this past season.
They had about 15 players in two groups and gave them what seemed to be the appropriate amount of instruction and playing time to keep them coming back. On August 15th we brought the group to the clubhouse for a morining session and hotdogs, icecream and showers. Also some players children who were not part of the flag group came and leared some rugby.

This was with the Niagara Flag Rugby group and next year Laura and Martin hope to double the size and hold practices and a tournament at the clubhouse. Thanks for all your work.

Martin commanding attention

Military precision

Laura and the smaller (but more active) kids

typical Grimsby score

It was a hot day

Parents wishing they could jump in the sprinklers

Andy, get behind the ball

Cambridge at home

2009-08-23T17:03:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 7: Cambridge Pirates 14

Referee: Ranbir Dhillon

Conditions: sunny, soft ground, hard rain just before

Attendance: less than 500

President's Report: Missed most of the game and caught the last twenty minutes when the game was tied 7 to 7. It seems we had a very good first half but could only score one try by Derrick W. and conversion by Dylan K. We could not finish and kicked the ball away a lot. With ten minutes, we were pressing and Jon M. had the ball over but was held up. At the end we lost composure, got unnecessary penalties and did not complete simple passes. Cambridge scored with 5 minutes to go. It was the second week in a row we lost in the last few minutes against a team much higher in the table than us. Once again, we just have enough players. Thanks to Bubbles for helping out by running touch and bringing water and cooking the hamburgers.

Team: Jeremy Young, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Alex Millar, Dean Gibson, Kyle Wilson, Bob Mavro, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Jamie Scully, Derrick Weber, Andy Breuls, Joel Leonard, Scott Walker, Frank Shilte

Their Man of the match pick: Derrick Weber

One game left.

Highland at home

2009-08-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 13: Highland 14

Referee: Eric Ciezar

Weather: Clear sunny day, a bit warm (28 degrees but felt like 38 degrees)

Attendance: Jamie, Kalie, Bubbles and family returned from down under, Jim Levens visited a few of his former players. About 500 in total for a hot day.

Presidents Report: Highland came down with about 20 players to play a second game in Hamilton at noon and a first game in Grimsby at 3. It was a hot, energy sucking day and the players felt it. The chance was there to defeat the best team in the league but we came up short again at the last minute. After about 25 minutes Highland scored first and converted. At 32 minutes some good offloading and rucking kept the ball alive and gave Bob M. a run down the side line to score but the kick after hit the upright.

Half time score: Grimsby 5: Highland 7

At about 46 minutes Derrick W. hit a long 40 m penalty and then with 10 minutes left, Mike S scored to put Grimsby up 6 as the convert was missed. Unfortunately, with 5 minutes left we couldn't get out of our end and Highland scored and converted.

Final Score Grimsby 13: Highland 14

As president, I would like to get a team picture, but no one shows up in time to take it at the beginning and I forget at the end.

Team: Mark Hall, Andy Breuls, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro, Kyle Wilson, Joel Leonard, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber, Jamie Scully, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Alex Millar, Frank Shille

Sub: Ross McBride came on for Alex M at about 15 min and moved to flanker with
Bob M on the wing.

The sprinklers were a great hit.

Coaches Comments:

An energy sapping day but most of Highland had already played a game and we need to be in good enough shape to play in the heat. Scrums looked better and we did well in the lineouts. We played as well, but they took the ball on the burst and gave us problems in the backs with our tackling.

From under the Willow:

Good game, both teams played well but Highland had better field position most of the game and could not finish.

Could have won but not should have won.

Good game against the best team in the league.

Waterloo (a close second in the Jones division) plays their seconds (Cambridge) in the NRU A and their thirds in the Jones because they consider this division more difficult. We play Cambridge next week at home.

Coaches Man of the Match: Vic Blaney

Their pick as Man of the Match: Vic Blaney (who had left) then Mike Stuart who cannot drink as proven last week.

We picked their fullback.

Highland Away

2009-08-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Highland 54

Referee: Jeff Dahl

Weather: Soft day with light drizzle towards the second half. About 22 degrees

Attendance: 13 players, 1 coach, 1 rabid supporter (Jamie) and a bunch from the other team.

Presidents Report: Highland agreed to give us two players but only after they were sure of beating us. Even with thirteen, it took them thirty minutes to get four tries and the bonus point. We helped them score in the first five minutes with a hands in penalty on the 20 m line, they took a quick tap and we could have been called not 10, but in the ensuing ruck we did not roll away and they again took a quick tap and scored and we got a talking penalty. Oh My God! We got better but Highland scored again at 10 minutes with a ruck at 10 m from our line and our flat line was ball watching and not covering the players. Their winger eventually scored on the other side, a problem with being short-handed. They scored again at 20 min and at 30 min. At this point, they offered us a player to give us fourteen but our Australian friend hurt his leg covering a kick deep in our end and they scored off that play at 36 min. Back to 2 players down, but we pressured them after the kick off and Alex Millar (playing as lock) put the ball down at 39 min.

Half time score; Grimsby Gentlemen 5: Highland 35

Highland gave us a couple more players and Colin (and if you try to make me do a Zulu you will get a taser and a night stick stuck up your ass as far as it will go and you will get a parking ticket every day of your life, but don't worry you may not live long) Maisonneuve scored at 47 min with Dylan converting. However, Highland did not seem worried and scored again at 52 min, 54 min and at 39 min.

Full time score: Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Highland 54

We went back to the Goofy Newfie (they are still working on their clubhouse) and they were generous with food and beer. Thanks Highland.

Team: Colin Maisonneuve, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Dean Gibson, Alex Millar,Matt the Australian footie player, Bob Mavro, no one, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber, Scott Walker, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, blank, Frank Shilte.

Coaches Report

It is difficult to criticize when we do not have good practices or enough players but we did well in the scrums considering we were down players and all right in the lineouts with different players in different positions. We still need to improve fitness which everone can do on their own and be more mentally prepared for the game itself. Individually, a number of prople did well. Colin played in his first complete game at loose head and was competitive. Dylan did very well on the penalty punts. Derrick was all over and we welcomed Frank back after a long time. Congratulations to the team for playing hard right to the end.

From under the Willow

It was certainly better than not playing.

We need more fitness and more players willing to travel.

We need to train more in beer chugging.

Coaches Man of the Match Colin Maisonneuve (good job at loose head, around the field, scored)

Their Pick: Mike Stuart for his couple of long runs and his drinking ability (they claim have already picked him for next week)

We picked their lock (the one who outran Webs for a try)

Highland next week at home. Kids day at 10:00 to noon.

Stratford Away

2009-07-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 20: Stratford Black Swans 33

Referee: Mark Glendenn

Weather: A heavy rain storm as we drove up but the sun shone throughout the game although there was a black cloud over us. The field was in great shape.

Attendance: A large number of home town fans as there was a special memorial service after and several of the Stratford teams played.

Presidents Report: Oh-oh. Plan A was to beat Stratford convincingly but in a friendly manner as the Black Swans had not yet won a game and had been getting beat by very high scores. We put 53 points on them at home and we were planning to put as many on again to bring our points for and against to zero. We were also celebrating the second time we travelled with a team of 16 players. However, the sun did not shine on us and within five minutes we lost Mike A. to a lower body injury, then at 30 minutes Jamie S. had to leave with a rib injury, and at 35 minutes Scott W. also had to leave with a bad sprain. We played the whole second half with 13 players and it showed.

The Stratford team kicked off and kept Grimsby in their end for most of the first 15 min but Grimsby (Kyle W) managed to score first at about the 16 min mark and Dylan K. converted. However the Black Swans kept running confidently in the backs and made a break to score under the posts to tie the game at 25 minutes. They scored shortly after with a long run with support to go ahead by a converted try. Dylan kicked a penalty late in the first half.

Half time score Grimsby 10: Stratford 14

One minute into the second half Grimsby came closer with a penalty by Dylan. However the problems with thirteen men against fifteen resulted in a converted Stratford try at 50 min and an unconverted try at 65 minutes. With about 5 minutes to go, Grimsby got close with a great attacking kick into the endzone by Craig E. and Derrick W. fought off the defender to ground the ball and Dylan converted. We now were within six points, perhaps win the game, or at least get a bonus point, and win the singing competition (Plan B). However, Stratford was not finished and scored once more in the 79th minute and converted.

Final Grimsby 20: Stratford 33

This was Stratford's first win and they well deserved it. They they gave us a great beer up at a local pub and we lead in the singing.

After the game, Stratford had a tree planting ceremony for one of their former players who passed away a year ago. Darryl Van Den Tempel, who was only 21 years old and a strong member of the club, was killed in an ATV accident.

Team: Nathan Rowbottom (a nice surprise), Mark Hall, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Dean Gibson, Mike Antonelli, Kyle Wilson, Joel Leonard, Dylan Kinch, Derrick Weber (C), Scott Walker, Mike Stuart, Bob Mavro, Jamie Scully, Alex Stevenson,

Craig Evans came on at 5 min for Mike Antonelli and went to #10

The team picture did not work out, I was too rushed.

Coaches Report: Well we probably thought we could beat these guys with thirteen as we did so well against Kent with only thirteen. However, Stratford challenged us by running hard through gaps and making breaks with support. We did not seem to be able to find an and had difficulty getting through their defensive line. Mark H. did well at hooker for a last minute switch and so did Dylan K. who took over the scrum half spot and can still send a good pass. Our tackling was suspect, we often lost the ball in contact often, and tended to ball watch in defence. With only thirteen players we had trouble covering their kicks. We drastically reduced the number of penalties we took to about 3, compared to the last game although we seem to chirp at the ref a lot which takes us off focus.

Man of the Match: Derrick Weber for his fine play at fullback in the second half making a couple of try saving tackles and scoring near the end to bring us close. Also I liked the work of Dean Gibson who put in a workman like day all around the field. Honourable mention to all those who had to play out of position.

Their Man of the Match: Alex Stevenson (if he wins more of these he may become a drinker)

Our Man of the Match: their thirteen

From Under the Willow:

Plan C: We need to at least beat one other team (and pick up some bonus points) as I can see Stratford beating Kent and being tied with us in wins. The first tie breaker is the number of defaults and we have one. Next game is at Highland August 8 after a week off.

Windsor Away

2009-07-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 3: Windsor Rogues 24

Referee: David Jameson (from the U.S.)

Weather: overcast at start with a little rain then hot then a little rain at the end (23 degrees)

Attendance: We had two supporters

Presidents Report:

The one game we had been dreading since the start of the season due to distance and numbers, actually did well and had fifteen players (+1)for an away game for the first time this year and we had two drop out the night before. Milli arranged for two vans and one van stayed the night. It was a four hour trip one way, but as Windsor keeps reminding us they do a lot of driving for their away games. We did better in the set pieces and got it out to the backs more and pressured them the first part of the game but we let the game turn into a rowdy undisciplined mess in the second half.

Team: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Scott Walker, Dean Gibson, Mike Antonelli, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Craig Evans, Jamie Scully, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Bob Mavro, Derrick Weber (C)

Subs: Kyle Wilson came on at half for Dean Gibson

Coaches Report: I thought we had the horses to actually win this one, reuniting our centers and having a full team. We did well for the first half of the first half until we missed a clearing kick (out on the full), we poached the ball from the ensuing ruck at our five but the clearing kick was blocked resulting in a 5 m scrum and the first score at 16 min. At 31 min, we did not cover a high kick well allowing them to run the ball back and score again.

Half time Grimsby 0: Windsor 14

In the second half, most of the play was in the centre until Windsor intercepted a pass and scored again at 18 min. This led to a bit of unnecessary temper which resulted in two yellows to us and one to them. On the restart, we managed to get another sin bin putting us down two players. They quickly scored from a scrum and ruck to put Windsor up 24 points. We did not get whitewashed as Dylan kicked a penalty late in the game.

Final score Grimsby 3: Windsor 24

The scrum did well compared to the week before as we pushed them around a bit. We still had a dozen penalties with three yellows. We have to be more disciplined and better coached if we expect to win games. We need to be quicker in the forwards and backs need to run straight and with a purpose. We need to make sure or our kicking game.

From under the Willow:

We need to have a killer instinct when we are in their end.

We look slow and do not appear confident we can win these games.

Windsor is still a place where a male can take off his pants and dance and make money.

Man of the match: Vic Blaney

Man of the match picked by Windsor: Vic Blaney who lost decisively to a 47 year old in the drink off. (Elizabeth, I am not responsible if Vic did not make it home) You will have to come to practice to hear about what happened to those who stayed the night in Windsor because I do not print lies.

Windsor at home

2009-07-12T16:41:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 5: Windsor Rogues 10

Referee: Heather Jones from Erie

Weather: Muggy with a temperature of 25 degrees and a fairly strong wind blowing northish.

Attendance: A good crowd bolstered by our injured players

Presidents Report: Not a good start to the second half of the season as this was a winnable game in a season without a lot of wins so far. We started slow and Windsor used the wind to kick which we did not handle well. They scored twice early in the first half to complete their scoring. Grimsby scored on a quick penalty tap by Dylan K. and a good offload to Jon Jeske to score with about two minutes to go in the game to avoid being blanked.

Team: Nathan Rowbottom, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Kevin Murphy,
Dean Gibson, Kyle Wilson, Joel Leonard, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Bob Mavro on the wing, Alex Millar, Alex Stevenson, Jamie Scully.

Reserves used: Andy Breuls for Alex Millar at about 30 min, Joel Leonard out and Craig Evans in at about 40 min (Craig to #10, Derrick Weber to #13, Alex Stevenson to #15, Kyle Wilson to #8, Bob Mavro to #6)

Coaches Report: The referee had a lot of whistles which led to a lot of scrums which did not bode well for us. We had difficulty taking them on in the set pieces. We did not do well on the ups especially at the start when they were close to our line. We need to look ahead (not ball watch), nominate our man and then take that man. In the second half, they had a number of scrums on our five but with good desperate scrummaging we were able to keep them out of the end zone.

From under the willow: We had trouble with the scrums and even when won and not pushed back still had difficulty getting a good ball out.

Slow start. Need to be ready to play.

Not enough penetration with the ball, getting over the gain line.

Coaches Man of the match: Jon Jeske the hard working half back

Other teams pick of man of the match: Jon Jeske

We chose their hooker.

Next week away against the same team in Windsor.

Mid Season Review

2009-07-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

At the start of the season (April) it was possible we may not have a team this year as we did not seem to have enough players committed. Also several players indicated that as we moved up a division to Niagara A and would have to travel more, they were not interested in playing or would only play home games. Therefore it is a struggle getting fifteen each week and we are now recognized as one of those teams that do not travel well. We did get 25 players registered with a number of new players and one would think that we should have enough dedication to get at least fifteen each week, home or away. We welcomed seven new players: Jon Jeske, Colin Maisonneuve, Jemie Scully, Chris Sears, Alex Stevenson, Jeremy Young with Nathan Rowbottom from Waterloo playing 5 of the 7 games. We also welcomed back most of Dean Gibson (but not all).

However, we also have had significant injuries, Stuart English played only 5 min of the first game, Kyle Wilson has only played in two games and Scott Walker (all the way from London) has only played in one game due to injury and distance. Craig Evans, Chris Sears, Colin Maisonneuve, Ely Raddick have missed many games through work. A number of others have been injured, sick or working. This has meant that we have been short for every away game and have had few substitutions in home games. And because there are fewer people available, we have less at practice to go over our skills and game plans and we are less efficient on the field.

We have a 2 and 5 record (one being a default: we played but borrowed two players), but it could have been 3 and 4 with the close last minute loss in Kent. On the good side, we have won 2 games and have been competitive (made a game of it in our losses)in every game. We have scored 109 points (thanks Stratford) for an average of 15.6 points per game and have had 133 scored upon us for an average of 22.2 per game. Congratulations to Derrick Weber in his first season as captain and in a new position at #10. He has done well during difficult times. With a few more players (a couple of Americans we hope) and some recovering from injury we should be able to show the teams that we belong in this league.

Scoring after 7 games

Dylan: 4 P, 4 C (20 pts)
Alex S: 4 T (20 pts)
Mike S: 4 T (20 pts)
Derrick W: 1 T, 5 C (15 pts)
Joel L: 2 T (10 pts)
Kyle W: 1 T (5 pts)
Jon J: 1 T (5 pts)
Jon M: 1 T (5 pts)
Frank S: 1 T (5 pts)

I know this adds up to 105 but I am not sure why.

Skills competition results

Closest to the bag(kick 25 m): Andy Breuls
scrumhalf pass: Jon Jeske
Drop Kick (20 m): Dylan Kinch
Longest Kick: Andy Breuls (50 m)
Placekicks: Andy Breuls (6/8)
Fastest 250m: Jon Jeske and Alex Stevenson (38s)

Man of the match competition:(coaches and opposition picks)

Three votes: Alex Stevenson
Two votes: Jon Jeske, Vic Blaney, Mike Stuart
One vote: Kyle Wilson, Sean Padulo, Joel Leonard, Derrick Weber

Bob Mavro has attended the most practices since April 2 (20/23). Only Bob, Mark Hall, and Jeremy Young have played in every league game and Bob also went to Rochester.

My statistics may be wrong, please sign in and correct me.

Stratford at home

2009-07-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 53: Stratford Black Swans 10

Referee: Jeff Dahl

Weather: Nice day for rugby. Warm (23 degrees) and slight wind. Field soft with lots of rain.

Attendance: 500 (a little under the season average due to summer holidays)

Presidents Report: Actually had 15 players at kickoff for a change (it was at home) thanks to the unexpected arrival of Nathan R of Waterloo. And we had a sixteenth with the arrival of Eli R. You could feel the excitement in the air with a full team playing a club even lower in the standings than us. Or maybe it was the expectation of Bob's Mom's homemade tsatziki sauce to go with the souvlaki that was served apres game. Thanks to Martin Wolff for being cook and emergency coach. Stratford played hard with several very young players and actually scored their points in the second half.

Team: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Nathan Rowbottom, Bob
Mavro, Kyle Wilson, Joel Leonard, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Alex Millar, Mike Stuart, Andy Breuls, Jamie Scully, Frank Schilte and replacement Eli Raddick at 60 minutes for Jamie.

Replacement Coaches: Martin Wolff and Adam Wilson

Coaches Report: The coach missed the second half, so I am going on the report of my able replacements Martin Wolff and Adam Wilson. I did feel like an active coach again as we had one substitute and I got to replace him (at least my assistants did)We were able to do a number of things better this game albeit with a weak opposition. The scrums were good, we did not get wheeled. We did a little better in the lineouts and scored off a drive. The backs got lots of ball with time. The forwards scored half the tries. The slow ball was better although it was very slow setting up.

Half time score Grimsby 27: Stratford 0

We scored fairly quickly after half but went off the boil for a while and got counter rucked, so ball was not coming out cleanly. Full credit to the young Stratford side for hanging in over a tough season. It got a little rough near the end and we had our first card of the season at the 79 min mark.

Well done by Joel L., playing at eight for the first time this year and Nathan R. at lock. We welcomed Kyle W. back after missing 5 games through injury and welcome to Jamie Scully who played very well in his first game at wing.

Full time score Grimsby 53: Stratford 10

Scoring: Joel Leonard 2T, Mike Stuart 2T, Kyle Wilson 1T, Jon Jeske on fire (first try for Grimsby), Jon Millington 1T, Frank Shilte 1T, Dylan Kinch 1 P, 4 C.

Coaches man of the match Jon Jeske

Kent Away

2009-06-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 17: Kent Havoc 21

Referee: Steve Thomas

Weather: Warm day about 27 degrees a little humid. Their practice field was good, if a little bumpy.

Attendance: 3 Grimsby supporters. Mr and Mrs Erb and Jeremy's uncle.

President's report: Again we were short players although the night before we had fifteen. A couple of emergencies left us with thirteen players. I guess they should declare Pride Weekend a holiday and not have games. We did play the whole game with thirteen (12 + 1) until Kevin E. got hurt and we added a Windsor player late in the second half. Basically we felt we were lucky at 20 min to not be scored upon and Alex S intercepted a pass and ran to the endzone. Derrick W converted.
Essentially a good defensive half, we poached a number of ball and did not get ourselves into trouble or got out of it. We pushed them on their scrum, but they wheeled ours.

Half time score: Grimsby 7: Kent 0

Kent came out in the second half, and returned a poor kick to score and convert. However we came back and Dylan K notched a penalty and with about 20 min to go, Alex S made a slashing run through their backs, avoided the fullback and scored again. Dylan K converted to put Grimsby 10 up. However, the boys were getting tired and when Kevin went off less confident. With 10 min to go, their centre again ran through our line and scored and with three min to go, after sustained action, Kent managed to score to go ahead for the first time in the game. The kick was good and with three min of hard work to go, the game was history. Thanks to all those who went, we were well hosted at Boston Pizza.

Players: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Nathan Rowbottom, Jeremy Young, Bob Mavro, Joel
Leonard, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Devon Kinch, Kevin Erb

Coaches Report:
It is too bad we let what would have been a magnificent win get away, but we certainly do not want to criticize the effort of everyone who played. We got tired on a hot day covering for a two man overlap after a two and a half hour car ride. Thanks to all those players who could make it.

Man of the Match: The thirteen of you

Their man of the Match: Alex Stevenson- Alex scored 4 of the 5 tries that we scored against Kent in two games.

Our man of the Match: Their 13 who scored all three tries.

Cambridge Away

2009-06-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 12: Cambridge Pirates 38

Referee: Scott Flemming

Weather: Rained in the morning and all the way up, but stopped when we got there and turned warm and muggy. The field was in great shape.

Attendance: Small but vocal, our supporters bus must have got lost.

Presidents Report: Once again for the second away game we end up short players. Thank you to all of those who did make the effort. We showed up with 14 and Cambridge loaned us a flanker to put on the wing (he kind of tried). We did not seem to be able to get into the game and were immediately put on the back foot by good attacking moves in the backs by Cambridge. It was often like a touch game as we did not tackle well and let the opponents run through us. Cambridge scored after about 3 min and then again 5 min later after a quick penalty. They scored three more times in the half and converted 4 of them.

First half game score: Grimsby Gentlemen 0; Cambridge 33

However, a different team showed up in the second half and we began to shut them down and they could not run as much against us. There was no score for the first 35 min of the half and then Mike S. picked up a loose ball on their 5 m line and scored. This caused Cambridge to come alive and in a couple of minutes scored again. However, Grimsby was not done and Mike scored his second of the game after the forwards (Jon Millington) did a great job attacking with the ball. Derrick W. converted.

Second half game score: Grimsby 12; Cambridge 5

Unfortunately. we have to add the half scores together.

Coaches Report: I was strange that the two halves were so different as there was no change in conditions and their captain said that any changes they made at half were not for better players. We again had difficulty with the set pieces, we had difficulty at the base of the scrum and stopping the wheel. The lineouts were also as dismal. We improved in that we took fewer penalties (only one - led to a try); thanks Scott. Especially in the first half we did not tackle well in the open and did not communicate with each other. Poor ups. We did have a number of people playing out of position and a player on the other team on our side but our tackling was poor and coverage slow. We need to get to the games and take the warm up seriously and we may be able to surprise a few of these teams.

Players: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Kevin Murphy, Scott Walker, Dean Gibson, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber (C), Bob Mavro, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Kevin Erb, An Other.

Subs: Nathan Rowbottom came on for the last 10 min for Kevin M.

Man of the match : Mike Stuart for his two tries but honourable mention to Jon Jeske for his hard work along with Vic Blaney.

Other teams choice: Vic Blaney
Our choice: their 10, along with their 9

Next week we need to get everyone to Kent and make a game of it. Kent has not seen how well we can play.

Season Scorers:

Derrick Weber: 1 T, 4 C 13 points
Alex Stevenson: 2 T 10 points
Mike Stuart: 2 T 10 points
Dylan Kinch: 2 P 6 points

Kent at Grimsby

2009-06-13T20:38:00.000-07:00

Kent At Grimsby June 13/09

Grimsby Gentlemen 21: Kent Havoc 0

Referee: Brian Chappell

Weather: Started overcast but got sunny and warm to 23 degrees, little wind

Attendance: For a nice day a little low at 600.

President's report: A good day for rugby, since we won our first game in four attempts, and we even had enough players at warm up time. Kent were big boys but had difficulty in putting very much together and we answered whatever they had with a solid defence. We had difficulty at lineouts but were awesome in the scrums. We were often undisciplined and several times gave unnecessary penalties to make up for the good work. Alex S scored is first try for Grimsby after chasing down a kick the ball bounced into his hands and he put it down under the posts. The conversion by Derrick W. was good.

Half time score Grimsby 7 Kent 0

I am sure Kent felt they should not be behind in the game but they really had difficulty getting through our defence and did not threaten to score in the second half. Eventually (about 15 min to go) Alex scored his second try with a nice aggressive run through the middle to the try line. Derrick W. completed his second conversion. And with about 10 min to go Derrick scored his try and converted.

Well done everyone.

Players: Nathan Rowbottom, Mark Hall, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Dean Gibson, Bob Mavro, Joel Leonard, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber(C), Kevin Erb, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Alex Millar, Frank Shilte.

Subs played: Andy Breuls for Mark Hall at half, Scott Walker for Jeremy Young at 50 min, Colin Maisonneuve for Dean Gibson at 60 min, Eli Raddick at 70 min.

Coaches Report:We did what we had to do for our first win of the season, namely shut down their fatties and tire them out. I was wrong in that their forwards were not as good as expected and the backs better. Alex's first try was because he chased down a kick (by himself) and got the bounce. His second try in the second half was straight ahead, determined running. Well done Alex. A good run by Derrick, put icing on the cake. Generally, we tackled high and tried to grab instead of driving with the shoulder. Next week we need to be better on the ups, less hiding in the rucks, and we need to support our runners more. The only good thing abour the lineouts is they saw us at our worst. We will be better next time. Next game in Cambridge.

My Man of the Match Alex Stevenson for his tries and hard tackling
Their pick: Alex Stevenson (first time they are the same)
Our pick: Their fullback

From Under the Willow:

Great job by the front five in scrums. Thanks Nathan for the last three games.

Wilmot Away

2009-06-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

At Wilmot on Saturday June 6

Grimsby Gentlemen 0: Wilmot Warthogs 28 (default score)

Referee Adam Wilhelm

Conditions: a great day for rugby (not so good for Grimsby)

President's Report:

Our first away game this season, saw us travel with only thirteen players. Injuries, work, other led to a undersized squad. We borrowed a couple of players and had an exhibition game which turned out to be entertaining for most of the game. The score at the half was only 12 to 8 for the opposition with Mike ? borrowed from the other team scoring our first try of the season and his for Grimsby (this lead to a Zulu). Wilmot put in some stronger players and scored 4 tries in the second half.

Players: Nathan Rowbottom, Mark Hall, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Kevin Murphy, Joel Leonard, Bob Mavro, Vic Blaney, Jon Jeske, Derrick Weber(C), Chris Sears, Kevin Erb and Alex Millar

Coaches Report

Not much to say, it is very difficult for us to do well with only thirteen players.
Mark Hall was conscripted into Hooker and we may never get him out of there. We did have some difficulty on our own ball, but managed to push their pack around a few times. The back row did a yeoman's job of stopping their short game. Great games were again played by Jon J. at 9 and Vic B. at 8.

Coaches man of the match: Joel Leonard
Our pick for man of the match: their and our winger (Mike)
Their pick: Vic Blaney

Next game at home to Kent on June 13.

Beamsville at OFSAA

2009-06-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Beamsville Girl's team was probably underrated at A/AA OFSAA in Belleville this past week. Their first game on Monday was against the number three seed Park Street of the Georgian Bay District. The game was tied 5-5 after full time and it went to several penalty kicks before Park Street went ahead. On Tuesday, with Beamsville on the consolation side of the draw, they defeated St Paul of Ottawa 22 to 0 in the morning. In the afternoon, it was again a nail biter as Beamsville tied the game late and missed the kick as the ball blew over. In overtime kicks it went to the fifth kicker before Beamsville came out the winner. In the consolation championship on Wednesday, the team came out flat and lost 12-0 to Burlington Central. Congratulations to all the girls and their coaches and with all the players back next season, they look to be strong again.

Paul Rohner

2009-06-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

On May 31, 2009(actually last year) we inducted Paul Rohner as a life member in the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club as an exceptional player, executive member and builder of the club. Paul was to be inducted at last years end of year dinner, but he had just had a knee operation and could not be there. This is essentially the text of the speech inducting Paul by Bill Stuart, President of the Club. Most of the speech was read from information given by Chris Atkinson also a life member of the club. Thanks to many of the St Catharines's team who stayed for the ceremony.

If you think we are slow on the field, we are even slower recognizing people in our organization who have given greatly to the organization. We chose St Cathatines to honour Paul because he loved to play against them. Paul played with the club since the mid eighties and Chris remembers him being smaller, as many of us were and starting out as a winger. Yes Paul was small, but Chris cannot ever remember his being quiet. As a younger player, Paul played in the backs but found his position in the forwards as an eight man who was exceptional at reading scrums and lineouts both offensively and defensively. He became a great open field runner and tackler.

In the late eighties and early nineties, he was a stalwart player for our team, quite feared in the league both on the field and in the bar. When the Gents took a short hiatus, both he and Chris played for Ancaster and Paul was instrumental in getting the club re-established in the league (probably because he did not want to drive through any more cornfields with Chris). Through his post with the Club as Minister of Gambling, he could get people to bet on anything, like the Grey Cup, 649 numbers or who would go to the bathroom next. He could raise significant money, $5 a square at a time.

Some things to know about Paul:

He is fiercely loyal - he once lost a job to hang out with Chris and a few cases of beer which led to a lost week during which he still claims to have met Mark Twain. He also slept in Chris's truck and when Chris's sister found him, she thought it was a dead body.

He is a great cook. His food is legendary with a mixture of British, German and Italian influences. Chris knows where the first two came from, but not the third. The evidence of this proficiency can be seen on the bellies of a few members around the foom. (Paul won this year's New Year's Chilli contest, without really being invited.)

The straight arm was his friend and if you played in the NRU at that time and didn't get one, then you weren't around the ball.

He is a great conversationalist, just give him a few beers and sit him down with Donny Mac. Chris writes "We could have had the best rugby team on the planet if we could have turned any of those drunken schemes in to actual plays."

He once threw up in Chris's kit bag because he did not want to throw up on the shag carpet in Skid's dad's motor home.

He would buy all kinds of Schnapp sat the duty free on the trips to Batavia to test in the hotel room. He was one of the few who liked the taste.

Paul had a high tolerance for pain and played through a lot without showing it. He had shoulder problems, back problems and was finally done in by a knee problem caused not by rugby but by ball hockey. And speaking of heart, few played as hard or wore the Grimsby rugby jersey with such pride as Rohns. (When I was making the sign for the clubhouse, I had to call Rohns to make sure it matched the tattoo of the Grimsby crest on his leg.)

He was inspirational to his fellow players and universally feared in open play. We were never better than when we played open field, multi-phased running games and he was a great part of that, although Cris remembers getting yelled at a lot from this angry German both off and on the field.

Paul is a good man, a determined and gifted athlete, a great friend and he deserves all the allocades you can give him. From Chris "Sorry I am not there to buy you a beer Rohns, but I lift a glass in your honour often.

As president, I would like to add that Paul has done a great deal in working towards the completion of the clubhouse by getting us materials and simply doing the work. He and Michelle have also run 649 lotteries to generate money for the clubhouse.

Paul it is my great honour to award you with a life membership in the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club.

Brooker Cup May 31 09

2009-06-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Grimsby Gentlemen 3: St Catharines Tigers 17

referee: Jeff Dahl
conditions: Cool (14 degrees) but clear with a swirling wind
attendance: 700 (a new record)

Ball sponsored by Wayne Hoskins a visitor from Bedwas, Wales

President's Report

Basically we played well but several injuries caused problems especially with the offence. We were without the services of Kyle W. and Kevin M. We lost Alex M., Mike S., Derrick W and several players played with injuries. Jon J. went to scrum half for Kevin E.(injured arm) at 25 min and played very well for his first time in many years. Sean P. (nice to see him back)came on at full back about the same time and Craig E. came on at #10 at the half. Colin M played the second half for his first ever rugby game and looked at home especially running with the ball. Chris S. played well on the wing for his second game since high school. Also Jeremy Young played his first game very well at lock. An experienced Nathan Robottom (as prop) played his first game for The Gentlemen as inside center and made some devastating tackles.

The social part went well again with Bob organizing and Bubbles cooking. Tori again was a stalwart behind the bar.

Team: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Jeremy Young, Dean Gibson, Bob Mavro, Joel Leonard, Vic Blaney, Kevin Erb, Derrick Weber, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Chris Sears, Jon Jeske, Alex Millar.

Subs used: Sean Padulo (25min), Colin Maisonneuve (40min), Craig Evans(40min),
Nathan Robottom (40min, Eli Raddick (60 min)

injured: Kevin Murphy

Score Line: Dylan Kinch (penalty kick)

Coaches Report:

For the second game we could not generate a strong enough offence to keep the ball in the other team's end for extended periods. The first half was against the wind and we hoped to get out without a score. However, they scored a try from a rolling mall at the lineout from about 10 m after 25 min. During one of the rare occasions in their end in the first half, Dylan scored a penalty kick (he is 2 for 2 on the season and our only scoring points). But the tigers scored at the end of the half off a quick penalty and converted

Half time score: Gentlemen 3: Tigers 12

A little more offence in the second half but not sustained and we were often on the back foot in defence. Tigers score at 55 min. and even though we pressed a little, we cannot get any more points.

Final Score: Gentlemen 3: Tigers 17

Player of the match: John Jeske for starting on the wing and doing a great job as a replacement for scrum half.
St Catharines choice: Sean Padulo
Our choice from the Tigers: their outside centre

Generally, we were on the back foot most of the game, letting them come to us. We need to have a stronger up and need to do less ball watching but spreading out on the flat line and looking up the field at our opposite number. We are still weak at rucking but better than last week and establish the slow ball plays and use the patterns. We need to block more at lineouts and hold the ball before the scrum half gets it.

From Under the Willow

The lads showed great enthusiasm and look like they are having fun out there, which is the whole point. Well done.

With a lot of new players, you still have to come together and gel as a team and the injuries did not help. The new players played very well considering.

We might have kicked away to much ball in the second half, perhaps we should give it to the forwards and let them sort it out.

I liked #5 (Dean) who may not have knowen where to go all the time, but was a pest to the other team and poached a couple of balls. Your #8 (Vic) played well as did the first scrum half (Kevin) who played with great enthusiasm until we lost two ball at the end of the ruck (actually Kevin hurt his arm).

Beamsville High School

2009-05-25T09:16:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Frank Schilte and Chris Brown with help from Bill Stuart on the success of their girl's rugby team "The Bucs" in winning SOSSA. They have been invited to attend OFSSA (the Ontario high school championships) in Belleville from June 1 to 3. Good luck Ladies.

May 23 vs Wilmot

2009-05-24T05:55:00.000-07:00

President's Report

Grimsby Gentlemen 3, Wilmot Warthogs 19
Ref: Tony Kearsley
Attendance: 521

After a hectic week of trying to get enough players registered to play, the first league game of the season took place at the fields at Alway Hall and Wilmot came away with a deserved 19 -3 win. It was a great day with only a little wind and the first 3:00 start in a long time. The Gentlemen were missing a few players and therefore only had one subsitute and an injury to that person soon after being substituted early in the second half, eliminated him.

We began off the boil as it were, and were kept in our half for the first twenty minutes although they did not seem to threaten. At a half an hour in, a quick Wilmot wing scored an unconverted try. Score at half Wilmot 5, Grimsby 0.

One substitute at half (Stuart was injured and Chris came back on, thanks Wilmot. At eighteen minutes in, Dylan had a successful penalty kick from the 22 about 15m in. Then 7 minutes later Wilmot, with the heavier pack, pushed the scrum a few times and combined a few missed tackles led to a try under the posts which was converted. Seven minutes after that with Grimsby tiring a high kick with a bad bounce led to a third Wilmot try under the posts. Final 19 - 3.

Team: Mark Hall, Dylan Kinch, Jon Millington, Kyle Wilson (PL), Dean Gibson, Joel Leonard, Bob Mavro, Vic Blaney, Kevin Erb, Andy Breuls, Chris Sears, Mike Stuart, Alex Stevenson, Alex Millar, Frank Schilte (C) Sub: Stuart English

Scorers: Dylan Kinch (penalty)

As usual, the social part of the day was well done by Bob and thanks to Tori for working behind the bar and Martin Wolf for manning the BBQ. Mark brought his theodolite? and engineered the lines on the field, with the help of Kyle, Eli, Milli and Bill. Except for the score and late players annoying the coach, a good first start. Nice to see the Wilsons with Ben at his first rugby game.

Coaches Report:

We had a slow start due to players arriving late and seem to be on the back foot for most of the game, as we never really threatened to score a try. As a small club, nothing can be sorted out beforehand without all the players there and ready. We must arrive on time for warm up and pre-game organization especially if there are low numbers at practice. We have introduced significant changes in our play and this was the first time using them and obviously need some work. I found a few players hiding in the ruck and not getting out fast enough both and defensively. The flat line needs to be more organized and players need to look up, not ball watch. We were pushed in the scrum a bit but lineouts were generally effective. We will have to see if the ELV's are used in the next game. The centers did well driving foreward but we were slow to the ruck and often had difficulty with holding the ruck (poor body position). The last try was a good kick (we did not put on pressure)for Wilmot and a bad bounce for Grimsby. Overall it was a good first game, and if the players want, a great deal to work with.

Coaches' man of the match: Kyle Wilson
Wilmot's choice of man of the match: Mike Stuart
Our choice was Wilmot's captain and #10

Next Week: The Brooker Cup 3:00 at Alway Hall Field

Rochester 2009

2009-04-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

President's Comments

April 25 was a very warm day as the Gentlemen made the trip to Rochester for their first exhibition games. With a little help with some excellent American imports, a Canadian extra, and one player emerging from retirement we made the numbers. We were to play two fourty minute games against the Colonials and Montclair New Jersey. After trying to get the calls organized and the new laws explained we started against Montclair, who were a spirited team, perhaps too noisy,. Playing against a strong wind the first half, Frank scored at two and a half minutes in, but Montclair answered with a try about 5 minutes later. After half time, Mike Stuart barged over to a try, hurting a few players on the way but Montclair responed to tie the game again. Close to the end, Grimsby scored from a quick penalty (by one of the American imports - Mike) but then Monclair agressively kept the ball alive from a lineout in their own end to score a try in extra time. They converted to win the game 17 - 15.

Tries: Frank Schilte, Mike Stuart, Mike ?

We started the second game right after, with the wind, and Vic made a 40 meter run over and around a number of players to score the first try. In one of the best touch rugby plays ever, Bob intercepted a pass and galloped 50 m into the endzone which Derrick converted.

Tries: Vic Blaney, Bob Mavro
Conversions Derrick Weber

Team: Jon Millington, Dylan Kinch, Kevin Murphy, Brandon, Kyle Wilson, Nathan Rowbottom, Mike, Vic Blaney, Kevin Erb, Craig Evans, Martin Wolff, Mike Stuart, Derrick Weber (C), Bob Mavro, Frank Shilte.

Coaches Comments:

Overall a good day, we need more organization and confidence on the field which comes from practice. Kevin Erb did very well in his first attempt at scrum half. Bob Mavro returned to the wing and made some good runs as did Martin Wolff who came out of retirement to play (as good as ever) with his American cousins. Craig Evans, who reached an age milestone on Sunday, was selected man of the match for his cool playing at number 10. We tried a few moves which were generally successful but need more work. We did well on the rucks getting turnover ball quite often and the backs counterattacked well at pace. Good first effort by everyone.

Overall a good day and I didn't lose Vic.

Australia on Fire

2009-02-12T10:26:00.000-08:00

Nick Lemieux, our intrepid young winger, left Canada for Australia early February and it looks like they prepared him a warm welcome. Nick will return in a year as either a teacher or a fireman. Good luck Nick and be sure to send Frank some lesson plans.

Peter VanRyn

2009-02-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

On Wednesday January 28, Pete passed away as the result of a massive heart attack. Pete played tight head prop for the club between 1983 and 1988. He was a good friend to Grimsby Rugby and will be missed. Pete's daughter Shaunna plays prop for Grimsby Secondary School.

New Year's Levee and winter touch classic

2009-01-26T08:12:00.000-08:00

In order to clear some heads, 2009 started with a classic game of touch by about seventeen hardy players about one o'clock rugby time. After about an hour, the group returned to the clubhouse for an even more exciting chili contest.
The chili contest was won by surprise entry Paul Rohner, he was awarded the Mavro. Frank hopes the rest of the year is better.

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Travelling Packer's Jacket

2008-12-25T21:03:00.000-08:00

This is a bit of the slideshow of pictures put together by Bob and Kyle to show the places Bill's Packer's jacket has travelled since he "lost" it. Bill's jacket has a much better life than he does.

Where it all began.

and ended

The Churchill Cup

Greece

Cuba

Northern Ontario

Cuba

Cuba

France

Bill in Action

2008-12-19T18:08:00.001-08:00

A Hooligan's Game

2008-12-19T17:18:00.000-08:00

This is the first entry to the Grimsby Gentlemen Rugby Football Club President's blog. The purpose is to make everone aware of club activities and publish game reports.

The annual general meeting took place on Monday Nov. 17/08 at the clubhouse. It was two weeks later than planned as the first week had several executive unavailable and the next week did not have a quorum. In accordance with the constitution, we moved it to the 17th. Minutes are available for the neeting. The following members were elected to the 2009 executive.

President: Bill Stuart

Secretary: Bill Stabler

Treasurer: Dylan Kynch

Club Manager: Kyle Wilson

Social Secretary: Bob Mavro

Clubhluse Manager: Derrick Weber

Fisture Secretary: Martin Wolfe

Junior Co-ordinator: Frank Schilte

Executive meetings are generally held on the last Monday of the month but several were unable to attend on the 24th and so it was prosponed to December 1. At the first meeting duties were determined and goals for 2009 were advanced by the executive. We wil solidify duties and goals at the next meeting. Martin Van Den Hurk was appointed to the executive as a member who was interested in looking into flag rugby for the club and local schools.

The social committee ran the Christmas dinner/awards night on Saturday December 13 in the back room of the Judge and Jester. Celebreties present included our two life members Chris Atkinson '05 (from Toronto) and Bill Stabler '05, social member Eddy Vieira and supporter Ross McBride (Extreme).

Special awards went to Scott Walker as Rookie of the Year, Kevin Erb as Most Improved Player and Victor Blaney as Player of the Year. The club coaches were presented with significant thank-yous (duty free). Bill Stabler, to his astonishment, got his Packers jacket back . All in all is was a good ending to the 2008 year and afterwards everyone made that traditional hike to visit the vetrans at the Canadian Legion and wish them all good cheer at Christmas.
Kyle Wilson announced that Bank of Montreal has given the club a grant of $1200 for next year. Thank you Kyle and the Bank of Montreal.

There will be a New Year's touch game at the clubhouse on Jan 1 at 1:00 with food provided. Have a great holiday.