thoughts
Years ago
based on the recent country results, Newcastle would be a long way in front Illawarra 2nd.. Newcastle have been surging forward over the last couple of yrs to win u18mdiv1, u12m div1, u18w div1, u16w div1 and u12w div1 in 2015.
Illawarra have held their position and Gosford and Coff's appear to have slipped. Any reasons?
Newcastle by far the standout these days. Have flourished under Marty McLean taking on the role as club coach. And have dramatically improved the head coaching in their CPL teams. Illawarra have gone backwards, they've tecently seen a lot of their good juniors move on to Seniors and haven't (so far) been as dominant as they once were. Have also lost a few quality coaches (John Hargreaves and Shawn McEachin are a couple).
Gosford appear to have also slipped back a little - I understand Moose Robillard has less to do with the junior side of the club nowadays (understandably) and that has probably taken its toll. All clubs enjoy their time in the sun over the years - it is certainly Newcastle's turn at the moment.
Shawn McEachin is a joke of a coach, hasn't been able to do anything good with a pretty decent Canberra Gunners side.
The real reason for Illawarra taking a step backwards is because they have lost a lot of their top junior players, Angus Glover to name one.
Shawn is no joke of a coach, especially at a junior level. Illawarra losing him to SEABL left a void in the coaching ranks. I think you'll also find that Angus Glover is still playing in the Under 18s? Unless you know something that I don't.
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