Director of Rugby Annual Report 2008/09

 1^st Team:

Captain Peter Whyte 

P29 W27 L2 D0 

English National Championship Surrey 2 (Winners), Middlesex Bowl (Winners), EDF National Junior Vase (Last 16) 

Whilst the 2008/09 season will go into the Antlers Annuals as one of the finer vintages it is easy to forget that back in late August things were looking a lot different. With new captain Pete Whyte having suffered a knee injury during pre-season the news was received that Head Coach Spencer Casey had received a lucrative offer to go and coach London 3 team Purley John Fisher, so we were staring down the barrel of league campaign without a captain or a coach. But all was not lost, the Antlers network kicked into action and after a bit of gentle persuasion from Chairman Cross we were greeted by the outstanding news that we had acquired the services of former Antler Giselle Mather to lead the 1^st team. Whilst Giselle’s pedigree was second to none, having led her country as a player and then replicating those standards as a coach with Wasps and England, it would be wrong to say that her arrival back at Bushy Park wasn’t treated with some scepticism by some players.

But all it took was one training session and all doubters were quickly quashed as it was clear to everyone that this lady knew what she was doing. More good news followed as Captain Whyte used his forced spell on the sideline to tap into the St Marys University Old Boys network and his extensive contacts within the Rugby community to begin a recruitment drive of epic proportions. No fewer than 8 new additions arrived at Bushy Park and names such as Olly Lambert, Jason “Strut” Holmes, Andrew “Smiler” McRae, Jonathan Dickson,  James and Jon Sullivan, Olly Boggis, Nick “Trotter” Stevens and Jamie Evans would not only become regulars on the team sheet but on the score sheet as well.

On the training field a style play was introduced and patterns of play built that would become a cornerstone for the team’s success and words such as “Barracuda”, “Flipper”, and “M3 Nemo” and “Zig Zag” would take on all new meanings.

Whilst it is fairly well documented about the winning streak of 18 matches that took us to the fateful day in February in snow bound Cornwall where the bounce of a ball denied us the chance of the perfect season, it is also poignant to note that a total of 37 players were used during the season (decidedly less than in previous seasons) and more than occasionally the same 15 took to the pitch on consecutive weekends.

On the statistical front Mark Nitsch was top points scorer with 143, Smiler McRae was top try scorer with 16 and with our newly found consistency we had 4 players, Olly Lambert, Martin Ewins, Simon Hall and Jamie McKay, tied as most games played with 23. The season saw us crowned as outright winners of Surrey 2, with promotion gained to Surrey 1, finally bringing home the elusive Middlesex Bowl after a 3^rd attempt and reaching the last 16 in the EDF National Vase. We also had the pleasure of seeing one of Antlers favourite sons, Ross Swanson, gain his Blue by starring for Oxford University in their win over Cambridge University at Twickenham.

The 2008/09 season will be recorded as a roaring success and hopefully the blueprint for many more to come.

 2^nd Team

Captain: Chris Richards 

P27 W13 L14 D0 

Surrey RFU Merit Leagues: Conference 2  

The 2^nd team again faced the prospect of a tough league campaign after retaining their

 place in the same Merit League as the year before but with the changes to the first team having an effect on the club as a whole, great strides were made during the season and the future looks bright. Under the watchful eye of Chris Richards, who must have set some sort of record for the most positions played in a season, a mixture of grizzly veterans, evolving youth and experienced former 1^st team stalwarts have combined to create a solid platform for the clubs future.

On the field the season will be remembered as being somewhat mediocre in results with a win/loss ratio of pretty much 50:50 but there were some exceptional performances put in that stand out amongst all the games that season. Firstly being the comprehensive drubbing (twice!) of our rivals from Old Walcountians, secondly the outstanding victory against Woking who only a couple of season ago were in the same league as the first team, and finally the loss at the death against Old Emanuel in the last home game of the season.

Special mentions must got to the cornerstones of the 2^nd team front row, Gus Foster and Dave Prentice,  as well as Rory Credland and Andy Benson who formed that backbone of the forward pack, and Rich Daniels, Ben Wilmott and Ryan Coulton pulling the backline together.

As the club now moves forward with its assault on the London Leagues it is now imperative that the 1^st and 2^nd teams pull together to create on way of working and promote a proper pathway between the 2 squads so efficient movement of players can be established. This is my challenge to the respective captains for the forthcoming season.

 3^rd Team:

Captain Vince Ryle 

P25 W11 L12 D2 

Surrey RFU Merit Leagues: Combination 1 

The 3^rd team were the victims of their own success as a winning 07/08 season saw them

jump up 2 leagues and face a much tougher prospect for 08/09. With Captain Ryle expertly assisted by deputies Lloyd Davis and Al Stewart a regular core of players fought the good fight on a few occasions and put up a real test to a good number of others to finish a creditable 6^th on the league table.

With a solid core of players and a number of new recruits combined with the occasional cameo performances from the usual suspects, as well as the Antlers competiveness that is fostered over the summer touch sessions, the return to form for the “experienced” Antlers is inevitable.

 Seasons Honours: 

Top Points Scorer 

1^st:          143 points (13T, 8P, 27C) - Mark Nitsch (1^st XV)

2^nd:         83 points (3T, 8P, 22C) - Olly Boggis (1^st XV)

3^rd:         80 points (16T) - Andrew McRae (1^st XV)

1^st:          16 Tries- Andrew McRae (1^st XV)

2^nd:         15 tries- Jonathan Dickson (1^st XV)

3^rd:         13 tries- Mark Nitsch (1^st XV)

 Most Appearances 1st XV: 

23 Games: Simon Hall, Olly Lambert, Martin Ewins, Jamie McKay (1^st XV)

 Playing Awards:

1^st Team 

·         Player of the Year-  Paul Manley

·         Players Player of the Year- James Ferguson

·         Most Improved Player- Glenn Boyling & Simon Hall

·         Best New Comer- Jamie Evans & Jon Dickson

 2^nd Team

 ·         Player of the Year- Andy Benson

·         Players Player of the Year- Rory Credland 

3^rd Team

 ·         Player of the Year- Justin Scott

·         Players Player of the Year-  Lloyd Davis

I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been involved with a very successful season for Teddington RFC, in particular I would like to single out Gareth Cross for all his work both in front and behind the scenes, Aileen Kilshaw for her dedication to the job of getting all players, regardless of what team they are involved with, back on the pitch doing what the love, and to Vince Hart for keeping the fixtures in place and the bar fully stocked. I would also like to thanks the many, many individuals that all donate their time in whatever way they can to keep our club running both on and off the pitch, you are all the life blood of grassroots rugby and without you the club would not survive. I look forward to the 2009/10 season with youthful exuberance and unrivalled confidence and am in no doubt at all that the success from the past season is just the beginning for the Antlers.

Jamie McKay

Director of Rugby

Teddington RFC

LADIES ANNUAL REPORT 2008/09

After our promotion in the 2007/2008 season the aim for the 2008/2009 season was to establish ourselves in the National Challenge South East 1 League, consolidate our position and to stay up. This we have done. We would have liked to finish at least one place higher but, considering the shaky start, we did well. We began the season without a coach. But, after a couple of months of most appreciated club help, we got ourselves a full time coach in Martin Donnelly. Martin has been a fantastic coach for the Ladies section developing the players, the team and the squad as a whole. Every member of the Ladies section has been extremely pleased with Martin as coach and all are thrilled that he has agreed to continue his coaching role for the 2009/2010 season.  Overall we finished in sixth place in the National Challenge South East 1 League, winning three and loosing 11.  Our stats on the pitch were not the highest – 76 points for and 280 against!! But, our key performances came in excellent, and very close re-matches against, Wimbledon and, the eventual league champions, Richmond. But, our stats off the pitch were somewhat higher:

•         44 registered Antlers

•         37 played for Antlers

•         22 new Antlers (registered)

•         17 new Antlers (who actually played)

•         5 County players

•         1 Regional player

•         1 new Coach 

We were also lucky enough to recruit a number of players from the recently disbanded Twickenham Ladies in October 2008, all of who have made Teddington their rugby home. 

2008/2009 Awards:

Player of the Year            Shirley Du Bois

Players Player                   Sarah Edwards

Best Newcomer               Nicola Collins

Most Improved                 Katie McBride 

Even without a top spot in the league the 2008/2009 season was an incredibly successful season for the Teddington Ladies and a real turning point in the development and progress of the squad. We have gone from strength to strength and will only improve.

 2009/2010 SEASON OVERVIEW 

Teddington Ladies are now in the top 75 teams in the country, out of 143. We will continue to play in the National Challenge South East 1 League for the 2009/2010 season. So as to keep in line with the rest of the club and to develop as a section the Ladies have slightly rearranged the structure of our committee with the introduction of a Ladies Chairman. 

Ladies 2009 – 2010 Committee:

Chairman                            Georgia Doran

Coach                                    Martin Donnelly

Captain                                Sarah Edwards

Secretary & Treasurer    Debbie Walsh

Fixtures Secretary           Judy Dafe

Social Secretary                Alex Lawler

Recruitment                      Katie McBride 

Our aim for the forthcoming season is to finish in the top three/four of our league, but push ourselves for the top two spots.  We aim to have a second team established by the start of the 2010/2011 season. In order to do this we will continue heavily with recruitment and will be playing 10s and development matches throughout the season to ensure that all squad members receive suitable game time. As previously mentioned, we have a strong structure set up in terms of the committee but also in terms of training and the squad and season as a whole. We have introduced training and post-match stash for the Ladies, all to be paid for by the Ladies, and will continue to look for sponsorship to help both the Ladies squad and Teddington rugby as a whole. We will be running a competitive sevens side for the 2010 sevens season. Our training nights have moved. Ladies pre-season will take place on Monday and Wednesday nights until the end of August. In season training begins on Wednesday 02 September and will continue every Wednesday and Thursday throughout the season. Wednesday training sessions will be run by Martin Donnelly. Thursday sessions are yet to be finalised and planned out but there are many options.  We continue to play our matches on Sundays. Looking forward to all your support throughout this season, which is already shaping up to be a good one! Thank you 

Georgia Doran (Teddington Ladies Chairman)