| Free State u18 CW | Free State u18 AW | ||||||
| 1 | David Hayidakis | 1 of 19 Grey College | 1 | AJ Hendriks | 1 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 2 | Xander Smit | 2 of 19 Grey College | 2 | Tian Fourie | 2 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 3 | JG Badenhorst | 3 of 19 Grey College | 3 | Hennie Bredenhann | 3 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 4 | Claude Steyn | 4 of 19 Grey College | 4 | Jatin Marais | 4 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 5 | AJ Meyer | 5 of 19 Grey College | 5 | Keaton Pottas | 5 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 6 | Adem Nieuwoudt | 6 of 19 Grey College | 6 | Henru Erasmus | 6 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 7 | Alexi Tyropolis | 7 of 19 Grey College | 7 | Qian Moller | 1 of 3 Jim Fouche | ||
| 8 | AJ Booysen | 8 of 19 Grey College | 8 | Franco Oberholzer | 2 of 3 Jim Fouche | ||
| 9 | Sherwin Buys | 9 of 19 Grey College | 9 | Bernard Wessels | 7 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 10 | Darius Erwee | 10 of 19 Grey College | 10 | Okuhle Dyani | 1 of 3 Burgersdorp | ||
| 11 | Siyabonga Kenny | 11 of 19 Grey College | 11 | Unathi Ntuli | 2 of 3 Burgersdorp | ||
| 12 | O’ryan Kleyn | 12 of 19 Grey College | 12 | Ruan Roux | 8 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 13 | Ethan Adams | 13 of 19 Grey College | 13 | Thristan Maree | 9 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 14 | Eddie Mabena | 14 of 19 Grey College | 14 | Junior Titoti | 1 of 2 Fichardtpark | ||
| 15 | Lamla Mgedezi | 15 of 19 Grey College | 15 | Samson Lackay | 10 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 16 | Lisakhanya Taba | 1 of 2 Burgersdorp | 16 | Motlatsi Ramahlape | 1 of 4 Louis Botha | ||
| 17 | Kwanda Dyonase | 18 of 19 Grey College | 17 | Dumisani Tshabalala | 2 of 4 Louis Botha | ||
| 18 | Marinus Oosthuizen | 17 of 19 Grey College | 18 | Dinash Philander | 3 of 4 Louis Botha | ||
| 19 | Buko Mlali | 1 of 2 Fichardtpark | 19 | Qhama Saule | 3 of 3 Burgersdorp | ||
| 20 | Brenden de Wee | 1 of 1 Jim Fouche | 20 | Moteho Sempe | 11 of 11 Grey College | ||
| 21 | Toriq Schambreel | 16 of 19 Grey College | 21 | Breyten de Wee | 3 of 3 Jim Fouche | ||
| 22 | Nischaan vd Merwe | 19 of 19 Grey College | 22 | Ayden Cloete | 4 of 4 Louis Botha | ||
| 23 | Esona Marks | 2 of 2 Burgersdorp | 23 | Benjamin vd Berg | 2 of 2 Fichardtpark |
@Smallies (Comment #32)
Jy spel soos jou gat hoor
@Veg (Comment #31)
No mate Aliwal has sadly imploded…their hostel went from 90 kids to 12 this year they will slowly fade away from the rugby scene in the Eastern cape…realy sad as that school was instrumental in turning my boy into an provincial level rugby player.Their game against Volkskool Graaf Reinet was stopped at halftime when they were allready 50 points down ,take note that the used to beat Bolkskool regularly 😢
BURGERSDORP
Thanks Smallies
I didn’t know that but I am just very glad that Burgersdorp is fighting for their school.
I know another Old Grey who farms in the area and is very involved.
Unfortunately as we know this is the exception and long may them and Zastron carry on the fight.
Not sure whether Aliwal is able to also buck the trend.
I don’t know too much about Aliwal High but the feeling you get is that it is not what it was.
People still send their kids to Aliwal Primary and then it is to Bloem or Cradock. In the past quite a few from this area stayed and did their high schooling in Aliwal.
@Veg (Comment #21)
What grey do the last view years,they are recruiting the correct race players earlier so that freestate have a better team at cravenweek. Think it make sense to develop them.
@BoishaaiPa (Comment #27)
Pieter VD Merwe se pa het OA ook vir NOK seniors gespeel
@BoishaaiPa (Comment #27)
Stem saam…NOK was n harde ouens gewees,ek het as jong man nog in die laaste twee jaar se NOK liga klubrugby gespeel
@Smallies (Comment #26)
Dit was eintlik toe hulle die ou Noord-Oos Kaap (Swart broekies met goue truie) tot niet gemaak het wat die doodsklok ingelui het. Daai NOK spanne was kliphard in 70’s en 80’s
@Veg (Comment #21)
Burgersdorp also has an old Grey as coach….they made the right decision seeing as SARU murdered the EP CD CW side…
@buitestaander (Comment #22)
I agree with you entirely.I don’t think anyone of sane mind doesn’t find it totally ludicrous.
What I am am trying to say that instead of using Grey as a place to fill the quota if they worked a tad harder they could maybe unearth some guys and wouldn’t have to do what they currently doing.As has been mentioned it is taking place naturally.
Two of the stars of that Grey backline show you that.
@buitestaander (Comment #22)
Ek stem 100% saam jou, great post.
Laziness when it comes to selection in Bloemfontein is a huge thing. Boys are basically pre selected before trials. In 2017 the was a player from a small school (Castle Bridge) but played for Jim Fouche so JF couches knew about him so he made it into the Grant Khomo B team. After actual proper trials (Bondedag) he got promoted to the main Grant Khomo team as starting full back. He got a bursary to KES in 2018. In 2022 Jaco Grobbelaar and Katlego Lobakeng were the locks for the academy week, both went on to receive Junior Boks call ups post matric. In Bloem it’s all about working the quota numbers out then putting as many Grey boys as possible.
BUITESTAANDER
SELECTORS
Going back to my time at school in Bloem in the 1980s.
Due to the strength of Grey they have never had to work hard to have a competitive side at CW unlike Northern Free State or the smaller non existent unions like North Eastern Cape.
Fair enough you also have quota criteria to deal with these days but a lot of comments on this blog state that Grey 3rds would beat any other school in Bfn which may well be the case but you are meant to be choosing individual players to form a team.
That’s why trials are a valuable tool.
Especially for the guys from smaller schools.I am not even sure if they have trials anymore due to cost and logistics.
Lastly a shout out to Burgerdorp.
That is a platteland school in the North Eastern Cape who have got buy in from the local farmers and community to keep their school strong and offer a local alternative to kids in the area.
Long may it last.This takes a lot of effort,time and money from all involved.
Yes and outside of Oakdale and Outeniqua, the talent from that region is incredible. Many boys are scattered all over the country.
@Raps (Comment #18)
I think SWD are perhaps in the same position as Freestate but at least they have 2 major schools to choose the bulk of their teams from….
What people also forget is that Free State are probably one of 2 unions which relies on schools in just one city. Border ranges from Queenstown, King William’s Town, East London and other small towns. WP is Cape Town, Paarl, Stellenbosch and Wellington-ish. KZN have Durban, Maritzburg, Balgowan, Botha’s Hill and Hilton. EP have PE, Cradock, Hummansdorp, Uitenhage and Grahamstown. Griquas have Kimberly, Upington and the whole of the province. Lions have Johannesburg and Krugersdorp. Bulls are massively helped by prestigious schools that field up to 6 teams in an age group. Pumas and Limpopo have the provinces to themselves. Leopards have Potchefstroom, Rustenburg and Klerksdorp.
Don’t get what the moaning is about. Grey 4th team could walk the entire Wesgrow. Schools in Bloem are not strong at rugby anymore and that’s mainly because they don’t recruit. Jim Fouche has 2 recruits which are the De Wee twins, they were at Fichardtpark (schools are 7 minutes apart) until grade 9. Louis Botha is now seen as a soccer (1st ranked in the country and just signed with a big sponsor) and athletics school plus they doing well at cultural activities as well. Mathematics and technical subjects have been made compulsory since 2020 so the school does not offer commerce and art subjects. Afrikaans is also not offered as home language anymore which makes recruiting almost impossible. I know of kids that leave the school in grade 9 because they don’t want to take up technical subjects. Sentraal are just not taking its program seriously enough because they have a new flashy stand, gym and astro turf. Up north is a bit more competitive but not competitive enough, Welkom Gim and Witteberg are loaded. Trekkers and Trio are not far off. Goudveld are in a bit of mess but they’ll come good.
@Smallies (Comment #11)
Die man het opinies maar nie oplossings nie.
Die Peaches sal die Stadsbeker wen op die stadium.
@buitestaander (Comment #13)
In my opinion Noord Suid and Wildeklawer has been carrying a lot more prestige than CW for a while now …most provincial scouts have allready made up their mind about players participating in those tournaments by the end of Wildeklawer.If we want to preserve CW as the premier schoolboy festival it was then it should be made a private festival wich saru has no control over…
SELFDE TRAILS.
Hulle neem mos nie deel in selfde trails nie, dis nou n snaakse vergelyking wat jy maak.
CRVEN WEEK
@Rainier (Comment #10)
Look I’m in complete agreement with you. From a logical standpoint it just makes sense picking the majority boys from the no.1 school in that province. Not every province is as lucky as WC where you have 6/7 different schools who are regularly in your top 15 and even top 10 in the country.
@Rainier (Comment #10)
Party mense verstaan eenvoudig nie die dinamiek in Bloemfontein nie…
@HSBR (Comment #9)
Once again, how do you achieve it in a province with the Nr 1 school in the rankings from 2010-2024 and then the Nr 50 school in second place in the province?
@Rainier (Comment #4)
Some of the guys on the blog feel there should be a greater representation of all the schools in a province and not just one or two schools, that’s all it is
@Bungee (Comment #5)
Stem saam sit enige van die Wynland skole in Bloem en die situasie sal die selfde wees…
@buitestaander (Comment #1)
No mate the mockery is that Louis Botha who lost heavely against Sentraal have more players in these teams than Sentraal…
@Grizzly (Comment #3)
Ek twyfel dit sterk. Ek dink regtig ons oorskat die sterkte van ons spelers baie agv hoe mooi skole rugby lyk.
@buitestaander (Comment #1)
Let’s at least compare apples with apples.
Provincial first teams: Grey 19 – Paul Roos 2
Craven Week: Grey 19 – PRG 3
Provincial sides: Grey 30 – PRG 11.
Now to say this is a mockery is also outlandish, as the strength if the rest of the two provinces differ wildly. Switch the two schools around and you will probably have the numbers reversed.
@buitestaander (Comment #1)
Instead of just whining please suggest how you address this perceived mockery.
@buitestaander (Comment #1)
Exactly hoekom ek nie eers meer kyk nie. Sirkus. Dok Craven draai in sy Graf om. Dis hierdie oomblik wat ons jnr rugby gebeur. Grasshopper se altyd ons kan nie perform by /19 /20 /21 nasionale spanne nie. Ek sal 2 spanne kies(Ja ek) wat altyd in die final sal speel teen mekaar. Niemand maar niemand, GEEN land ter wereld kom naby ons jnr rugby nie.
Predicting a difficult CW for Greystaat this year. Don’t see them being in the top 5 teams this year.
CRAVEN WEEK