From the archives - 2013

by Brendan Bradford 

With the end of the season upon us, the Rugby News team of Jim Davis, Jim Webster, Terry Smith, Paul Cook and myself got our collective heads together and spent the last few days compiling the inaugural Rugby News Shute Shield Team of the Year.

We imposed relatively few restrictions on who could be selected, but they must have played a decent amount of Shute Shield rugby in 2013. This disqualified a few players, as did injury. There were no limits on the number of players selected from each club.

A couple of players were shoo-ins and plenty of debate surrounded others with the backrow being a particular point of contention. There’s no lack of depth in the 6, 7 and 8 jerseys in Sydney club rugby.

It wasn’t an easy task, and not one undertaken lightly. Plenty of worthy players were overlooked and another strong side could easily be picked from the massive talent pool that is the best club competition in the country.

All that being said, here is the 2013 Rugby News Team of the Year:

Props – Toa Asa and Tim Metcher

Toa Asa is incredibly nimble for a big guy. His work-rate around the park rivals a backrower and the Randwick bookend never just joins a ruck – he destroys them.

Southern Districts tighthead Tim Metcher played against the British and Irish Lions twice this season - first for the Force then for Combined Country - and his scrummaging has been lauded by none other than Al Baxter. Big wraps indeed!

Hooker – Steve Fualau

Fualau filled the gap left by John Ulugia in the Southern Districts front row and proved more than just a stop-gap solution. With considerable ITM Cup experience for Canterbury and Auckland, Fualau was a member of the Pacific Nations Cup winning Samoa side in 2012. When push comes to shove, he can even kick goals.