West Sydney Gridiron Celebrates 25 Years

The 2010 season marks 25 years of Pirate football and to celebrate the Club held a luncheon last Sunday to mark the occasion. A number of players, both past and present were on hand, including the Clubs Founder and first Head Coach, Dan Cole and his wife Rita, who flew in from Adelaide to attend the event.

On the day -

¨ Award winners from the 2009 West Sydney Pirate team were announced

¨ Award winners from the 2010 West Sydney Trojans team were announced

¨ A 25th Anniversary All-Time Team was named

¨ John Pongrac and Craig Russell were awarded Life Membership of the Club

Details of the 25th Anniversary Team and the Life Membership awards will be added to the website in the coming weeks, but to see the Award Winners from the Pirates 2009 season select this link - Pirates 2009 Award Winners

A Lions Perspective

Stephen Dunne is the Head Coach of the Sydney University Lions and during his time at the helm he has guided his team to ten consecutive Waratah Bowl games, winning the last seven in a row. He is a well credentialed and highly respected adversary and here gives his thoughts on 25 years of Pirate football.

Congratulations on making 25 years. An incredible achievement.

The Pirates! I have an enormous respect for what the Pirates have done: being competitive year in year out is a very difficult thing to do. I have been in the league for 15 years and it seems like every year its the Pirates who are ready and competitive.

But more than that its the character you show every year. I find myself saying the same thing before every game: that you will never quit. A game against you demands effort for the full 4 quarters, because I know your effort will be relentless. There have been rare occasions when the Lions have been able to dominate the men in Black and Silver, but if you look at the record the next game is always tighter.

You will know your history, but I will mention one guy that I have enormous respect for. Ian Taylor has been coaching longer than anyone else in this league. I am only at 10 years and Ian - is it 15 or nearly 20? Head coaching for that long and that well is worth a tremendous amount - to your club and to the game. Ian has done a wonderful job.

I often say that its not the trophies or the medals or the yardage and stats that count, its what you share with your team mates and the respect you earn from your opponents. On a personal note I will tell you that in 1998 I quarterbacked the Lions to a big win over the Pirates in a semi final. As we shook hands in the line QB Marcus Kringas - a guy I admired immensely - said, Thanks for the lesson. I felt 10 feet tall. Ive never forgotten it.

So I will say that now: thanks for the lesson, Pirates, on how to play the game - always tough and always with character.

Gridiron NSW Division 1 Season - Week 2

The Pirates opened their 2010 season in the worst possible fashion when they were beaten 24-8 by the Sutherland Seahawks. The Pirates were out-paced, out-enthused, and generally out-played by Seahawks and now face a major attitude adjustment before their next game.

In Week 2 the Pirates face the Central Coast Sharks in what shapes as a critical game even this early in the season. The Sharks were soundly beaten by U.T.S. Gridiron in their season debut and will be looking to gain some respect this week.

The game will be played at the U.W.S. Nepean Hockey Centre at Kingswood and will kick off at 4.00 pm.

In other games the Penrith City Outlaws play their first game of the new season when they take on the North Western Predators.

Two first-round winners meet when the Sydney University Lions face the Bondi Raiders.

U.T.S. Gridiron will be looking to continue their dominant display against the Wollongong Mustangs.

The Seahawks have the Bye.

The Pirates opponents for the season are shown above, but to see the entire 2010 Draw and Standings simply follow this link - 2010 Division 1 Draw

It promises to be an exciting season, so make sure that you check back regularly for all the news on the League and the Pirates.