Hello everyone in Touch Rugby Land!

Blackest Cats and Touch Australia have been working closely to improve our clinics and form the AuSquad program that will cater for the age gap between the AusTouch program (u10's) and the 18's. Clinics have already been booked for 2010 and there are plans for a National camp and Aussie team selection so its all very exciting to be part of. Checkout www.blackestcat.com.au  and click on AuSquads.

Forums have been launched on both the Blackest Cat and AuSquad websites and provide a great opportunity to share ideas, ack questions and chat about Touch. Pop on and make a comment when you get a chance.

I'm back in training and hoping to play for the Magpies this Friday. We are struggling a little so far with only 1 win from 5 but are very positive and feel we can get back on track against the in form Parramatta Eels this week. I've added the ladder to my SportsLog page. It's an easy way to stay updated so add your competition to your page so I can see how you are travelling too :)

Hope you are all training hard in the cold (its tough hey), throwing long, scooping fast, defending grimly and enjoying your touch.

Cheers,

Jase :)

Hello everyone in Touch Rugby Land!

Blackest Cats and Touch Australia have been working closely to improve our clinics and form the AuSquad program that will cater for the age gap between the AusTouch program (u10's) and the 18's. Clinics have already been booked for 2010 and there are plans for a National camp and Aussie team selection so its all very exciting to be part of. Checkout www.blackestcat.com.au  and click on AuSquads.

Forums have been launched on both the Blackest Cat and AuSquad websites and provide a great opportunity to share ideas, ack questions and chat about Touch. Pop on and make a comment when you get a chance.

I'm back in training and hoping to play for the Magpies this Friday. We are struggling a little so far with only 1 win from 5 but are very positive and feel we can get back on track against the in form Parramatta Eels this week. I've added the ladder to my SportsLog page. It's an easy way to stay updated so add your competition to your page so I can see how you are travelling too :)

Hope you are all training hard in the cold (its tough hey), throwing long, scooping fast, defending grimly and enjoying your touch.

Cheers,

Jase :)

Hello everyone in Touch Rugby Land. 

It seems like only yesterday I was battling New Zealand in the ANZAC day test and in less than 2 months we are back in training preparing for the 2010 rematch! As I am sure you have seen on the television replay of game 2, NZ beat us on the final siren to take the test though we re-grouped and bounced back to win the 3rd and the series. The series was very fast paced and was the best battle in the history of the rivalry so next year is sure to be awesome when we travel to Auckland in January.

Australia's womens and mixed won their series as well so it was a clean sweep for the Aussies. After a little break the city players are now getting into the Sydney Championships and Brisbane Championships. The weekly routine typically involves 1-2 team sessions with the games on Friday night. Most players will get in another 1-2 fitness or skill sessions as part of the preparation. In Sydney, everyone will be chasing Hornsby who boast the two form players in Australia at the moment in Willie Bishop and Dylan Hennesey. In Brisbane, it remains the Drumayne Dayberg-Muir show with the Southern Storm who remain the dominant force up north.

As for me? Well my commitments with Australian Sevens Rugby and the Queensland Reds have finished for 2009 so I have been having a well deserved break. I am back into training next week and my program will build into the NSW State Cup in December and through to January when we take on the kiwis again. My club team Wests Magpies have just begun Syd Champs and will be hoping to finish higher than 4th place in 2008. 

That's about it I guess. Hope you are all well and getting some training in...even though its cold. :)

 Cheers, Jase

Hi all! It's all happening in the world of touch.

The Sharks and Mets have again showed their dominance at the National Titles with Sharks regaining the mens title, Mets the womens and mixed again. Tony El takchi was absolutely brilliant for the Mets mixed and I noticed Nathan Jones has shot to #1 player in the game (blackest cat national rankings) following his dominance for the Sharks. Congrats to all teams on a fabulous tournament.

I attended the tournament though was unable to play for my beloved Mets team. We lost to Scorpions in the Semi-finals in a great game. We weren't quite on and Dylan Hennessey was just superb. Can't wait to play with him against the Kiwis!!! The other semi was Sharks versus the Rebels and although Rushworth shined for Sydney it was the man Drumayne Dayberg-Muir that got Gold Coast through to the final. Congrats to the Sharkies. I think thats 4 of the last 5 titles!

The Aussie mens are in camp next week and can't wait to play our traditional rivals from across the ditch. New Zealand have a new look team to match the youth that has been injected into our squad. The kiwis as always are super fast, super steppy and super talented. This series will be something else. They are still burning from our World Cup win in 2007 and think they didn't show their best. Next month they get their chance....

Our team has numerous debutants who will be jumping out of their skin to wear the green and gold. Steve Roberts, Stuart Brierty, Matt Prowse, Dan Withers, Dylan Hennessy and Robert Nakhla. These guys are all something else and will be the deciding factor in a series that is sure to be try for try.

For me personally, this is my 9th year for the Aussies and every time I wear the jersey I feel like its my first game. Very proud, very honoured by the opportunity and very excited to do my best. I'm getting goose bumps just thinking bout the series. Its in Wollongong in April so pop down to the games if you can.

Go the Aussies!!!!!!!

Hi all,

Its been a while since my last update and I've been living out of my suitcase travelling around Australia doing coaching and clinics. Haven't got my breath back yet!

First things first. How amazing was our Youth teams in Auckland?? I am so excited with the results and Australia have won back the crown of Youth World Champs from New Zealand. Great results everyone! I was especially impressed with the Boys20's and the Mixed18's victories. These are the two toughest divisions to win in Juniors and I am so pumped we got the wins. Congrats to all the players and Mick Lovett and Michael McDonald (the super coaches).

Whats happening with me? I am in Darwin at the moment and did a Blackest Cat clinic for the local players yesterday with Bo De la Cruz. All the kids were great and loved Bo. They kept saying "who's this bloke that looks like Shrek standing next to Bo?" Ha ha. Was great fun. This weekend is the Darwin 7's rugby tournament so I am also here for that. I am coaching and selecting for Australia.

Currently I have 2 main areas of focus. One is preparing myself to play against New Zealand in April and the other is rugby coaching which is my job at the moment. I am the Head Coach for Australian Womens Sevens and an assistant to Michael O'Connor for the Australian Mens Sevens. I am also a skills coach for the Queensland Reds Super 14 team. I am enjoying the work, learning heaps and showing all the rugby players how us touchies do things! ha ha

There is quite a few touchies playing this weekend in Darwin so check out my log cause I will have upates and let you know how it all goes.

NTLs is the next focus for everyone though I am still 50/50 at the moment. Coming back from my back injury with April as the target so not sure if I'll be right in time for March. Daniel Walsh will lead my Sydney Mets team this year and will do a great job. The boys will be looking for back to back titles and are commencing training shortly.

Hope you all have some big goals for 2009. This year is a big year in touch and we have all got off to a flying start courtesy of our WORLD CHAMPION junior teams. So lets put our heads down, work hard and chase our goals.

Catch ya soon,

Jase :)

Hi all,

I am back in training for Wests Touch now for the Sydney Championships and with the boys sitting in 5th position I am eager to get into the next couple games. I have included the ladder and fixtures/results sections on my 'mySport' page so you can see how my team is progressing. It was easy to add so be sure to add your favourite teams to your page!

A Blackest Cats clinic was held in Launceston Tasmania on the weekend and was a lot of fun for all the kids as well as the presenters. I was joined by Australian Coach Tony Trad and superstars Bo de la Cruz, Garry Sonda and Tony El Takchi. The talent displayed by the kids was amazing and it wont be long before NSW and QLD are looking over their shoulders at the emerging states.

Touch Australia have announced that there will be home and away Trans Tasman series next year following the Youth World Cup in January so it looks like the rivalry with the Kiwis will ignite in 2009. Can't wait...

NSW Mens and Womens were amazing in defeating Queensland in the recent State of Origin while our Mized were outclassed by those Cane Toads. NSW dominated almost all divisions and won the State of Origin title. Go the Blues!!!

As for my tips, well I got almost all of them correct. I had 3 out of 3 for the State of Origin and Storm won the Brisbane Championships. Uni Rebels failed to make the final in the Womens so I missed out there though 4 out of 5 aint bad.

Upcoming tips are:

Sydney Championships - Canterbury in the Mens (I might have to re-think this one), Wests in the Womens & Mixed

Junior NTL - 20's boys Mets, 20's girls Mets, 18's girls Sharks, 18's boys Queensland Schools

Keep smiling all!

Jase :)

Hi all,

Well and truly settled back into Sydney now and with the Rugby season drawing to an end I have commenced my training for Touch. My club Wests are midway through the Sydney Championships and I hope to be back on deck shortly.

In the touch world, our Australian Youth teams preperations for the Youth World Cup in January 2009 are well under way. We have lots of great talents and I look forward to watching them do their stuff against teams from all over the world and of course.... the Kiwis.

NSW and Queensland go head to head next week in the State of Origin series. As I am only just returning from a break (calender is always so full) , I will not be playing this time and I commencing a program to have myself preparied for my end of year commitments for Australia.

I am often asked the difference between training methods in different sports. In Rugby, there is more of an emphasis on aerobic than anaerobic. Training for tackling and getting up off the ground uses very different systems of the body to that used in a Touch Rugby game. Touch training is preparing yourself for stop/start explosive efforts with an emphasis on direction change and backwards motion. So as you can imagine my body is in a bit of shock with the return to touch training :)

Here are my tips for upcomgin tourny's... 

State of Origin - Queensland in the Mixed, NSW in the Womens and NSW to win a nail biter in the Mens

Brisbane Championships - Storm in the Mens, Uni Rebels in the Womens

Sydney Championships - Canterbury in the Mens, Wests in the Womens & Mixed

Junior NTL - 20's boys Mets, 20's girls Mets, 18's girls Sharks, 18's boys Queensland Schools 

Hi all!

Hope you are keeping warm while you enjoy the winter sport. I've been back in Australia for six weeks now and its still too cold for me. ha ha.

Living in Sydney and am focussing on Rugby at the moment. Am assistant coach for St Pats (Div1 Rugby Club) and am playing #12 (inside centre) in first grade. After joining the club mid year I have had lots of fun and in recent weeks the boys have had 3 wins, a draw and a loss. The club culture is great and its enjoyable to be involved. 

My touch rugby club Wests, kicked off their Sydney Championships campaign on Friday with a draw against Hornsby who were last years runners up. Michael Moussa was best for us and Dylan Hennesey and Willie Bishop played great for Hornsby. I am not playing at the moment though I still train with the boys occassionally to work on my agility and speed.  

Sport aside, its great being back in Sydney and catching up with friends and family.

More updates soon...

Jase :)

So much happening at the moment, loving the USA!!! Enjoying going to baseball and basketball games and seeing all the sites. The Statue of Liberty is something special and New York is larger than words can descirbe.

My rugby team Philadelphia continues to improve though have a way to go. We went down to Boston and New York and had our first win against Washington DC. The Washington win was a comeback from 27-3 down with 30mins to go! The final score was 29-27 and it was a great game to play in. Next game is against Dallas.

I have been doing Rugby Clinics while here in Philadelphia. One with a high school St Joey's prep and two with the Conestoga Rugby Club that has u/15's and u/19's. More planned this week and I am really looking forward to teaching the kids.

Haven't been training much due to a back injury and can only run with the team training on Thursday's. I am still reasonably fit though and have played in all the games for Philadelphia so no complaints.

Heard its raining in Sydney and Melbourne in Aussie so thought I'd let you know its a beautiful spring here in Philadelphia with lots of sun. ha ha :) See you all soon...

Gday everyone! Missing Australia already though USA is pretty amazing. Have been in Seattle the last 5 days and went to my first NBA game! Went to double overtime and I got to see Alan Iverson and Kevin Durant play. Was awesome.

In Rugby, Seattle beat my team Philadelphia 34-10. We have a very young team and the boys put in a good display although we were outplayed. Next game is at home against a very talented Boston team. I am playing fly-half and have taken on a coaching role at the club to help out the boys. So far, its very enjoyable.

Next places I will visit will be downtown Philly, Washington DC and then New York. Hopefully you are all taking care of Australia for me.

Jase :)

Howdy all,

Hopefully you have checked out my previous logs and you are celebrating with the victorious Sydney team. At the moment I am having some down time before heading to USA in a couple days to play Rugby Union.

I've signed with Philadelphia who play in the USA Super League. I'll be playing fly half or centre and my first game is a road trip to Seattle. Hope the experience will be enjoyable. It's my first time to the States.

Most of the Australian Touch Rugby players are having a few weeks off after nationals. The NSW, Queensland and Australian training squads are all announced shortly so we'll all be back into training in late April. I'll be in USA or course so it'll be different training for me. Touch Rugby is very explosive so training is typically short efforts. Rugby Union training is a little more endurance focussed and I'll be doing a bit of weights and a lot of core stability work.

I'll stay in touch...

Jase :)

Hi all,

In my previous log I mentioned the amazing victory of our Sydney Mets team at the recent nationals. We had a very young team and everyone played so so well. Just wanted to make a brief comment on each of our stars:

MIDFIELD:

• Daniel Walsh: Our vice captain and an amazing leader. He won our players players award. An exceptional ball player he is the glue that combines all our different playing styles together.
• Stuart Brierty: Destined for future Aussie representation, Stuart controlled the big games and was a standout when he outplayed the high profile Gold Coast midfield in the final.
• Ben Nercessian: Tireless worker who kept us up in the tight games when we were struggling. Has a great read on the game and often pops up out of nowehere to put on a try for us.
• Michael Jacono: Like most of our classy midfield, 'Jacko' was outstanding and out played all before him. Destined to represent NSW and Australia in the near future. His trademark slide dive put the Rebels away in our close semi-final victory.
• Steve Roberts: Has been an Australian Opens rep for some time now and continues to improve and dominate. Had another superb tournament and is itching for the upcoming State iof Origin series to beat the Queenslanders again. Has all the skills and an ability to beat a defender one on one.
• Aaron Tandek: One of the pups in the team, Aaron improved throughout the tournament culminating in a great semi-final and final on the last day.
• Ben Moylan: 'ranga' was a revelation, another young fella with heaps of talent. Took every opportunity with both hands and will join Ben, Aaron and Stuart in leading the midfield in future years.

ROVERS/LINKS:

• Anthony Ziade: Absolute dominance. Penetrated every teams defence and was a constant menace to opposition. A current Australian rep, he will continue to be on top for some time.
• Dean Springfield: Another one in our list of young champs. An amazing talent who is just kicking off in the sport. Has one of the best long balls in the business and combined with his footwork is a great talent. Simply played great, well above his years.
• Scott Buckley: Has grown in confidence over the last 2 seasons with Mets and now is our leading rover/link, setting up many of our attacking plays. A great step and pass, was faultless in 2008!
• Dan Munro: Dan just keeps getting better. Is our razzle dazzle man and keeps the opposition and us guessing all the time. Step, swerve, flick... you never know whats coming.

WINGS:

• Robert Nakhla: Our wingers are the reason for our success. They not only are great finishers but save a mountain of tries in defence. Defence wins the big games and our wingers are our defence. Rob has bursted onto the rep scence and will be a certainty for NSW in the coming State of Origin series. The best defensive winger in Australia.
• Matt Prowse: Scored 2 tries in the NTL final in great fashion. Another one of our young stars destined for Australian representation in 2008. An amazing talent who can pop up in midfield or at rover at any time to put on a try.
• Matt Bird: A triathlete, Matt just runs all day snuffing out opposition moves with ease and often running the length of the field to score his own tries.
• Dean McKechnie: Spirit, spirit and more spirit. Not only a great reader of the game, Dean is one of the few talents in that can control a game from the wing. Our best talker, he keeps us up and his defence is world class.

Hi all,

Haven't had a chance to update my log because last week has been crazy! Wow... The touch nationals were held in Coffs Harbour last week and against all the odds, Sydney Mets won. We are all still on such a high, it was simply amazing. Thanks so much to everyone involved with the team and all the Sydney touch communtiy that got behind us.

On Thursday we played the Barbarians (NT & WA), Crusaders (VIC & SA) and the Eagles (Northern NSW) for 3 hard fought wins. The Barbarians really took it to us and we had our work cut out for us though after a tight first half we finished the stronger.

We entered Friday gaining confidence from our 3 wins though most of the talk was about the powerhouse teams in our pool, the Rustlers (Central Queendsland) who boasted 6 Australian reps and the Sydney Scorpions (the other Sydney team - our arch rivals!) who had beaten the Rustlers on Thursday. In the morning we came from behind to beat the Hunter Hornets (Newcastle) winning with only 2 minutes left in the game. After regrouping we came out and demolished the Scoripions 10-2 in one of the matches of the tournament. Everything we did just seemed to come off in that game. Full of confidence we then edged out the Rustlers that night (again winning on the bell) and entered finals day...

Saturday will be remembered as OUR DAY. We met Sydney Rebels (the 3rd Sydney team) in the Semi-final who had unexpectedly knocked out Brisbane, ACT and Southern NSW in the other pool. In a sea sawing game we got home by a couple tries and that set up a match with tournament favourites... the Gold Coast Sharks.

Gold Coast have more internationals from Australia and NZ then you can poke a stick at and our young team was not given a chance by most observers. They had scored over 10 tries a game and beaten all before them in getting to the final. Wow! I am still buzzing. The Sydney Mets boys came out and put together most likely the best team performance I have been involved in. From #1 to #14 we all played out of our skin and we won the championships beating the Sharks 5-2 after leading 2-1 at the break. We dominated most of the match, our young boys out-played their superstar opponents and Sydney are on top of the touch World!

It is all so surreal. Will update you again once it all sinks in...

After spending 2 months living in Sweden I am now back in Australia and training for the Touch Nationals next month in Coffs Harbour. I am captain of the Sydney Mets team, we finished 2nd last year to Gold Coast and am hoping to go one better in 2008.

Week starting Mar 3rd: