So yes was your answer then.

Yes. My first word was yes. However if I had just said yes someone would have come back and asked questions.  

Like what?

Like mad, I would think.

The young lady in the last picture looks not unlike TDH's sister... I kid you not!

You mean she always has a glass in hand as well. It must run in the family.

She certainly has large earings,don't you think chaps?.

Do the Caldy 4ths start this week Dave?.

Quote :

merlin wrote : She certainly has large earings,don't you think chaps?.

For a moment there I thought you were going to say "large sunglasses"!

Any chance of TDH's sister going to Tynedale?  

merlin, Birkenhead Park 3rds at Caldy.

I am not sure about having a full team, there are still to many away, or playing cricket. I was talking to the waterloo 4th team manager on Saturday. He feels the same as I do, that we could have done with a few games less, so our league did not start for another few weeks.

Whatever they are, they are certainly large.

Wino, you had better ask TDH.

Quote :

DaveH wrote : Wino, you had better ask TDH.

No, on this occasion don't.

He's so protective - isn't that sweet?  

TDH, those guns. You are not a multi-millionaire, are you?

How did the squad fare against Birkenhead 3rds Dave?.

We looked OK for 30 minutes. I shall say no more (that will be a first!)



OK, a run down: We lost 8-51. Bikenhead Park did not have a 1st team league game, and they had cancelled their friendly, because they couldn't raise a side*. Their 2nds played our 2nds at Caldy, and the wins were important to them. I wouldn't necessarily accuse their third team of being anything other that a genuine third team, but they would not have suffered from cries off higher up. We were somewhat more than decimated. If everyone would stay fit we could be playing as a 5th team; a genuine vets side in fact. Park 3rds were runners up in this league, last year, and it showed that the result mattered to them. We are just glad of a run out, and even more glad of a few drinks afterwards.


*Probably not true, but certainly what was true was that their 2nds, and 3rds would have been significantly weaker had their first team played.

How did the 4ths do today coach?.

Came 5th!

There has been something of a struggle to get players out for our 4ths. Several of last years Colts, and a few senior players, who should have been available have moved to other clubs. There was a pre-season game between Hoylake and Anselmians which had an estimated fifteen players who were at Caldy last season. One can hardly blame the players. The senior players (including Simon Mason) have been first team but were dropping down the pecking order and, other than Simon (who would have occasional first team outings), were likely to be second team at best. The ex-colts, in the main, would have been ear-marked years ago as not quite good enough for the level of Caldy first team rugby. Most would be in the 3rds or 4ths, without any hope of playing higher. Still decent players some of them, though. In the good old days they would have stood a chance of getting first team rugby at Caldy. To do so now they need to move to other clubs, playing in lower leagues. As I say one can not blame the players. I do think part of the problem is the club members who empire builders, rather than real clubmen. By this I mean that those club members, who have little further use for a player, ignores him, and isn't really too bothered if the player moves on. Yes, those members will play lip-service to the 'we are all one club' principle, but they will not put in the hard graft to ensure it happens.

Meanwhile at the sharp end we are fielding a side where, in two games, we have fielded only two players under 35, and most are 40+. In the last game four (and possibly a fifth) were, and still are, over 52. We have matched the opposition reasonably up front, but conceded umpteen opposition break-away tries. We need several of those players who have moved on to fill the slots. Our 3rds and 4ths have just about had full teams. The opposition have had five, or more, substitutes.

What sort of clubs are providing the opposition; is it more junior clubs who attract lots of social players? It's interesting that at this social level, players are happy to sit on the bench.
Or is coarse rugby alive and well?