Winners again

February 26, 2019  /  Craig Markham

Congratulations to our Paddington Colts Men’s team on winning their Men’s Grand Final tonight against the highly favoured Bucks Electeical 

All Bondi Boys, The younger Bondi Men showed it’s the change of the guard great game great mates  

big shout out to the older Bondi men’s team missing electric playmaker Jace Latty who is in negotiations in Fiji to join a lcal Rugby League club as a Janitor.

 

big Shout our to our Paddington Colts elder statesmen Herbie and Garry Chairman Hardaker watching grandsons and great nephews face of.

great win in a tight finish  

Colts 10 Bucks 2

#Thepeoplesrepublicofbondi

#Maythehorsebewithyou

Once a Colt always a Colt  

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Paddington Colts Match Report Semi Final 2

August 29, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,

Paddington Colts V St Charles, Sunday 26/8, Waverley Oval

Victory, 16-10


What a marvellous game of Rugby League it was on Sunday. A truly captivating semi-final battle that was tense, competitive and played in a great spirit between two evenly matched teams. St Charles is a quality side, so our boys should be very proud of themselves for making it through to the grand final this weekend.

The game got off to a cautious start with neither team gaining any real ascendancy in the early stages. As the game went on and the Colts managed to shift the ball to the edges on a couple of occasions, we could see our confidence growing. Harry seized an opportunity close to the St Charles try line and crashed through to register our first points for the match. But to their credit, St Charles fought their way back and capitalising on a few errors from our boys and repeat sets near our try line, posted their first try in the Bondi Beach corner of Waverley Oval.

The second half proceeded in a similar fashion to the first, until fatigue began to take its toll and the game began to open up. Some excellent scrambling defence from our boys defused several St Charles attacking raids, while our defensive line on our try line was strong and more reminiscent to how we were defending earlier in the year. Some surging runs by our forwards in the middle and our speedsters out wide allowed Jasper to take pounce and post two tries close to the ruck, and lock up the game with a 16-10 victory. For me, our willingness in defence was the most impressive part of our game, and what we’ll need to play with again this weekend to be any chance against the strong running Bondi boys. Once again, well done to St Charles for a great game and a successful season.

Which brings us to this weekend, our final match of the season and grand final on Saturday at 11am at the famous Leichhardt Oval. Some of you may have heard about a few logistics issues we have that effects some players due to a timing clash with the AFL grand finals on the same day. We are trying to find a solution to what you think would be an avoidable scenario, but our request to defer our rugby league kick-off time is looking increasingly unlikely. So at this stage please arrive at Leichardt at 10.15am ready for our warm up. Whatever happens, I have no doubt that the boys who take the field for the Colts will be competitive and ready to go.

Training is on this afternoon as per usual at 4.30pm. We’ll also train at 4.30pm on Thursday afternoon but will confirm these details closer to the time.

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

Paddington Colts Match Report Round 15

August 13, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,

Paddington Colts v North Ryde Griffins, Sunday 5/8, Sir Thomas Mitchell Reserve, Dundas

Victory 28 – 6


Another trip to Dundas marked another strong performance by the U10’s against a formidable North Ryde Griffins team. A good pre-game preparation contributed to a strong start from our boys, and it wasn’t long into the match before we broke through on the edge to post early points. We need to give credit to our forwards who pave the way each week and lay the platform for our outside backs. Rugby League is a team game, and while we all like to score tries, it’s not how it (usually) works. Each boy has a role to play that contributes to our overall team success; tackling, earning good field position and assisting with a try is just as important as scoring a try.

Having said that, it would be remiss to not mention Kubi’s length of the field try from the second half kick-off. We’re blessed with some blistering speed out wide, and Kubi’s effort exemplified this perfectly, and deservedly earnt him the Solo Man can for the week, which he gave away as he doesn’t like Solo. The remainder of the second half wasn’t all smooth sailing, as the Griffins, who have a few large boys in their team, continued to run the ball with purpose through the middle. It took a collective effort from the Colts to stand firm and keep them at bay, on the field and on the scoreboard. In the end, it was another workman-like performance from the boys, and we’ll gladly bag the two points (cliché credit to Richard).

To other matters, thank you to Ben (Harry’s dad) for arranging access to the fantastic new Rugby Australia facilities at Moore Park for our training session this week. It was a brilliant experience for the boys, and no doubt something they should remember for quite a while. Several boys suggested we adopt these training arrangements on a more permanent basis, which we’ll take to the Colts Board for consideration. Thank you also to Troy (Max O’s dad) for providing pies and drinks from the House Of Pie Maroubra (get down there & tell them your Colts family), and Bec Gilligan (Fynn’s mum) for providing the amazing fruit platters, although the inclusion of cucumbers was controversial.

This week’s game marks the final round of the normal competition. We are scheduled to play Leichardt at 2.10pm at Rozelle, although I have requested an earlier game so keep an eye on Team App. Let me know if anyone needs a lift. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the schedule or structure for the finals, which should be announced next week once the normal competition is over. Apologies for this, as I know quite a few families have other commitments which they are trying to coordinate.

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

Colts Under 8's. Match Report and No Game or Training This Week

June 06, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,
Sorry for the lateness of this email but after an emphatic victory by the boys on Sunday, I have only just managed to calm my nerves and put pen to paper so to speak.

Right on cue it started to poor with rain just as we were about to run on. Umbrella space was at a premium and the ground officials tent on halfway was prime real estate.

Right from the opening whistle the boys took it to St Charles who must've ben wondering what these weapons from paddington had been eating. My scoring summary got absolutely drenched so I have lost track of the final score and who our scoreres were. However I do remember Noah scoring his first try in Colts colours which was my highlight of the match! While I can say that everyone played their best game for the season so far and it was by far our best performance for 2018, here are a few notable mentions:

Taylor Rogers and Nicholas Peshos Taylor again proved a handful in defence and attack. In defence he leads the team up off the line and shuts down opposition space which I love to see. Nicholas had an amazing game. Filling the first receiver in the final quarter, he distrubuted the ball well and had some amazing metres. There was one stage where he had 2 or 3 defenders hanging off but continued barging his way upfield! Nicki really played above his weight on Sunday and it was greta to see.

Cary Uy continues to be a damaging runner with ball in hand. Our aim as a team will continue to be to get him ball out wide, in space after the first 2 tackles in a set.

Beaug Garthon is our very own mr Zip Zip man. Only knows one speed which is flat out!

Archie Hoiles Despite being of very good rugby union pedigree, he is continuing to improve each game in rugby league. Made a brilliant run the length of the field on Sunday but sadly lost the ball at the tryline.

Gibson Taku We all know how damaging and sleek Gibson is with ball in hand, his 2 tries are testament to this. But it was his defence that really stepped up a notch on Sunday. I recall one very solid tackle he pulled off on of the St Charles 'big men'. Gibson came off his quickly, shut down the space before the opposition ball carrier could get a run and pulled off an origin-like front on tackle.

Duke Thomas At home his father, aka the author of this report, has him knocking out 50 push ups every morning and it is starting to really pay off. Duke made some strong runs with the ball using his footwork and crossed for a couple of tries.

Noah Zusack As mentioned earlier, scored his first try for the Colts!. A good run out on his favoured right wing, using his speed and leaving would-be defenders in his wake and he was over!

Cooper Mott again played an absolute belter of a game. Super consistent and a great 'team-first' performance! Strong in attack and defence, Cooper could get man of the match at any given week and nobody would argue.

Phoenix Paekau Similar to Cooper as mentioned above, Phoenix puts in a super strong performance each week but his defence is really starting to improve in leaps and bounds!

Billy, Archie Callander and Cody were all absent on Sunday but heaven help our next opposition once we have these boys back!

THIS WEEK Given the long weekend we have a weekend off! Enjoy your sleep in! We will also have a week off from training.

Thats it from me, See you back on the training paddock on Thursday week (14th June)

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Richard Thomas
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Paddington Colts Match Reports, Round 6 & Round 7

June 04, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,
This match report includes two reports, for our match against the Dundas Shamrocks and last Sunday's match against St Charles

20/5 v Dundas Shamrocks

Victory 36-20

Our match against the Shamrocks saw the boys venture far from the familiar eastern Sydney coastline to face a well-prepared and confidant Dundas outfit. The Shamrocks, who were sitting with us in equal third position on the ladder, showed nothing of the characteristics of a small young sprig that their mascot would suggest, came out breathing fire and posted the first points of the match. But displaying the composure our team has developed over the past eight weeks, our boys steadied the ship and on the back of the foundation laid by the likes of Cy and the very busy Julian up front, wrestled their way back into the contest and into the lead by the halftime break.

In the second half, the Colts orchestrated a number of effective plays around the ruck to build pressure and with that our scoresheet. However, missed tackles and silly errors kept Dundas in the contest, which nearly cost us the game. In the end, we got away with a valuable if not a dazzling victory. Key takeaways from the match include our ability to grind out a victory even when we don't play our best football, discovering fire ants have escaped their exclusion zone in Queensland and taken up residence in the Dundas Valley, and never let a Victorian now living in Sydney's eastern suburbs drive you into Sydney's western suburbs. Special mentions include Peter who maintained our width in attack and ran with real purpose whenever he got the chance, and Harry, who played with a broken toe and deservedly picked up the John Sattler Award for bravery.

27/5 v St Charles

Victory 32-8

Back at Burrows Park, the home of rugby league, our match against St Charles loomed as a defining game for the team, as both teams were locked in second place on the ladder and marked the point in the season where all teams had (in theory) locked horns at least once.

The game itself was a terrific game to watch and I was really impressed with how all boys were eager to get involved both in attack and defence. St Charles has some great players, with a good balance of strength and size in the middle of the park and genuine speed out wide. It certainly required our boys to be switched on and be prepared to work their way into the game. Our forwards ran the ball with gusto, avoiding some spirited early defence from St Charles and earning us valuable field position which we converted into points. Jasper did well in organising our attack in the first half, highlighted by a sweeping backline movement that set Kubi racing away for a well-constructed four-pointer. 'Champagne rugby league' was how it was described from a nearby onlooker as he smashed his way through a steaming hot 'four n twenty'.

As the second half progressed, our boys gained the ascendancy and kept the scoreboard ticking over. We took the opportunity to execute a few attacking kicks and offloads between the forwards, and we seemed more willing to pass the ball wide. We are certainly trying to encourage the boys to catch, look and pass, and exploit some of the great speed we have in our outside backs. Some scintillating line breaks by several players including Jamie capped off an impressive all-round performance from the young Colts. Special mention to Max O who played his best game so far this season and made several strong runs, and Alex Da Beast Vesper who showed great mental aptitude to withstand the mind games from his St Charles schoolmates. Finally, congratulations to Jasper for picking up the Solo Man Man Can this week.

Keep an eye on Team App for details about our next match.

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

Club Legend Ryan Hayes

May 27, 2018  /  Craig Markham

 

Well he played at age 6 to 16 the club folded in the year 2000.

RYAN then played again in 2018 at 38 in our A Grade showing what toughness strength discipline and club loyalty are all about.

RYAN has coached since our club reformed in 2016 and is much loved and respected by all who know him all our mighty 9’s he coaches and our entire 2018 A Grade squad  

The Hayes family

Rob Dianne

Gavin Stewart & Ryan are Colts Royalty 

Congratulations on an outstanding contribution to our club he has announced a temporary from playing but is locked and loaded as our mighty under 9’s coach  

hats off Haysey

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Round 5 Match Report

May 18, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,

Paddington Colts V Enfield Federals, Sunday 13/5

Victory 26-12

It's always difficult to decide what to give our beloved mums/wives/partners on the most important day of the year, Mother’s Day. Fortunately this year the gift presented itself, in the form of a gritty game of rugby league at Burrows Park during a wet and windy Antarctic blast. Honestly, how good can it get?

There was nowhere to hide on or off the field, as the boys quickly realised that Enfield had turned up to play and were not going to shy away from the contest. In the early stages of the match, we looked dangerous whenever we shifted the ball wide, which produced points for our wingers. However, as the game progressed and conditions deteriorated, the match turned into a good old arm wrestle in the midfield, as we battled into a howling southerly and away from our try line.

As the second half commenced, we looked as though we were about to shift into top gear with the wind now at our backs. However, a few handling errors and a committed Enfield defence kept the scores at bay. Some determined running on the edges advanced our boys up the field and eventually over for a few hard-earned tries. In the end, it was a well-deserved victory, but I think it's fair to say that it wasn't our best performance of the season and the boys know they can play better. Happy to come away with the two points and put the performance down to the wet weather and the coach for reshuffling the team.

Special mention to Julian and Max O who made their debuts in the second half. Both boys made their presence felt with some outstanding tackling. Well done to both of you.

Finally, at this week’s training, we saw the introduction of 'Fun Facts with Max'. Max's first fun fact was that penguins are not considered birds. What an excellent fun fact to kick off with, but it was clear from the ensuing team discussion that there wasn't complete consensus on whether penguins are in fact birds or not. It certainly got me thinking... are they wings, flippers or fins? So Max, can you please clarify this fact at next week’s training so that as a team we can move on to your next fun fact.

We may not improve as footballers, but we’ll certainly improve our general knowledge.

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

Round 4 Match Report

May 11, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,

Paddington Colts V Bondi United, Burrows Park, Sunday 6/5

Apologies for the belated match report. I’m still coming down from the weekend’s victory!

What an absolutely outstanding match the boys played on the weekend. I’m not sure who was more excited, me or the boys, but it certainly brought back a few memories of battles with Bondi from when I was a kid. Bondi United are a good team, well organised in both attack and defence and it’s easy to see why they are the benchmark in our competition. It was always going to take a committed performance from our team and I was interested to see how our boys would react to real pressure from a top team.

When United crossed for the first try of the match midway through the first half, I wasn’t sure how the team would respond. But, the way in which the team composed themselves, delivered the ball to our forwards who ran with purpose and into a try-scoring position, and then for Kubi to cross over for our responding first try, should give the boys a stack of confidence in our ability to work as a team, build momentum and score points.

What I was most impressed with was the way in which each boy understood his role and performed it to the best of their ability. All players contributed to a fantastic team performance, particularly in defence. Both the forwards and backs showed great composure and defended Bondi’s slick attack with aplomb, both in the middle and out wide. Having a solid defensive line will be the backbone of our success this year, and credit to our outside backs Angus, Peter, Kubi and Jamie who held their respective positions when United attacked wide.

With the scores locked up at six all at the break, I could feel our confidence build in the second half, as the likes of Fynn, Alex, Cy, Lochie, Jasper and Peter on the edge began to cut loose each time they had the ball. And what a masterstroke it was by Max’s dad Simon, to hold the young gun back from the first half so he would burst in the second half and bamboozle our opponents from the base of the ruck and register a much-needed four-pointer. Brilliant family thinking. On the right edge, both Jamie and Angus looked dangerous and it was only a matter of time until Harry broke through and posted points, which in end led us to an outstanding victory.

This weekend presents an opportunity to mix up our player positions and try a few new combinations as we go head-head with Enfield. We’re back at the home of rugby league Burrows Park, and with showers and refreshing 30km southerly wind forecast, we’re in for an absolute Burrows Park treat. Please arrive at 11.30 for a 12.10 kick-off. We look forward to Max O’Loughlin making his debut this weekend and finally, demonstrating the breadth and success of our recruitment drive this year, we welcome Julian Greenfield to the team direct from the United States.

From Hollywood to Burrows Park…rugby league is where legends are made.

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

Round 3 Match Report - Paddington Colts U10s

May 04, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,

Paddington Colts v Concord Wolves, Goddard Park, 29 April, 2018

Result: 60-6 Victory



The 3rd round of the season saw the boys travel west to take on the Concord Wolves at Goddard Park.

Expectations were high after a promising first up effort the weekend before, and I got the sense during the warm up that the boys were building confidence both as players and in the team. This will be the focus over the next few weeks, building confidence, as well as learning some basic structures and new skills. And it’s not just the boys who are learning…I learnt that you can’t access the cross city tunnel if you’re coming in from Anzac Parade.

After our forfeit in Round 1 and a 26-24 loss in Rd 2, it was important that we climbed off the bottom of the ladder so that we stay in touch with the competition front runners, and that’s exactly what we did on the weekend. It wasn’t long into the game before the Wolves were howling for all the wrong reasons, as the Colts settled into their game plan and began to pile on the points. The boys should be congratulated on the way in which they adopted the new left and right playing structure, although it will take some time before it becomes second nature. I was also impressed with the low error count from the team which can be partly attributed to a lack of pressure from the opposition, but also a good warm up before the game.

With Max and Harry steering the team in the first half, our forwards led by Cy, Alex, Tommy, Fynn, Jasper and Lochie set an excellent platform for our backs to attack, and they certainly took advantage. Angus, Peter, Jamie and Kubi all looked dangerous and bagged a bunch of tries between them. We are certainly blessed with some blistering speed which is such a fantastic asset to the team and one that we will look to exploit during the year. Special mentions must be made to those boys who played their first game this season; Kubi and Harry who are both new to the club, and Peter and Jamie returning from last year. All four had fantastic games, and if they weren’t scoring tries they were setting them up.

Our round 4 clash this weekend is shaping up as our first real test for the season as we go head-to-head with the current competition leaders and traditional rivals of the Colts, Bondi United. I am confident that if everyone does their job as best as they can, commits to making their tackles and we use our speed out wide, we can play a great game and win.

Finally, l’d like to welcome Max O’loughlin to the team. Max is super excited to join the Colts and can’t wait to take on United this weekend. Welcome to the Colts Max!

See you on Sunday

Cheers, Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

Round 1 Match Report : Paddington Colts U10s VS Leichhardt Juniors

April 18, 2018  /  Craig Markham

Hi Colts Family,
Well, what a fantastic first match for the mighty U10s!!

It was a blustery autumnal day to mark the U10s first game of the season at the home of rugby league, Burrows Park.

The game was only a few minutes old when the boys sent the ball wide to our Captain Angus Peshos, who raced away for the team's first four pointer. Simply no better way to start the season and it looked as though our intense pre-season training was paying dividends. The ref then made his presence felt with a spate of technical penalties leaving the coaching staff scrambling for the complimentary NRL compendium that contained the rules, during which time Leichhardt bounced back with two quick tries. Louis Johns, backing up from the U9’s did a fantastic job steering our boys around the park and selecting our runners, including Lochie Jones who looked dangerous every time he got the ball. Lochie saw an opportunity on the right side & sprinted away to score in the corner taking us into half time all locked up at 10 all.

The second half commenced with both teams looking for answers and fortunately we found ours in our crafty little hooker Max Nearn. Max took it upon himself to ignite the team from dummy half and score not one but two scintillating tries in one of the greatest ever debuts in junior rugby league history. But credit to where credit is due, these scoring opportunities would not have been possible without the hard work of the likes of “The Beast from the East” Alex Vesper who was outstanding on the left edge reminding me of young Paul Sironen, sans the white tape around the melon, and Cy Matkovic, who on debut, ran the ball hard and straight in the mid-field, building valuable momentum for our team. Speaking of momentum, we must mention Jasper Thomas who worked hard all day in attack and defence, at one point making three tackles in a row then forcing a knock-on. This is the type of effort that I’ll be looking for all year because it can turn momentum and win you football games.Tommy Vesper looked threatening every time he ran the ball, and pulled off two try saving tackles that will no doubt feature in the season highlight reel, while our Victorian debutant Finn Gilligan menaced the defence countlessly and showed the potential that has him so highly sought after by all codes, including approaches from the NFL, NBA & even the IPL. I’m so glad his parents Mike and Bec have seen the light and embraced the greatest game of all…. Finally, displaying the type of character that will define our team this year, the boys fought back into try scoring territory before our other U9s player Kaieke Mckinley raced away to score a brilliant try in the final minutes.

There’s a little conjecture with the final score, but according to my calculations it was a 26 all draw. Regardless, I could not have been happier with our teams performance and effort for our first game, bearing in mind we played with one less player! Well done to every boy who played and you should walk away with confidence for our next game.

Thanks to:

- Louis and Kaieke for playing up an age and helping out with numbers.

- Archie Benuska who helped out with the playing gear and the sign on sheet and with Richard, will be our Ronnie Palmers for the season.

- The Jones family for supplying the oranges on Sunday. We’ll set up a weekly orange roster. I’m just going to come out now and ban mandarins from your backyard tree, unless they’re seedless in which case we can discuss.

- The great Achilles for taking a few action shots. Great images

In other developments, Kyrstie Peshos has thankfully agreed to be our Manager for the season. Kyrstie will send out game and training details and look after the game day paperwork. Thanks Kyrst!!! In the meantime, if you haven’t already can you please download the Team App, and then join our team, Paddinton Colts U10s 2018. We will be using this app to update our playing schedule, post match reports and send out messages.

There’s no game this weekend due to school holidays, but it doesn’t mean you should switch off altogether. I recommend you sit down as a family and watch the '89 grand final. I’ll be asking questions at our next training run. Also, here’s the link to the Colts victory song “Who Are We” which I have no doubt we’ll be singing regularly this year.

We’ll send a separate email regarding training details for the season, but there will be no training this week.

Enjoy the holidays.
Jimmy Vesper
0449 262 475

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