Hello once again,
Apologises for the delay between updates, it has been a rather hectic last month; trying to have everything in order for our first trials, preparing for and then cleaning up after the floods, bouncing between training venues and dealing with a lack of lights post flood; but now we are down to the lead up to our first game and getting back on track.
The last month has been quite eventful. Sadly the rain scared away a number of people from our Annual Day-Before-Australia-Day Games. We still made the most of the night and enjoyed a fantastic spit roasted beef and veggies meal for dinner, plenty of cold beers and lots of laughs. Sometimes the Gods just seem against you but we persevere. A big thank you to Kurt McLean and his “father-in-law” for organising and running the spit; if you are ever in need of a spit for your own functions I’d recommend having a word to Kurt (last year’s C-Grade captain/Allan out of the Hangover/Wolfman for any of you who haven’t met him) as he may be able to help you out.
After the rains came the floods. Luckily our clubhouse was spared any inundation this time around with the water peaking about half a meter below the ground floor level. A huge thank you to all the Tiger Family who turned out to help us move gear to higher ground and sandbag the club house. It’s amazing how much our club members and community will do to help out in a pinch. Thank You.
Of course while our clubhouse was safe our fields were turned into a lake once more. Thankfully with the council’s renovation of our grounds the drainage now seems to be very effective. Within a day of the flood waters receding our grounds looked ready to go. Of course they were still far to damp underfoot for use but had no obvious damage from the waters. We managed to make alternative training arrangements for a week or so by making use of Ipswich State High School’s ground, gym and pool until we were given the all clear to return to Cribb Park. A big thank you to Ipswich State High School for their help.
Whilst we returned home to our fields to train we did so without lights. Once more we made do with the limited resources we had for another fortnight until this week when, thankfully, the council restored our lights and let us get back into full swing. We are now back to training as per normal.
Old Boy’s Golf Day
Our Old Boy’s golf day took place last Sunday and had a great turn out. The boys were all in fine form when I returned to the club Sunday afternoon and it appeared a good time was had by all. Luckily the weather didn’t hamper their play too much with the team of Norm Scanlan, Brendan Scanlan, Glen ‘Blondie’ Healy and Dave Matthews taking out the day’s honours.
Trial Game No.1 – Saturday 23rd February
We have our first trial game on Saturday night against Toowoomba Valleys in Toowoomba. We will be playing one senior game with a mixed squad to try out combinations. There will be no Norths u18 game on the night. There will be a bus departing Norths at 2pm on Saturday afternoon and returning after the game. If anyone would like to join us on the bus ride please get your names in ASAP to myself or respond to our post on facebook. Please keep in mind that the trip back tends to get quite boisterous, as it is a chance for the boys to let their hair down, and not a suitable environment for children or partners. The bus will cost $5/person (the cheapest trip you’ll likely ever make to Toowoomba).
Charity Young-Guns Game – Friday 1st of March
A number of our C-Grade players will be taking place in the annual Young-Guns Charity match on Friday Night the 1st of March, 630pm, at Norths. Funds raised this year will go towards the Flood Appeal. This is the third year of this event which began as a match between Ipswich and Logan Dairy Farmers workers. The 2011 game raised money for the previous flood appeal and the 2012 game raised money for the victims of the Slacks Creek house fire. Come down, enjoy a meal in the club and help support a great cause.
Second Trial Game – Saturday 2nd March
Our second trial match will take place at home, after the juniors, against Inala on the evening of the 2nd of March. There will only be one senior game with the kick off time to be announced once juniors have their run sheet for the day sorted.
Blue and Gold Club Membership
Our Blue and Gold Club Memberships are still selling. With only 100 tickets available and a total prize pool of over $5000 be sure to get your name in quickly. The first draw has been moved back from Friday the 15th of March to Saturday the 16th of March to coincide with our season launch event. Any Blue and Gold Club Members (financial) will receive free entry into the Season Launch Event (entry usually $10).
Season Launch – Saturday 16th March
Our season launch is coming together for the evening of Saturday 16th of March. Juniors will be playing their first home games during the day before we hold our launch with arrivals from 530pm for a 6pm start. Entry will be $10 at the door (FREE for Sponsors and Blue and Gold Club Members) and include finger food and entry into 11 lucky door prizes. There will be a number of draws (Lucky door and Blue and Gold Club) throughout the night, an A-Grade first try scorer jersey number auction, a few TigerTV presentations and a Musical Act to provide entertainment at the end of the night. We are looking forward to a great night to kick of our season in style.
For anyone who hasn’t already, be sure to like our facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/northipswichtigers
and follow us on Twitter:
@NorthsTigers or
https://twitter.com/northstigers
to keep up to date with everything that is going on at Tiger Town.
You can also find us on the interwebz:
http://northipswichtigers.wordpress.com/
so be sure to add us to your favourites; as team lists, news items, TigerTV and more will be updated throughout the year.
All in all, after a very busy and at times rather trying month, we are glad to be back home and making final preparations for the forthcoming season. Thank you all for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you all at our season launch as we work towards making season 2013 the Year of The Tiger.
As always, Up the Tigers!
Shane Ritchie
President
Norths Tigers Senior RLFC
