Welcome to this week’s newsletter!

How good to see the clubrooms and grounds absolutely packed last weekend for our seniors’ club day and the first official junior games of the season!

We would like to thank all the volunteers, staff and supporters who work tirelessly to make days like last Saturday run smoothly.

Anyone who took the time to eat with us last week, would also have noticed the fantastic food on offer. The Axeman’s lunch, team post-match meals, sponsor platters, kids, bar, and bistro meals were all prepared and served by brother and sister Steve & Lynda. Lynda and her team also run the Eat Food Truck, which last week was located outside, but for the next few weeks, will be operating directly from our clubroom kitchens.

We encourage you to like and share the team’s Instagram page, which can be accessed by clicking here.

On Wednesday, our junior sponsors, coaches, and managers, were lucky enough to get an advanced introduction to their awesome menu, with a Build Your Own Burger station provided, and it’s fair to say everyone was impressed!

The Eat Food Truck menu for this Saturday is below, so please come down and support Lynda and her team, who are stepping up to help over the next few weeks!

BAR OPENING HOURS – Sat 13^th May 1pm-late

The Eat Food Truck Team, Saturday's menu is below - YUM!!

CFC WEEKLY DRAWS

Official link to the Junior Draws click here

Official link to the Senior Draws click here

MATCH REPORTS

FROM THE SIDELINE

Premier Men’s Report:
Crying Towel Fixture:
Linwood 57. v Christchurch 0
Half Time. 10-0

 

 

Well the weather turned it on for Club Day. Warm conditions and no wind. A ground in good condition. All teams playing at home. A good crowd of supporters from both clubs.

The traditional pre match luncheon between the Christchurch Axemen and the Linwood Matadors entertained by two former participants from the 70’s. Tony Penny ( ChCh half back) and John Phillips ( Linwood loose forward) recounting the early years of the Crying Towel and the great rivalry. It appears the stories get longer as time goes on.

During the week Jerry Rowberry was welcomed at training to give the Premier boys a bit of history relating to the origins of the Crying Towel and to wish them well.
Quite pertinent this year as the Christchurch side only had one player Tana Luke who had previously played in this fixture.

A very young and new Christchurch side it appeared were heading into the unknown.
A bit similar to a famous charge many years ago in history called the “Charge of the Light Brigade.”

Linwood kicked off and early stages belonged to Christchurch. An early break by Jesse Bryant gave Christchurch a glimmer when The won the ruck inside Linwood 22 and went wide with Linwood scrambling ball out in the corner.

First points however came to Linwood when after a number of phases their industrious No 7 Rory Duff broke through a tackle in the midfield and had an easy path to the line. A Linwood penalty after 31 minutes gave them a 19 point lead at half time.

During the first half Christchurch defence was solid and the scrum was more than holding it’s own. Linwood had most of the territory, but was finding it difficult to make significant breakthrough.

Christchurch supporters at this stage were hopeful there was still a chance.
However the introduction of Keegan McGregor in the midfield for Linwood changed the tide of the match. After 3 minutes he made a break from inside their half resulting in a try. He had a hand in two more with long passes using width and skill and suddenly Linwood  had cleared out with two further tries in the space of 20 minutes.
Their hard straight running with someone always in support of the ball carrier found plenty of gaps in the Christchurch defence. A final length of the field try put the dagger firmly in Christchurch’s heart.

I must however make mention of Christchurch Prop Kalle Valimaki from Finland who never gave up chasing the Linwood wing 50 metres down the sideline in an attempt to pull him down. A great attitude by one who gave everything in a lost cause.

For Christchurch No 7 Sam Lawry chased everything, tackled hard and got some good lineout ball. He along with No 8 Zach Landon-Lane took the ball up strongly.
Jesse Bryant showed patches of what he is capable of. Breaching the defence on a couple of occasions and using his speed to make two crucial tackles. He was rewarded for his efforts with Christchurch Player of the Match.

Whilst results to date have not been great, there are players there who are showing good promise. There is something to build from. We have a scrum; the lineout has improved. We just need to eliminate the errors at crucial times and think a bit more about why we are kicking and when.
Some of it seemed pretty aimless on Saturday. If you kick you need to have some advantage or gain from that kick. It is not happening at the moment.

New Brighton this week. Never easy at their ground, however they also are struggling at the moment.

Congratulations to Lucy Jenkins on her selection in the Black Ferns.
The best selection they have made for some time. She will be there a long time.
I said in a previous newsletter I would bet the house on her becoming a Black Fern this year. Thanks Lucy, but I knew all along of course.

On another note, interesting to read Wayne Smith’s take on Super rugby at the moment.

All I would say is, that in rugby at the moment you need a wheelbarrow to carry the rule book.

Thought for the week:
“ Tough times don’t last.  Tough people do.”
It’s not how you get knocked down.  It’s how you get up.


Best wishes to all teams this week
“ Run until you are buggered and then increase the pace,”
Give em the Axe.

David Stuthridge
Sponge

PREMIER WOMENS’ REPORT

6th May 2023

CFC Women’s Premier v Lincoln University Ewes

11:30am Field 1

Full Time: 67 – 10

Saturday’s game saw the women’s team come up against Lincoln Uni. The women showed well with a 67-10 win. Despite the high scoring match Lincoln came out with noticeable line speed on defence and some strong phase play.

Lucy Jenkins opened up the scoring within the first 5 minutes of play, scooping up a loose ball while on defence in the oppositions 22m. The forwards were dominant in the scrum, securing the ball for the back line and stealing a couple as well. Irene MacArthur had a great game playing at prop with strong carries and solid scrumming.

While the forwards were setting the platform, strong ball movement and line breaks were coming out of the backline. Hard hitting from the forward pack allowed some sneaky plays out the back for some excellent tries on the wing and a couple kicks through for collection. 

With a solid platform built in the first 60 minutes of play, some of the new and younger players were able to get in the game for some valuable minutes. With the combination of the premiere reserve league and minutes in the premiere games, development of these players is massive.

With a BYE week coming up, the team looks to build off the last few weeks and use the momentum for second half of the season. 

It’s great to be able to have our contracted black ferns playing some club rugby across the 2 teams.

DIV 3 CHOPPERS’ REPORT

6th May 2023

CFC Choppers v Linwood B’s

2:45pm

Full Time: 45-26

While we might not play for ‘The Crying Towel’ this is our own version thereof and perhaps we need to call it ‘The Whingeing B’s’ and find some sort of fitting memorabilia to commemorate it with….

Saturday saw a replay of last year’s bowl final.  We won that one!

No doubt there had been a bit of banter in the lead up to this match.  We have a former Linwood player and they have a former Chopper.  We also did the double over Linwood last year after being well and truly embarrassed on No1 two years ago, so the B’s were out for redemption.  Unfortunately for them they’ll have to wait.

The game started off with us receiving the ball.  We managed to make some really good meters straight off the kick, ran a few phases up the field and ended up with a scrum about ten from the line.  Nick, playing at number 8 for the day, picked it up off the back and made a strong run to the line.  First blood to the Choppers and a great start.  We then let in a really soft try to level up the scoring.

We ended up trading scores for the first 20 minutes of the game before we could assert some control on proceedings and our third try seemed to really ruffle some feathers in the B’s team. It was like playing a game with 16 referees, but we just kept going. Thankfully for the most part we kept our discipline.

A shout out to Spitty for crossing the line in the first half for a well-deserved first try of the season for him.  He’s always in the right place at the right time.  

This came off one of our line out moves and went from one side of the field to the other.  This was especially satisfying as our lineout has had some challenges this year so when these fundamentals of the game come together it definitely adds the feel-good factor.  I came close at about two meters out from the line, only to be shut down by some solid defence and a back cracking tackle.  I’ll have to wait another week to get off the mark and you’ll be sure to hear about it if I do.  So long as the results keep coming, I don’t think it matters too much.

Danté, Malcolm in the middle, Jedward, AT and Chip, who captained the team for the first time in the second half, all crossed the line but Danté also had the ball stripped from him about 1mm from the line, – it was definitely a David vs Goliath moment, one that gave the B’s something to cheer about out of the game.

Our player of the day was Flo, who was immense from the kick off just eating away the meters with ball in hand.  Good job he had a good day on the field as his Player of the day darts effort was a little suspect!

We didn’t get through the game unscathed unfortunately and four games in the injury list is growing.  Malcolm in the middle managed to snap his Achilles and will probably miss the rest of the season.  He joins Jagar, who tore his MCL in the first game, plus two others in our centre positions.  Kez should be back for our game versus the Cliffords and if there are any second fives or centres keen for a run this weekend just sing out.

The game just before ours was the Nomads and one of their players suffered an horrendous injury.  I am unsure of his name but on behalf of the Choppers we hope that your recovery and rehabilitation goes well and you’re back on the field of play before long.

Overall, we have been really happy with the start we’ve had to the season, but over the next few weeks we have a number of tough fixtures that will test us and that starts this weekend with the Cliffords.

Great support on the sideline once again, for both the Choppers & the B’s; we really appreciate the support.

Rachael, we are still loving the photos – thanks again so much.

WHO ARE WE

Cheers,

Jez

CLUB MEMBER PROFILES

JUNIOR CORNER

What a great start to the season for the CFC Juniors! With mild and warm conditions, all of our teams took to the field last week for their first official games of the season.

With most grades undertaking two weeks of grading games, for the first two weeks, most teams are based in their grade appropriate hub locations. After this Saturday, the teams will be put into their respective sections within the grade and then we will start the home and away formats, U8+ grades.

Next week will see the first of our two junior club days (we have to be split over two days because we are too large to have all our teams at home on one day). Our U6-U11 teams will all get to enjoy playing at a CFC designated home ground and there will be lots of fun and activities for all our families to enjoy.

PLEASE do make the effort to come and visit our clubrooms during this event – we are reliant on you.

Wednesday 10^th May – CFC Juniors Sponsors, Coaches & Managers Event

We were really pleased to see over 70 of our CFC coaches, managers and selected sponsors attend our special event where we focused on how to create a strong team culture.

The evening was facilitated and led by the wonderful Jono Campbell, and everyone made the most of listening and learning from our expert panel, which included a surprise appearance from Kendra Cocksedge, alongside Steph Te-Ohaere Fox, Matt Todd & Marty Bourke, all of whom have strong connections to our great club!

Thanks to everyone who came along and the great feedback relating to both the evening’s content and the awesome food provided by The Eat Food truck team is very much appreciated.

Volunteer Recognition:

This week, we’d like to make a special mention to Andy Whitburn, the coach of our RIP Black Dragons Team

Peter Dooley, from the Halswell Wigram 8-10 yr old RIP team made the time to reach out to the club this week as he was so impressed with how Andy spent time supporting their young coach going over everything during the game, working with  both teams, to help make the game a positive experience for both teams and supporters.

We are so grateful to have fantastic coaches like Andy as part of our club – living our club values. Thanks Andy – keep up the awesome work!

CFC Junior 2023 Chocolate Fundraiser

GILBERT APPAREL – ONLINE STORE NOW OPEN!

An update from Regan, our Gilbert relationship manager on how delivery is tracking for orders placed during the first order window from the online store:

“Thank you for your online orders for Christchurch Football Club

Quick update with when your orders will arrive, 

Rugby Playing shorts have been sent out early and most should have these this week.

Crew socks / bags are due out next week.

Stock Puffer Jackets/ Vest / Core shorts / Omega Jackets/ Trackpants due out in around 10 days

Custom Hoodies, polos and tees will arrive in around 4 weeks.

Contact pullover jackets eta 6 weeks.

We will keep you all updated with any issues along the way if any pop up.

We have extra stock coming if you have any size issues”

We have a great range to order from with something for everyone from kids to adults’ sizes. More junior socks are on their way and should be available behind the bar again shortly as currently only size 8-11 are available.

We will be running a shop at the club during junior club day next weekend for a selected range of CFC Gilbert branded gear.

Our online store can be accessed here

Article added: Friday 12 May 2023