Secretary's Word : The First Insight

A new addition to the Team Secretary’s role this year includes the weekly team commentary, or a look of what goes on behind the scenes. Rather then give you an in depth report of day-to-day events on the training field, I thought it might be more entertaining to concentrate on what happens off the field. So sit back, enjoy the game, and share a few giggles!

The weeks leading up to Michaelmas term are always jam-packed with things to do, people to see, and places to go (that includes our two week trip to Japan). The top priority for most players is to find somewhere to rest their head at the end of a tiring day. Long before departing for Japan, alliances were made dictating future house buddies.

This is a particularly sad year, as the ‘Summerbay Dinning Club’ had its final meal at the end of the summer. The original four members of Tim Barlow, Dave Lubans, John Allen, and myself formed the makeshift club 2 years ago. The four lived in Summertown, but due to the two Aussies members (Dave and John), our humble abode soon became known as Summerbay. The ‘Dining Club’ term came into play when infamous dinners were hosted – how could we forget the salted cookies Charlie!! I’d like to pay tribute to the amazing friendships I’ve formed with everyone at SBDC, the three lads, and more recently Sladey, Kenny, and Henry (now at London Wasps). Incidentally, Tim Barlow fell in love with a girl here at Oxford and will marry Charlotte in Oxford in 2006 - Dave and I are the best men! John Allen, now back in Sydney, has also recently got engaged to the lovely Emily James. Congratulation to them both – who’s next tee hee, I better keep my mouth shut on that one!

This year three prominent institutions have already been established, similar to SBDC. On St. Mary’s street, Peter ‘Old School’ Raftery, Sean ‘Big Man’ Brophy, Benny ‘Laws of Physics Don’t Apply to me’ Durham, and Dr. Pete Jenkins take up residence in ‘The Skip’ (no introduction needed for that one). Arch rivals at ‘Warwick Castle’ live the dubious characters of Adam ‘The Magic Man’ Slade, Adam ‘Dark Horse’ Harris, Tom ‘I Dump My Mates When I Go Clubbing’ Hayman, and James ‘I Need Hug Before I Go to Bed’ Gaunt. A comic feud has already kicked off between the two establishments. Last week Broph tried to con young Jags by impersonating an old girlfriend via text messages. However, the plan was quickly foiled, and to cut a long story short, the Skip now has three stink bombs to add to their existing house odours (probably an improvement then)!

The third and final instuition dwells on a much higher echelon relative to the other two and certainly deserves a separate paragraph. The ‘Rose Manor Country Club’ houses two of the most charismatic players in the squad, Richie ‘The Absolute Legend’ Woods, and Anton ‘The Other Absolute Legend’ Van Zyl. You won’t catch these two caught up in petty amateur games. No no, they have more important things to do, like organising a house warming – invitations in the post. Till next week…

Richie Woods (St Anne’s)