Senior City v Country will return in 2021, accompanied by a new format that will see the tournament played strictly between two regions – City and Country.
Selected from the 2021 NSW Senior State Cup in Coffs Harbour, set to kick off Friday 14 May, it is an opportunity for players to combine with their region’s best and play off in a high-calibre tournament.
A City and Country team will be selected in each division to play a three-game series on Saturday 9 October, 2021 on the NSW South Coast at Sid Parish Park, Figtree.
City teams will be a represented by associations in the Sydney basin from Hornsby in the North, to Penrith in the West, Campbelltown in the South and over to the East Coastline.
Any associations outside this border will represent Country.
Selection Process
The coach from the highest placed team will be offered the coaching role. The coach will then have the option to appoint an assistant coach & manager, either from their own team or another team within the region.
There can only be a maximum of three staff per team.
Players will be selected based on a scaling system of where their team placed at the conclusion of the tournament.
Coaches are required to submit a rating form, ranking the performance of their players at the tournament. Coaches should only rank players that they believe are capable of playing at the next level.
Coaches will be given the rating forms and will have the opportunity to submit their selected team to Australian Oztag (AO).
AO selectors will also nominate a team of which will be reviewed in conjunction with the submitted rating forms. These selectors will then agree on the final teams.
Australian Oztag’s ever-popular Beach Tag returned for its fourth year in 2021, welcoming record-breaking teams to Wollongong and Maroubra beaches.
The 2021 Beach Tag events kicked off at North Wollongong Beach on Saturday 6 March – the pristine conditions and quality Oztag on display set the tone for a great spectacle.
The presence of event Head Sponsor, Budgy Smuggler was a huge hit on the shores of Wollongong Beach. From swimwear to accessories, the awesome, colorful stock attracted both players and the wider community of beach lovers.
The second and final Beach Tag event of 2021 was held on Saturday 24 April at Maroubra Beach, where the clear water crowded with surfers, as did the sand with eager OzTaggers.
Vibes were running high across Maroubra Beach with the appearance of partner sponsor, Red Bull and the welcoming of Beach Tag’s event DJ whose day-long tunes created an atmosphere for all in attendance.
Once again, the annual event attracted many locals to the beachside, captivated by the game and the exhibition of talent – diving for tags and tries made easier with such a soft landing.
Event Coordinator, Liam Haddock shared what Beach Tag is all about and commented on the future of the event moving forward.
“Beach Tag is a fun and exciting event for budding OzTaggers to enjoy while also appreciating Australia’s beach culture,” Haddock said.
“Due to the success of all Beach Tag tournaments, we are looking to bring the event to additional beaches up and down the East Coast, allowing more people the chance to enjoy the experience that it is,” he said.
Australian Oztag congratulate the following teams, crowned 2021 Beach Tag Champions.
Australian Oztag are thrilled to announce that the 2020 Trans-Tasman tournament will be going ahead in September this year.
The Australian and New Zealand travel bubble is set to open in April, giving the prestigious Trans-Tasman tournament the green light for the revised month of September, 2021.
This tournament remained a priority for Australian Oztag (AO) to ensure all players were granted the opportunity to represent their country.
It is therefore AO’s pleasure to announce the Tournament details as follows:
Date: 16th – 21st September, 2021
Venue: Pullman Park, Auckland, NZ
More details to come.
Following great anticipation, AO are ecstatic that representatives will have the opportunity to travel to New Zealand and throw on their well-earned jerseys with pride.
The 2021 Club Champions title came down to a one-point difference, with Central Coast claiming victory for a consecutive year.
Following two successful tournaments, in Coffs Harbour (12’s-17’s) and Bass Hill (9’s-11’s), Central Coast finished on 78 points, with Souths closely trailing on 77 and Baulkham Hills on 73.
Central Coast dominated the Junior State Cup tournaments after 17 of their 18 teams qualified for division one Finals across all age divisions. Eight of these teams made the Grand Final and four came away with the State Champions title.
At the Junior State Cup in Coffs Harbour, the Central Coast Girls 12’s pipped Cronulla 4-1 in the Grand Final, continuing their reign as champions for the third consecutive year.
The Boys 14’s Grand Final saw Central Coast claim a convincing 8-2 defeat over Souths, while Central Coast Girls 16’s came away with their third successive title after an exciting 3-1 win over Wollongong.
At the Junior State Cup in Bass Hill, the Boys 10’s Grand Final came down to the wire, with Central Coast defeating Baulkham Hills 5-4 in a thrilling extra time drop-off.
Girls 12’s
Boys10’s
Boys 14’s
Girls 16’s
Following on from the association’s success at the Senior State Cup in November 2020, Central Coast Licensee, Charmaine Ceeney is extremely proud of their Junior teams whose efforts were pivotal in their Club Champion victory.
“Our performances at Coffs and Bass Hill were exceptional and we are very proud of our young chargers for the efforts, knowing full well the future of Oztag on the Central Coast is very bright,” Ceeney said.
“To be named as Junior State Cup Club Champions was a reward to all our coaches, assistant coaches, team managers and admin staff who ensure the game of Oztag continues to thrive on the Central Coast,” she said.
The Club Champions accolade is a credit to the consistency of Central Coast sides across all divisions, their success put down to the people involved in their team and the club culture they foster.
“They are all passionate, fair, honest and consistent in their approach to the game of Oztag,” Ceeney said.
“There are so many representative players who have taken the time to reinvest and pass on their knowledge and experience to the young players,”
“Special mention must go to Dale Berg who oversees the Junior Representative Program, Adam Carlisle and Australian Oztag Hall of Famer David Rose for their ongoing support in not only developing junior players but also taking the time to develop and support our coaches and providing them with their knowledge and years of experience as both players and coaches,”
“We have developed an extremely strong culture within our association and that continues to grow year after year,” she said.
Central Coast are looking to continue their club-wide success at the 2021 NSW Senior State Cup in Coffs Harbour, set to kick off on Friday 14 May, with 21 teams entered across all divisions.
The 2021 Junior City v Country teams have been selected following an exceptional display of talent at both Junior State Cup tournaments in Coffs Harbour and Bass Hill.
The tournament will be played on Sunday 13 June at Central Coast Regional Sporting Complex, Tuggerah NSW.
It will see the State’s best play off in a combined four regions – Southern City Seahawks, Western City Scorpions, Northern Country Knights and Southern Country Pride.
Team lists can be found HERE. Congratulations to all players selected to represent their region at the prestigious City v Country.
All players selected must confirm or decline their position to the Coach via their email at the bottom of the Team list sheet.
Registration will open Wednesday 17 March, from 12pm. Players must register & pay online by Friday April 9.
Unfortunately, the NSW Senior State Championships, to be played Friday 19th, Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st March 2021 is postponed.
The new dates are Friday 14th, Saturday 15th & Sunday 16th May 2021.
The weather forecast for Thursday through to Sunday is a very high chance of rain (80% to 95%). The range predicted to fall is anywhere between 83 to 180mm.
In normal circumstances this would not prevent us from playing on several of the fields however, Coffs Harbour like the rest of NSW, has experienced above average rain fall. Coffs Harbour’s average rainfall for a year is 1600mm yet 1200mm has fallen since January & 300mm of this in the last month. The significance of this is the amount of water still in the ground. If the minimum rain predicted falls the fields will still be water logged and unplayable.
So, after considering the weather forecast and liaising with Councils Stadium Team and Greenkeepers, Australian Oztag believes the only decision in the best interest of all, is to postpone the tournament now before anyone begins their travels. It would be reckless to roll the dice and travel to Coffs only to then call it off when the rain falls.
By making this decision now we hope to minimize the impact and allow teams to make arrangements with accommodation & travel.
Coffs Harbour City Council, Mayor Cr Denise Knight commented “Coffs Harbour has been the home of OzTag for many years, and of course while it is disappointing to reschedule, we understand. Over the last year we have become much more adept to change. We are experiencing a huge amount rain of late and there are still flood warnings in place. We thank Bill and the Australian OzTag team for their foresight in making a decision to postpone to a more optimal time. Thanks also to all our tourism and accommodation providers for their flexibility in rescheduling bookings for the revised dates. We look forward to welcoming players officials and their guests again in May.”
For further clarification on the significant rainfall expected, please see the NSW Incident Alerts.
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