Sport
Firsts split into two
Friday 4 July, 2008 8:00am
THE long-awaited split of the first division A grade competition took place after last weekend's games.
The split sees Brothers, St Marys, Emu Plains, St Patricks, Windsor and St Clair make up group A, and Blacktown City, Minchinbury, Doonside, Henry Lawson/Cambridge Park, Colyton/Mt Druitt and Quakers Hill make up group B.
There are five more rounds with each team in each group playing each other once. The top five teams in each group will then go into the semi-finals, still in the same group. The first semi-finals will be played on Sunday, August 10, the second semi-finals on Sunday, August 17. The finals on Sunday, August 24. The grand finals of group B will be played at Penrith CUA Stadium on Saturday, August 30 with the grand finals of group A on Sunday, August 31 also at Penrith CUA Stadium.
Grounds to be used during the semi-finals and finals will be Congratulations must go to the Brothers team for going through the initial stage of the competition undefeated, and special mention to St Patricks for coming out of the 2007 second division competition and performing so well.
With just the one team in each group to be eliminated from the semi-finals after the next five games, there is every opportunity for St Clair who are five points out of fifth place in group A and Quakers Hill who are just two points of out fifth place in group B, to play their way into the semi-finals. The next five games in both groups and particularly in group B promise to be exciting and competitive.
There was a special meeting of all first division clubs last Monday to review the season and to see what improvements can be made to make the 2009 competition even better than the 2008 season. The junior league board will follow up with a special meeting between now and the end of the season to evaluate all the feedback that was received.
Special mention must be made of Henry Lawson/Cambridge Park, Colyton/MtDruitt, Minchinbury, Quakers Hill and St Patricks for taking the huge step up to first division and making the competition the success it has been.
Feedback the junior league received indicated that while the players in those teams found the first division competition challenging and demanding, they enjoyed the step up and the level of rugby league within those teams improved considerably.
