by Chelsea Cryer | Mar 6, 2020 | Latest News
We hope your team’s preparations are going well for the 2020 NSW Senior State Cup and that you’re looking forward to a great weekend at Coffs Harbour!
The 2020 NSW Senior State Cup will be taking place at C.ex International Stadium from Friday, the 27th of March to Sunday, the 29th of March.
This year’s NSW Senior State Cup will see a total of 212 teams battle it out across 15 divisions, which also includes the newest division, the Men’s 60s.
To view the 2020 NSW Senior State Cup Pools & Draw, click here.
Good luck with the rest of your team’s training sessions and safe travels to Coffs Harbour. See you there soon!
by Chelsea Cryer | Mar 4, 2020 | Latest News
In November 2019, Australian Oztag conducted the inaugural High Performance Academy (HPA), held at the Sydney Academy of Sport, which was deemed a big success.
The top 19 males and top 19 females in the country between the ages of 13-15 were identified and selected to take part in the HPA.
With the teams and venue announcement for the 2020 NSW Junior City Vs Country series imminent, this will be the tournament for New South Wales based players where the HPA selectors will be monitoring players.
For Queensland based players, Queensland Oztag and HPA selectors will nominate players from the recent QLD Junior State Cup.
This year’s High Performance Academy which will be led by former NRL player (263 games), Michael Buettner will again be held at the Sydney Academy of Sport in Narrabeen, from 13th to 15th November.
All players that are selected for the 2020 HPA will receive full HPA kit allocation, accommodation and meals, covered by Australian Oztag for the duration of the HPA. Queensland players will also have their flights covered by Australian Oztag. To read about the 2019 HPA and the players selected, click here.
by Chelsea Cryer | Feb 24, 2020 | Latest News
Central Coast have continued their dominance of the Australian representative Oztag scene, claiming the overall Club Championships following the competition of the NSW Junior State Cup on Sunday.
While the U12s-17s NSW State Cup was interrupted by weather earlier this month, the U9s-U11s tournament was played in far drier conditions over the weekend.
Central Coast added another more silverware to their trophy cabinet, winning the Girls 11s division and finished the two tournaments on 97 points just ahead of Baulkham Hills (93 points) and Souths (66 points).
“Our Girls 15s have won their last three tournaments in a row, including Nationals, they’ve probably been the standout team over the past 18 months and they’re all looking towards Australian selection later this year,” Central Coast Oztag director Dale Berg told Oztag Australia
“We’d expect to have 5 or 6 of those girls contending fairly strongly to make those teams.
“Our Girls 16s have gone back to back from Nationals into State Cup. They’ve come a long way in the past 12 months and have gone from scraping into the finals at most tournaments to winning two in a row.
“Our Boys 14s also won their first State Cup and are another side that has improved immensely over the past year.
“Then our Girls 11s won this weekend. They’ve been quite a strong team since the under 9s and the coach there has done a great job in getting as many girls to trial for the side as possible.”
Berg put Central Coast’s recent success down to the strength of the game across the region and to the quality of coaches involved in the Central Coast set-up.
“We’re lucky that we’ve set up competitions in some really good areas where we draw strong players from league clubs up and down the coast.
“We’ve also had huge growth in the amount of girls playing Oztag up here in the last two to three years and I think when you look at our results, our girls have been particularly strong.
“In the last few years we’ve tried to get as many of our representative players in to coach our girls teams as possible and that has made a real difference. The skill level is going up year on year and I think that improvement and growth is only going to continue on the Central Coast.”
While Berg admitted that the ending to the NSW Junior State Cup in Coffs Harbour wasn’t ideal, he said the Club Championship was testament to the consistency of his sides across all divisions.
“All the teams probably would have preferred to win in a grand final but they couldn’t control that and fortunately they got themselves in a strong position early in the tournament.
“We only had one team out of our 18 teams at Coffs Harbour who didn’t qualify for the finals and from those sides, I think we only had two teams who weren’t ranked in the top four of their respective divisions.
“The shorter games weren’t ideal, but fortunately our sides were able to make good decisions when it mattered and that really helps when you’re only playing 8.5 minute halves.
Berg also seemed confident that Central Coast would continue their strong form at the NSW Senior State Cup late next month.
“We have a lot of girls who will be playing in our Girls 20s side who played in the Junior State Cup as well, so it’s exciting to see the younger players push through into the senior ranks.
“Our men’s sides are also going through a bit of a transitional period and I think we’ll have a lot of the Boys 16s and 18s push through into the seniors in the next few years as well.
“We’ve got four players from the Boys 17s side last year playing in our Men’s Opens side at Senior State Cup this year so it’s exciting times ahead.”
by Chelsea Cryer | Feb 23, 2020 | Latest News
The team at NSW Oztag would like to thank everyone that contributed in making the 2020 NSW Junior State Cup (9-11s) an enjoyable tournament for all involved.
Well done to all teams for all your hard work and preparation. We hope you had a great weekend and safe travels home!
Here is the 2020 NSW Junior State Cup (9-11s) honour board:
Boys 9s Div 1 – Baulkham Hills 8 def Sutherland 2
Boys 9s Div 2 – Nepean 8 def Liverpool 1
Boys 10s Div 1 – Cronulla 5 def Nepean 2
Boys 10s Div 2 – Wollongong 3 def Tamworth 2
Boys 11s Div 1 – Easts 5 def Souths 1
Boys 11s Div 2 – Sutherland 5 def Menai 2
Girls 9s – Souths 2 def Baulkham Hills 1
Girls 10s – Souths 8 def Cronulla 0
Girls 11s Div 1 – Central Coast 4 def Baulkham Hills 1
Girls 11s Div 2 – Picton 3 def Tamworth 0
Overall Club Standings after both Junior State Cups (9-11s & 12-17s):
1st: Central Coast – 97
2nd: Baulkham Hills – 93
3rd: Souths – 66
Make sure to keep an eye out on our website as the City Vs Country teams will be selected from the rating forms submitted from this tournament.
We look forward to doing it all again next year!
by Chelsea Cryer | Feb 21, 2020 | Latest News
We were blessed with some beautiful weather today at the 2020 NSW Junior State Cup (9-11). The fields were in good condition and some great Oztag was played.
After Day 1, the following teams remain undefeated:
Boys 9 – ACT Cougars, Baulkham Hills, Cronulla, Nepean, Sutherland, Sydney City
Boys 10 – Cronulla, Souths
Boys 11 – Baulkham Hills, Central Coast, Cronulla, Easts, Liverpool, Souths
Girls 9 – ACT Cougars, Baulkham Hills, Nepean, Souths, Tamworth
Girls 10 – Cronulla, East Hills, Nepean, Souths
Girls 11 – Cronulla, Shellharbour, St.George
Make sure to get plenty of rest and recovery for a big day tomorrow at the 2020 NSW Junior State Cup (9-11) Day 2.
See you all bright and early tomorrow, with matches kicking off at 8.30am.
by Chelsea Cryer | Feb 20, 2020 | Latest News
After falling just short in the semi final at last year’s NSW Junior State Cup, the Nepean Girls 10s side return to the championships in 2020 as a very different side.
“We got to the semi final last year but got beaten by a really good South Sydney team so I think that has made them really hungry to go one better this year,” coach John Burns told Oztag Australia
“They had an absolute ball though and it was great to see them really test themselves. Our girls probably didn’t realise how good they could play until they played against a side like Souths.”
Burns said his side will be far better prepared for the tournament this weekend, after getting a taste of representative Oztag at last year’s State Cup and Nationals tournaments.
“They know what to expect now and they know how hard it gets particularly towards the end of the tournament,” he said.
“Their skill level has improved out of sight in the last year though and they’re really hungry for success.
“We’re trying to play like some of the older teams and they’re setting a great example. Short balls, running x’s, running lines and getting quick play the balls.
“If we can do that and play on the front foot, I think the girls will be tough to beat.”
While Burns said the teams main objective this weekend was to enjoy spending time together, he also said a number of his players had aspirations to take their Oztag to the next level.
“They’re looking at everything that is published across social media with the older guys playing in tournaments like the World Cup and they want to be involved, which is great to see.
“Now that they’ve got a taste of rep Oztag, most of them want to play lots more of it.
The U9-U11 NSW Junior State Cup will be player as a standalone tournament in western Sydney for just the second time this week, with matches beginning on Friday morning and finals played on Sunday afternoon.
“I coached the Nepean Boys up in Coffs and as good as the tournament up there is, the new tournament down in Sydney is even better.
“You get all the families, all the supporters, there are people everywhere and the football is played at a really high level, so it’s going to be a great weekend.”
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