Viewpoint

Play got underway and proceeded under clear skies, with both teams keen to exert pressure on their opponent. It was half an hour before the deadlock was broken, when Harry Ivancic opened the scoring. It wasn’t until play ran past the 40th minute that Kings were able to find an equaliser, to the delight of the vocal home crowd, and the teams went to the break at 1-1. The success the Riverview boys had experienced when moving the ball quickly with sharp passing was pointed out to them at halftime by the coaches before they returned to the field for the second half.

Alex de Laet started the second-half scoring within five minutes of the recommencement of play. Two minutes later, Sam Ryan, sporting the captain’s armband, took a blistering shot, one for the highlights reel, to score and consolidate the lead. It was another 20 minutes until young gun Xavier Scardilli nailed the fourth goal for the Riverview boys. With five minutes to play, Kings pulled one back, but then the clock ran down to the end of the match with no further scoring. The Riverview 1st XI emulated the 2nd XI’s winning score to keep them in touch with the leaders heading into the last round of the Premiership, with the daunting task of taking down Newington College on Back to Newington Day next Saturday.

2nd XI GPS Round 6 August 8, Wanderers Field, the Kings School.

Riverview 4 (James Stack 2, Marcus El Haddad, Xavier Tavano) defeated Kings 2

This game was off to a flying start, with Marcus El Haddad getting the ball into the net for Riverview within the first minute of play and Kings responding almost immediately. After the frenetic beginning, play settled down for most of the rest of the half, and it was not until the 28th minute that Kings scored a second goal, to which James Stack replied, again almost immediately. The Riverview boys had come into the match with two more wins than the lowly ranked Kings team and had justifiable expectations of a good result. However, preparations during the week had been impacted by the loss of keeper Jono to illness and the energetic Luca Bet to an unsympathetically timed HSC language examination. Half-time came with the scores locked at 2-2.

Having closed the scoring of the first half, James Stack opened the scoring of the second half early on and gave the Riverview boys a slender lead. This gave coach Casali the freedom to swing the changes, and he sent the fresh legs on his bench into the contest over a period of 10 minutes in the middle of the half. While this was in process, Xavier Tavano added a fourth goal to consolidate the lead. The Riverview boys held on to their two-goal buffer for the remainder of the match and finished the game having won 4-2, maintaining their good form since the beginning of term and ending the day in a close third place in the Premiership race, with one game remaining against first-placed Newington.

Read the full Football report here .

Kings

Kings is a significant yardstick for our program, and last Saturday showed us more than perhaps any other weekend of fixtures this season. Kings were fast, physical and relentless in their approach to the game and, in some cases, we just were not ready for it.

The pleasing thing was the character that most teams showed to try and match the physicality and bring our own approach through use of the ball. Playing “smart” needs to be a mantra for all Riverview teams, and those who were able to find a way to find space with the ball, tackle low in defence and not get involved in any niggle fared well on the day.

Results-wise, we won 13 whilst Kings won 14 of the 28 games we contested, with one draw. Notably, Kings dominated the As fixtures with some seriously big athletes. Fixtures like this highlight the importance of our pre-season preparation to ensure we are fit and strong enough to play this great game, rather than thinking that turning up twice a week in season is enough.

The challenge for all players is to ensure we have a winning attitude in all our individual and team sessions. The challenge for our coaches is to set a high standard in performance at training that will undoubtedly flow through to game-day performance. And the challenge for the program is to ensure we have the training program, facilities and direction to continue to improve on the positive steps taken this year.

Last week was tough physically, and we can be better prepared for that next time. We must be.

TOP PERFORMERS

6th XV

Coach Oliver Hancox had his team firing again upon his return from the UK, as the 6ths continue to play the style of footy that we are looking to as our blueprint for the future at Riverview. They face tough opposition against Grammar 2nd XV this Saturday as our 6ths aim for an undefeated season.

13Cs

A strong performance from our 13Cs means they too are one win short of an undefeated season.

15Es and Fs

Both teams flew the flag last Saturday for our Year 9s with strong wins to show our depth of spirit in the 15s age group, which has continually been on show throughout the grades this season.

Opens Teams

Our Opens teams once again showed that, by the time boys reach Years 11 and 12, the physical disparities evident in the younger years are not the difference, and it is really about skill execution, decision-making and technique in the contact areas that does make the difference. Riverview won 2nd–7th XV fixtures.

1st XV Match Report – Riverview 26 v Kings 28

Saturday’s match against Kings was a tight and fiercely contested encounter that unfortunately ended in a narrow 28–26 defeat.

The first half was a low-scoring affair, with the game struggling to find any rhythm due to frequent stoppages. We struck first to take the lead, but Kings responded right on halftime to level the scores and set up an intriguing second half.

The boys showed great character after the break and built a two-try advantage, putting themselves in a strong position. However, injuries and players leaving the field disrupted our momentum at key moments, and we were unable to maintain the intensity that had put us in control. To their credit, Kings fought hard and scored two quick tries in the final six minutes of the match, converting both to edge ahead by two points at the final whistle.

While there was disappointment in the result, there were plenty of lessons to take from the contest. Attention now turns to Newington this Saturday in our final game of the season. The stakes could not be higher. A victory will secure a share of the GPS Premiership, while a loss will see us finish in second place. Everything is still to play for.

While students, coaches and teachers alike were dropping by the hour, we somehow managed to get 10 of the 11 boys selected to represent GPS to the start line.

It was a happy day in that the boys were out of class and away from the plague, but also a miserable day, as the sun struggled to shine through the clouds that raced overhead in the wind, scattering patches of cold rain across the course and anyone silly enough not to bring an umbrella.

Luckily for me, I scored a golf cart... Mr Tannock, if you are reading this, I would like to formally request a golf cart to support the coaching of our athletes. It’s much easier… I mean, more effective and beneficial for our athletes, than myself or our coaches puffing while running alongside them. Some of the boys are quite fast these days.

I digress. The day was cold and miserable, but our boys performed brilliantly. It was tough, and many of our boys weren’t in perfect health, but they pushed through to represent our College and the GPS proudly.

I would like to recognise some outstanding performances from the day:

Ben Case (Year 10) had a fantastic race that came down to a sprint finish. Unfortunately, this time the sprint didn’t go Ben’s way, and he finished in 2nd place. It was an incredible effort that earned Ben selection to compete in the NSW All Schools Championships.

Maxwell Kinchela (Year 7) gained selection in his first season as part of our Cross Country team. We are looking forward to Maxwell’s growth and development within our program, with plenty more opportunities to represent the College and GPS.

Charlie Lukas (Year 6) is a young talent who competed in the CIS Primary competition with the Regis team. I would also like to recognise Charlie’s achievement of finishing 1st in his race. Well done, Charlie. We’re looking forward to having you continue your journey with us over the coming years.

Following on, we have a few more Championship results.

Ben Case, AJ Lukas and Charlie Lukas all competed in the NSW Cross Country Championships, where Ben placed 3rd in the State, AJ placed 11th, and Charlie placed 8th.

The NSW All Schools Cross Country Championships were next on the agenda, and Ben Case continued his form, finishing 2nd out of 207 competitors in his race.

It has been a big program of tough courses and tight competition over the past couple of months, but all of the boys have done themselves proud.

SIC Hosting. Penultimate, Not the End

Last week was a long week. I didn’t realise quite how long until the census asked me for the hours I had worked over the past seven days. I will keep those hours between payroll and me. But sometimes, it just doesn’t seem like ‘work’.

I get to enjoy days like these every so often, and last Saturday was one of them. Nothing perks you up more than hearing students from other schools complaining that the Riverview Cross Country course is hard, What diabolical mind would create a course like this? I hate this course!

Then, to hear parents praising how easy it was to spectate their son and to have fellow XC masters telling you how refreshing it is to have a challenging course. Cross Country shouldn’t be easy. It shouldn’t be flat. It shouldn’t be fun.

I disagree with the last part, but the rest is them speaking the truth.

We are very lucky to have the grounds available to host a true Cross Country course. We get too accustomed to things being easy. Sorry, gents, things are not always going to be easy, and we took this opportunity to give you a challenge.

We used everything we had available to us… except mud. I’m still cleaning that off my gear two years later. We can go without mud.

We used the school’s flats, we used the hills, we had the boys racing over our manicured couch grass and sideways across uneven slopes. We utilised our narrow trails, had them jumping up rocks, and even launched ourselves over a steeple!

A tough course, but we have tough kids!

Congratulations to all our boys who came out in force to race.

Our four juniors, Maxwell Kinchela, Tobias O’Hea, Sachin Agnew and Ted Niland , put on brave faces to show our guests and opposition that we weren’t afraid of a little hard work. No guts, no glory!

In the Intermediate division, Ben Case once again continued his form, controlling the field from start to finish and finishing in a comfortable 1st place.

Dan Blackmore , who joined us mid-season, has continued to impress the coaches. His improvements in fitness and strength are showing through with better performances each week. Dan ran a great race to finish 8th overall.

We can’t forget the workhorses, Xavier Chan and Marc-Felipe Lewis , who just come out and perform week in and week out. They are the backbones of our team and are always there to make sure I have a reason to smile.

One more race until we wish a number of our senior runners good riddance. I have already lined up Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by Steam to blast out of the school PA. I joke, but that’s more of a coping mechanism. I will save my farewell until next week.

Congratulations to our Captain, Charlie Culbert , on his 3rd-place finish. Xavier O’Hea is back in form with a 19th-place finish, while Tom Poynton , who is battling some sickness, showed plenty of guts to cross the line in 23rd.

I would also like to recognise the teachers who came out and supported the running of our event. Thank you for helping make this event happen.

Thank you to the P&F for coming out and operating the canteen on the day, ensuring supporters and athletes were fuelled before and after their races.

Finally, thank you to the parents who volunteered to help in various ways throughout the day. Your support is greatly appreciated.

The next race is the GPS Championship, which will be held at Shore.