David Ward

2014 Colt’s Season – Week 8

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The Trojans hosted the Sydney University Cubs at Craik Park for the week 8 clash. The bad weather stayed away to allow an unimpeded  game of football.

The Trojans offensive miscues in the first half put the Trojans behind. There was not 6 turnovers like in the first clash of these teams, but many opportunities were missed. In fact the only Trojans’ score in the first half was a length of the field interception return by Adam Goddard. Trojans’ defence and special teams keeping them in the game again.

The second half was better on offence with the Trojans scoring 3 touchdowns, but this was not enough with the Cubs scoring on a kick-off to give them a 9 point lead late in the game. The Trojans rallied but too little, too late saw this one go the way of the Cubs, 30-28.

The offensive issues was simply a lack of training attendance in the previous weeks resulting in bad execution come gameday.

 

Trojans’ 2014 season kicks off.

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Just a reminder that our West Sydney Trojans begin their 2014 campaign this Saturday night (March 1st) when they take on the Central Coast Sharks at Craik Park, Austral.

Let’s get down and support our Colts as they fight for the 2014 “Kookaburra Bowl”.

West Sydney and Defyance

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Defyance

The West Sydney Gridiron Club are pleased to announce an association with Defyance Gym Wear and Apparel. Defyance have a great range of gym wear including –

– Figure 8 Lifting Straps

– Lifting Belts

– Gym T-back Singlets

– Gym T-shirts

– Compression Pants (Skins)

– Compression Long Sleeve and Short Sleeve Shirts (Skins)

– Wrist Wraps

– Sweat Bands

Check out and like the Defyance Facebook page

 

2013 Division 1 Season – Week 2

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Sharks

After a first round Bye the West Sydney Pirates opened their 2013 Division 1 campaign with an emphatic 48-0 win over the Newcastle Cobras in Week 2 of the season.

It was another early start for the Pirates in Week 6 as they travelled to Berkeley Sports Club, past Wollongong, for the 10.00am game against the Central Coast Sharks. Despite the 39-6 win to the Pirates it was a sub-standard performance and something that needs to be addressed, and quickly.

The First Quarter saw neither team take control, but it was a converted Marlou Tacugue Touchdown run which had the Pirates up by 7-0 as the period came to a close.

The Second Quarter was a case of missed opportunities and mental errors and it wasnt until the final two minutes of the half that the Pirates skipped away thanks to two converted Touchdowns, both passes to Dean Toskoski. The score at the half was 19-0 in favour of the Pirates.

The Second Half started on a positive note for the Pirates as they took the opening kick off and marched down the field on a mixture of run and pass plays. But all the good work was brought undone when they were unable to score any points from the Sharks 1 yard line. The inept display was compounded as the Sharks moved the ball downfield with apparent ease and capitalised with a long TD pass to bring the score to 19-6. A strong run by Jason Gangaram resulted in an unconverted Pirate Touchdown to extend the lead to 25-6 as the Quarter ended.

Whether the Pirates were sparked into action, or fatigue started to tell on the smaller Sharks squad – perhaps a combination of the two – the Pirates kicked into gear in the final period. Touchdown passes to Ash Best and Reece Fitzgerald blew the score out, and some stronger defense by the Pirates meant that the Sharks were unable to add to their total, leaving the final score at 39-6 in the Pirates favour.

The Pirate Offense was patchy to say the least, and it was mainly mental lapses which saw them squander good field position and potential scoring opportunities.

The Defense seemed to be a yard too slow all day and were lucky that their opponent also suffered from mistakes or penalties which killed drives.

Quite frankly, the score flattered the Pirates and was not a true indication of the quality of the game. It was a performance best forgotten in the hope that a higher standard emerges in the weeks ahead.

West Sydney Gridiron Award Winners

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The West Sydney Gridiron Club held its annual luncheon to honour the outstanding achievements of the past seasons. Members of the 2012 Pirates and 2013 Trojans were on hand to celebrate and recognise the individual winners.
 
The first major award of the day was presented to David Ward in recognition of his outstanding international career. David became the most capped player in Australian Gridiron history when he played for the Australian Outback against the Polynesian All-Star team earlier this year.
 
Awards were then presented to both the Pirates and Trojans in a number of categories with the main awards – Team Most Valuable Player being won by –
 
Shannon Lynch – 2012 Pirates and Jarrad Clarke – 2013 Trojans
 
To see a complete rundown of all the Award Winners, go to our History page from the links above.
 
Our congratulations and thanks go to all the Award Winners for their outstanding contributions to the Club.

Trojans in the State Team

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The NSW State Colts team, the Wolverines, headed to Canberra to compete in the Gridiron Australia Junior Nationals series. The Junior Nationals were played in Tuggeranong between April 16 and 20.

It was hard to find information about who had actually made it into the Wolverines squad but thanks to Trojans Head Coach, David Ward, we were able to officially recognise and congratulate the following Trojan players who were been selected –

Earnest Capangpangan (Quarterback), Jarrad Clarke (Wide Receiver), Kieran Foster (Defensive End), Josh Head (Running Back), and Myles Jones (Offensive Lineman)

Another Pirate Milestone

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The 2012 Division 1 season marked another milestone in Pirate history when Dean Toskoski became the 19th person to achieve at least 10 years service with the silver and black. Dean joins a long list of people who have contributed to the success of the Club, many of whom are still active within the organisation.

Dean joined the Club in 2003 and has played most of his career as a Wide Receiver and he has also seen time as a Defensive Back. He has represented New South Wales on several occasions and was named to the Pirates 25th Anniversary All-Time team as a Wide Receiver in 2010.

We congratulate Dean on reaching this significant milestone with the Pirates.

An Amazing Milestone

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DavidWard300

Pirate Quarterback, David Ward, has reached an amazing milestone in what has been an outstanding career for his Club, State, and Country.

In the Week 13 game against the Newcastle Cobras, David notched up his 300th career Touchdown pass.

In an even more amazing statistic, that record does not include those Touchdown passes thrown while he was playing with State or National teams.

The 300th TD play was a simple pattern to Running Back, Marlou Tacugue, who outpaced the opposition to score, but it was enough for David to break through the magic barrier.

Davids career actually began with the now defunct Penrith City Outlaws and he joined the Pirates in 1999 where he has been the main man at the controls of the Pirate Offense ever since.

His career has been interrupted by a number of injuries, most notably two major knee injuries (in 1997 and 2011) but he has been able to bounce back to lead the Offense to some amazing successes, including reaching the post-season with the Pirates in every year bar one of his career with the Club.

Everyone at the West Sydney Pirates congratulates David on a remarkable achievement, and we look forward to many more Touchdown passes to come.

West Australia Crowned 2012 National Champions

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The West Australia Raiders pulled off an upset with a 42-35 win in the final game of the Australian Gridiron League against the NSW Wolfpack. The Raiders win saw them remain unbeaten in the tournament and secured the 2012 National Championship title. It was a tough and bruising encounter and every bit deserving of a National title decider with the better team ultimately winning on the night.
 
The Wolfpack were not disgraced though and can be proud of their effort in the tournament and in previous years as well.
 
Our congratulations go to the following Pirate players who were selected for the team –
 Ash Best (Wide Receiver), Nathan D Cunha (Offensive Lineman), Hany Georgy (Offensive Lineman), Josh Kaivaha (Offensive Lineman), Shannon Lynch (Defensive Lineman), Marlou Tacugue (Running Back), Dean Toskoski (Defensive Back), and Dean Valesini (Defensive Lineman)

A Coaching Milestone

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The Pirates Week 6 game against the Sydney University Lions marked a milestone in the coaching career of Head Coach, Ian Taylor. Coach Taylor became the first person in NSW League history to have coached 200 Division 1 games, but the occasion and the pre-game ceremony came as a complete surprise as he explains –
 
I was totally unaware that I was about to reach 200 games as a coach so the guard of honour by both teams and the ceremony before the game to mark the occasion was a shock. To be honoured in such a way was really appreciated and for the 200th to be a game against an opponent who I greatly respect made it even more special.
 
My thanks go to Coach Stephen Dunne of the Sydney University Lions who initiated the proceedings, League President (and long-time friend) Darrin Mitchell for his kind words, and from the Pirates David Ward, Mike Sea, and Kim King, amongst others, for going to the effort of bringing the whole thing together.
 
My first coach at the Pirates, Dan Cole, always said that if you are good to football then football will be good to you, and how right he was. I have been very fortunate to have been with a Club and a sport that has enabled me to have so much fun over a long period of time.
 
Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it.