Merrylands Wolves Presentation Night 3/9/2011
So another year of ball tearing, tear endowing, mind bending rugby is over and so it is at this time of year the Wolves all come together for one final time to celebrate our brightest stars, our truest hearts and our most loyal souls. The 2011 Merrylands Wolves Presentation Night was sparkling night full of smiling faces, full bellies and drunken heads.
This was the first time the Merrylands Wolves have celebrated on the same night as the She-Wolves and the ladies certainly brought the party, often out cheering many of the men. This year’s Presentation Night was also the first time the Committee has awarded its new award inaugurated in honour of the late Helen “Mrs P” Fraser. The award will be given every year to the player who not only puts in on the field but also goes above and beyond of the field to help the Wolves continue to the best subbies rugby club west of the city.
For those of you not familiar with why certain awards are given here is a quick run down followed by all the winners from this year’s night of nights.
Best and Fairest: Each week a selected committee gives points to the best players in every grade. These points are then tallied up and the player with the most points wins.
Best Back and Best Forward: These awards are chosen by the coach of each grade.
Coaches Award: This award is given to the player the coach of each grade thinks deserves recognition for their play during the year.
Memorial Award: The winner of this is selected by the committee and the coach of each grade and given to the player who puts in the most effort during the year.
Now for this year’s winner......
1st Grade
Best and Fairest: Dilon Hodgson
Best Back: Baz Nicholson
Best Forward: Levi Sciascia
Most Improved: Arana Rissetto
Coaches Award: Luke “schoy” Schofield
Memorial Award: Jerry Keen
2nd Grade
Best and Fairest: Exham Brown
Best Forward: Conrad Brown
Best Back: Oscar Ah Wong
Most Improved: Tama Terito
Coaches Award: Mathew Briggs
Memorial Award: Marc Taivairanga
3rd Grade
Best and Fairest: Jayson Waters
Best Back: Usa Vulimaibau
Best Forward: Dean Gammidge
Coaches Award: Paul Bergen
Memorial Award: Greg Benson
This year’s Club Awards were an emotional moment as the club came together to remember the late, great Helen “Mrs P” Fraser. This years awards went out as follows:
Mrs P Award: Jason Fulwood
Clubman of the Year Award: Mark Milner
Thanks to everyone that supported the Wolves this year. It was a great year and we hope to see you all again in 2012.
Annual General Meeting 3/9/2011
Saturday the 3rd of September saw the 2011 instalment of the Merrylands Rugby Club Annual General Meeting. For the uneducated this is the annual meeting where all financial members of the Wolves decided on the President, Secretary, and Treasurer and Committee members for the following year. If you want to see a change in direction for the club this is your democratic chance to do so.
THIS IS A CHANCE FOR ALL MERRYLANDS FINNANCIAL MEMBERS TO VOICE THERE CONCERNS WETHER THEY BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE.
The tradition at Merrylands has always been to hold the AGM the day after Presentation Night. In recent years however Merrylands unprecedented success on the field has seen celebrations at the annual Wolves Presentation Night carry on well into the day light hours. Subsequently there has been a rather poor showing at the AGM the following day. So this year the Merrylands brains trust made the decision to hold the AGM the afternoon of the Presentation Night.
These changes resulted in one of the most successful AGM’s in recent memory with plenty of members present and formalities over and done with in an impressively efficient manner. So without any more stalling here are the successful applicants for the 2012 Merrylands Rugby Board:
President - Mark “Skids” Millner
Vice President – Jenny Sturrock
Secretary – Peter “Mac Daddy” Macklin
Treasurer – Robbie Sherwood
Committee Members – Benjamin Davis, Kylie Tumaroa, Michael Parker, Wayne Ditford, Alan Davis, Dean Gammidge and Kelly Phillips.
Helen Parker Memorial Day 14/5/2011
What a bloody awesome day/night!!!
The real celebrations kicked off at the start of first grade with both squads and all in attendance pausing for a minuets silence to remember Mrs P.
The after match festivities got started with an exceptional feed laid on by Kylie “Wonder Women” Tumataroa for the Rockdale boys in a show of gratitude for the awesome spread they laid out for the Wolves when we travelled over to Brighton for our first game earlier this year. It was f@3king great to see so many Rockdale players and supporters hang about after the game to take it all in. We can all only hope that Rockdale gets a little stronger through the year and into next. Clubs with spirit like theirs and ours are sadly few and far between these days.
Frank Waiomio and Kylie had been looking more and more stressed as the day wore on with the weight of having to feed so many people slowly taking its toll. Frank hasn’t sweat that much since the start of pre season training. Yet they need not have worried as the traditional Maori Hangi was a raging success! There was plenty of food and it was of a surprisingly high quality.
After the food our fearless club president Mark Milner said a few choice words before handing the mike over to Mick Parker. Though most of us can’t truly grasp what Mick is going through, it was a brave effort for him to get up and thank everyone for their love, support and efforts. He even managed to take the piss out of Nash Steward a few times.
All in attendance were then treated to a rendition of the famous Haka by Jake Moses, Beu Moses, Frank Waiomio and a random Rockdale player in a fluoro vest? A video montage was then played to the crowd of Mrs P’s life. Thanks heaps to Little Ms Sturrock for her efforts pulling that together.
Now for what happened after the food and formalities........Todd Parsons lived up to his nick name and will need some new under wear, as will Benjamin Davis, whose dancing talents are truly wasted on the Merrylands Rugby community. Marc Taivairanga needs to get his obsession with Billy Ocean under control and Gavin Edwards will have a head ache that alcohol will not explain.
Big thanks to everyone that showed their love and support on Saturday to Mrs P and Mick Parker. It was great to see the club rooms packed out and pumping. HUGE THANKS TO FRANK WAIOMIO AND KYLIE TUMATAROA who organised the bulk of the evening. It is very, very difficult to cater for so many people, especially when the final number is a big unknown. You pulled it off with flare and precision and the fruits of your labour where greatly enjoyed by all. Well done.
Thank you also to everyone that helped out behind the bar, cleaning up running raffles and generally making the night a massive success. ...Kelly, Benjamin, Jayson Waters, Codi, Mr and Mrs Sherwood, the Ditfords, Jake Moses, the Gladdens........
9/4/2011 Big Beef Spit Party
Saturday night saw the years first fund raiser of the year with the committee putting on a relaxed yet stylish evening of quality food and dubious laughter. The evening kicked off at 7.30 with a professional catering company preparing tender, succulent spit cooked beef on fluffy, fresh rolls with extras including gravy, Spanish onions, lettuce and tomatoes. Big thanks must go to Levi Sciascia for his efforts in preparing the non-meat components of the meal.
The rest of the night was a very relaxed affair as folks whiled away the hours drinking beer and talking about the hopes for the upcoming season. how awesome we were a few years ago and why Todd is such a cold hearted prick.
More thanks must g0 to Kylie Tumataroa and Ben Davis for organizing the whole evening. Thanks to Kelly for help cleaning up.An extra special thanks should go to Jason Waters, Codi Herewini and Keenan Davis for volunteering to man the door with out being asked. Its awesome to see young fellas take pride in the club and want to help out......this wont be forgotten boys.
Presentation Night 13/11/2010
Ok so here it is, the list I'm sure you've all been waiting for. All the celebration, all the controversy all the fighting and the screaming.
This year saw the first ever awarding of a new award, the Kenny Bladwell Award. This award will be given annually to the 3rd grade player that earns the most points for effort .For those that are new to the club, or the long serving who don't exactly remember much, here is a quick breakdown of how each award is given and for exactly what.
Best and Fairest: Ever y week a committee gives points to players based on how well they played. The best performing player gets 3 points, the next best 2 and the third best 1. At the end of the season these are added up to give us the best and fairest for the year.
Best Forward and Best Back. These awards are chosen by the respective coach.
Coaches Award: As the name suggests these are selected by the respective coaches of each grade. This award goes to the player the coach believes has done the most to make his job easier. This may be playing out of position, or running training session's in the coaches absence or simply always being there.
Memorial Award: This award is considered the most important to the club. Through out the year a secret committee gives ONE point every week to the player in every grade that they think went above and beyond what is expected of them. This maybe for a prop playing 3 games in a day, a half back playing fullback in 4th grade, wing in thirds and then half in 2nds
A player may only win an award if they have paid thier fees. This is the main reason there is only one 3rd grade award. Most 3rd graders didn't pay any fees this year despite the club carrying them all the way to a grand final win. Hmmmmmmm..........
So without any further adue here are the winners for 2010.......
1st Grade
Best and Fairest: Joe Ngawini
Best Forward: Stevie Tugia
Best Back: Exham Brown
Paul Huddelstone Coaches Award: Luke Schofield
Rodney Osborne Memorial Award: Werahiko "Frank" Waiomio
2nd Grade
Best and Fairest: Anthony "A.J" Tuara
Best Forward: Mathew Briggs
Best Back: O'lando Mauri
Robert Rees Coaches Award: Bicks Hicks
Robert Henderson Memorial Award: Levi Sciascai
Most Improved: Tama Terito
3rd Grade
Kenny "No Mistakes Bladwell" Award: Tanga Waetford
4th Grade
Best and Fairest: Kenny Bladwell
Best Forward: Jason Fulwood
Best Back: Usa Vulimaibau
Coaches Award: Oska Ah-Wong
Best Effort: Tex Aberahama
Most Improved: Tyrone McFarlane
Annual General Meeting
After a false start the day after the Presentation Night (see the news page for a quick review and details on how to get your hands on the yearly review, the Barbarian) the A.G.M was held on Sunday the 21st of November at Holroyd Sports Ground.
It was good to see a large number in attendance, especially those that don't normally get involved in the mundane running of the club. Its important more guys get an idea of the mammoth task it is to keep the club running smoothly. Merrylands has been THE most solid, well organized and longest running club in the area, indeed any where in the western suburbs, but it doesn't happen without a lot of time,effort and agony from a few very dedicated people. The more then general player sees of this, the better he will appreciate just how lucky he is.
The actual decision making side of the day was beautifully uneventfully with Mark "skids" Milner being returned as President, Helen Parker bravely soldiering on through illness to keep her place as Vice President, Robby Sherwood back for another year of treasuring, Peter "the Mac Daddy" Macklin was re-elected as secretary and Jenny "Mrs Skids" Sturrock returns in a limited roll due to motherly duties as assistant secretary.
The other committee members saw Benjamin Davis, Ted Timoti, Kelly Phillips all put their hands up for another year to be aided by some welcome new faces in Dean Gammidge, Daniel Padini, Wayne Ditford and a welcome and much need new female face in Kylie Tumataroa (Levi Sciascia's better half)
It was acknowledged that although last year was reasonably successful on the field, off it we let things slide with poor fee payments, lower then usual fund raising and major extra payments for the 4th team and strapping e.t.c
Although the club is a long long way from being in any real trouble clubs form out our way have a habit of sliding into oblivion and any downward trend needs to be addressed. With this in mind several ideas were floated to ensure the club gets back to its strongest including moving to the 3 team comp, establishing an injured players fund, enforcing fee payments (which are some of the lowest in subbies) and building of a fund raising committee.
All of these things and more will be discussed when the committee meets again some time in the new year.
U.S.A Tour 9/10/2010 to 23/10/2010
It has been requested that we provide a bit of a run down of what went on on the U.S.A tour aside from just a review of the game.
It's an extremely tricky prospect. As any one involved in rugby will tell you, indeed any one involved in any sport will tell you, there is a sacred rule that is as old as sport itself............ WHAT HAPPENS ON TOUR STAYS ON TOUR.
In fact it is a widely accepted truth among historians that when the Nazareth Water Walkers Rugby Club toured Jerusalem in 20AD Jesus Christ himself, who despite popular opinion is believed to have played hooker, spoke of none of what had gone on, even to his father, God.
That is not to say that much went on that really needs to be hidden it's just disrespectful to the laws of the universe to go about spruiking to all and sundry the boring details of life on the road with a touring rugby team.
We are happy to provide a bit of a time line of exactly where we went but that is really all your getting here. If you really want to know what went down your best bet is to go straight to the source. Call up one of the boys, buy him dinner, a few beers and even some hallucinogenic drugs and get him talking about who did what to whom and when.
Days 1-7: L.A; Highlights included a night at Dr Dre's club W, a trip to Six Flags roller coaster park that saw Ben Davis throw up after only two rides and Marc, Briggs, Todd and Jimmi all make complete fools of them selves on a 3 point basketball challenge. There were trips to the Stars Walk of Fame, Mann's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Hills, Compton, (well almost. We got scared and turned back half way there) Venice Beach were a few lads hired low rider bikes and spent the afternoon cruising around the beaches.
Other then actually site seeing the vast majority of the time was spent hung over, eating far too many bloody hamburgers and doing way too much shopping.
Day 8: San Loui Obispo; Game Day. For a full review of the game itself see the game reviews page. The town of SLO is about half way between L.A and San Fran. Its a small semi coastal town surrounded by low mountains and rolling vineyards. All very beautiful. The town it's self is a remarkably pretty, clean, fun town. Its home to a big university, California Polytechnic or CalPoly for short. It was pretty much as close to celebrity as any of the Wolves will ever feel, other then up the Coolie after winning a G.F. For most guys the day and night spent in SLO was THE highlight of the trip.
Day 9-10: San Fransisco; To be honest I think the Merrylands Wolves and San Fran got off to a bad start. We arrived lateish on a Sunday and we were all rather hung over. Plus that day the San Fran 49's NFL team had lost the local derby to the Oakland Raiders so the town it's self was pretty much dead. To top it off all though we were in a pretty nice hotel right in the middle of town, it seems we were in a bit of a dodgy area. A quick stroll out the front of the hotel was, for many of the boy,s one of the most frightening experiences of there lives. San Fran is home to one of the largest homeless populations in the western world and most of them, according to a local Policemen, are crack addicts.
The streets at night resembled a scene from the Dawn of the Dead. Despite that the boys mad the most of there time there visiting the Golden Gate Bridge,the Down Town Precinct, and the Water Front were a few of the boys enjoyed a feed of the famous San Fran soft shell crab. The last night in San Fran the boys did what every self respecting, red blooded male must do when he goes to the states....visit a Hooters. All we will say here is that the food was out standing. Firm, young, ripe and supple.
Day 11-14: Las Vegas; Nothing happened in Las Vegas. Not a single bloke ever left his hotel room.
That's it.
Mad Sunday 12/9/2010
The Day of the Wolf
The day after the night before.
In lieu of the big win on Saturday the boys celebrated long into the night and could be forgiven for calling time on Sundays celebrations, especially after the original venue, Holroyd Sports Ground, was hijacked by the local branch of "Complete Wankers Anonymous"
The generous and very beautiful Ms Ngwini offered to host the shindig and so the jumping castle was erected, the BBQ was fired up, the beers were put on ice and the music box was turned up to 11 for another day/night bender!!!!
There were a few guys who went to the considerable trouble of dressing up. Tama's "Phantom" outfit was a marvel of modern engineering. How the hell did any one have a purple full length body suit to fit the worlds biggest teenager? Speaking of spandex Arana Rissetto dedicated his outfit to the mighty 3rd graders and came as Mr Incredible .Nash Steward decided it was time to stop kidding himself and came as himself, a joke, sorry The Joker.
But the day will forever live in memory for something more important and meaningful then silly costumes and pointless drinking.
For too long he has lived in the shadows. For too long he has called the creek behind the ground home, associating with the outcasts of society, afraid of his own power. But no more. Sunday the 12th of September 2010 will forever be remembered as the day the one, the only Merrylands Wolf arose from the darkness and ran howling into the light!!!!!
Oh for the joy!
For those of you not lucky enough to be present at shay Ngwini on Sunday to witness history in the making should fear not a plans are afoot to make the Wolf a more common sight during next years competition
Thanks to every one who made the party as awesome as it was. Big thank you to Ms Ngwini for the use of her place at very short notice. Thanks to Skids and Jenny for the jumping castle (which was witness to some truly titanic rumbles) and all the other bits and pieces. Thanks to Kelly for the tunes and thanks to any ones else iv missed.
Viva Wolf Vegas!!! 4/9/2010
Well "Viva Wolf Vegas" was a ragging success. If you weren't there you are going to be bombarded by amazing, unbelievable, spell binding stories of pain, pleasure, agony and ecstasy but please, don't despair as the success of the night has guaranteed there will be plenty more Poker tournaments to come. That said there will only ever be one "Viva Wolf Vegas"
Where to begin trying to tell you all about the night?
The night was shaping up as a rather serious, dour affair with a very exclusive collection of hardened poker animals circling the tables including the Brown Brothers, Exam the Shark and Conrad the Guppy, Franky Fast Hands Waiomio,the Pourto Rican Player Eddi Wihongi and Jojo the Queen of Diamonds to name a few.
There were also a few not so sharp looking players at the tables as Jenny, Skids and Pecker rolled up after spending the afternoon down the Cooli more then a little lubricated.
Nate Ngametua-Smith climaxed earlier then a 16 year old boy watching Baywatch. As the first hand was delt and most players were focused on the big prize, Nate smelt blood and went all in!!!!!...but was found to be bluffing and dropped out of the tournament, on the first hand!
Toddy "Prince" Parsons also got a little carried away early as he took an early lead at his table and on the beer tally only to be knocked out by Fast Hands Frank.
In the end, around midnight, the final table took shape with the seats taken up by Richi No Bluff Ngawini, Poker Face Pecker (whom was completely shitfaced by then) Old Mick (who was just as shitfaced as Pecker) Tounga "Whata Hand" Waetford, Jake Most Defiantly Mose and Kevin the Ring In and Benny "the Ace of Hearts" Davis.
As the cards were dealt, egos were shattered and the chips were whittled away the final hand was flung out with only Most Def Moses and Kevi the Ring In still standing. To put it simply Jake didn't half the chips left Kevi did and with a little leaning and and a little luck Kevi was crowned the inaugural Wolves Poker Champion.
Thanks heaps to Jimi Macklin and Todd Parsons for helping organize the night. Bigger thanks to Kelly for his help with the booze, cleaning and music and biggest thanks to Marc T for his cards, chips, table and computer system. No thanks goes to Marc though for his woeful m.cing
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