Posts by sharky:
- Beer Olympics (legendary day of ‘sporting events’ found a couple Sharks on the winning team)
- Union & League share the same stage at the Donnybrook Cup (which found the Hibernians beating the NE Irish 43-5, despite what the AMNRL website says)
- Recent fundraising efforts raised money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation & the St. Baldrick’s Foundation (see shirts at the bottom of this page)
- Sharks Beef & Beer raised money to cover some operating expenses and support some of our sponsors
- and much more …
New post – comments?
January 26th, 2013Can I make a comment?
Comments Off
Friday Night Footy Under the Lights
June 20th, 2012The Sharks prepare to host the New York Knights under the lights at majestic ‘Shark Park’ in the heart of Levittown, Friday, June 22nd – 7:30PM.
This will be the first time in league history that NY has traveled to Shark Park and the boys are pumped up. After two crushing defeats last year in NYC, the young Sharks have a chip on their shoulder and have something to prove.
The Knights are coming off a tough loss against the Bulls so they will definitely be looking to get back into it with a strong showing against the Sharks. Many of the young Sharks consider the Knights to be our largest rival, but the old heads still consider the Bulls to be the toughest rivalry. Stay tuned for more information … the Sharks are excited to bring back the ‘Friday Night Footy’ to the area and are looking to make a big night of it.
F=ma … Sharks Win Home Opener
June 10th, 2012The Sharks win their home opener against a newly formed rival – The Northern Raiders by a score of 28-8. Playing the same team in back to back weeks created a lot of tension between the clubs and tempers flared as the game moved along. Zach Padgett (you are reading this correctly) got the scoring started early on as the Sharks jumped out ahead in the opening minutes. Some costly mistakes deep in our zone allowed the Raiders to get right back into the match. Johnny ‘pocket rocket’ Vella ducked through some tight spaces to give the Sharks the upper hand by halftime. The Sharks knew that they needed to put it away early in the second half and really wanted to keep the Raiders from picking up their bonus point. The big boys for the Sharks put in some hard yards throughout the match which kept the Raiders on their heels.
The second half opened with a strange grub kick from Steve ‘Lightfoot’ Thompson which opened the door for the Raiders to advance the ball inside the Sharks 22 in the opening moments of the 2nd half. Some tough defense kept the Raiders from getting the ball in the try zone and the Sharks battled their way into the Raiders side of the field. In an interesting development Sal ‘Just let me play 5 minutes’ Ranniello managed to execute the Levittown trifecta in record time by committing a penalty, get into a fight, and get thrown out within the opening moments of the 2nd half. We haven’t seen a performance like that since Shmitty stopped playing league over 5 years ago. Sal’s performance got the Raiders aggressive juices flowing and they tried to throw everything they could at the Sharks who refused to let them gain any momentum. Sadly the game ended with some more shenanigans as the Raiders again started throwing punches after clean, hard hits. Justin ‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a butterfly’ Zadnik evaded an angry Raider with moves he didn’t know he had. “I win fights by not fighting” said Zadnik in an attempt to sound Zen like which nobody believed. Thankfully we all live to fight again, or run again, depending on who it is.
Another big story on the day was the first ever Sharks ‘Reserve Grade’ match which showcased some young fellas who are getting to know the game.
Man of the Match – Dan Johnson
Reserve Game Man of the Match – Dennis ‘Spillz’ Lynch
Goose of the Week – Justin Zadnik
(picture below is some boat races at the after match drink up. Sadly, the Raiders were only able to send a handful of players to represent their club, but a good time was had by those in attendance)
2012 AMNRL Season Schedule
April 19th, 2012**UPDATED WITH NEW DATES**
Sharks tentative Summer schedule announced. It’s got some of the standard fixtures we have come to expect; including a pivotal game in the middle of the season against our long time rivals – The Bulls. Many of the younger players see the Knights as our biggest rival, but ask any Shark who has been around for a while and they will share their ‘Bulls’ story. Some of the greatest games the AMNRL has ever seen have been contested between the Sharks and Bulls. Some new teams in the competition opens the door to create more rivalries, and you can bet that the Sharks are up for the challenge. Every game counts, could this be the year of the Shark?
Saturday, June 2nd – Sharks @ Raiders
Saturday, June 9th – Raiders @ Sharks
Saturday, June 16th – NOVA @ Sharks
Saturday, June 23rd – Knights @ Sharks (possibly playing Friday, June 22nd under the lights at Shark Park)
Saturday, June 30th – Sharks @ Bulls
Saturday, July 7th – BYE WEEK (perhaps Shipos will host one of his legendary 4th of July parties)
Saturday, July 14th – Sharks @ NOVA
Saturday, July 21st – OPEN WEEK – MAKE UP GAMES; POTENTIAL NORTH VS SOUTH – USA B @ TORONTO B
Saturday, July 28th – War at Shore – Sharks vs Cats
Playoffs
Saturday, Aug 4th
1 vs 4
2 vs 3
Saturday Aug 11th – Grand Final – Location TBD
Recapping An Action Packed Month
April 2nd, 2012WOW! What a crazy month. We kicked off March with some notes and memories about the camaraderie and brotherhood that Footy fosters; and the past month has been a tremendous demonstration of everything positive that we love about the game. (and it’s off the field connections) Here is a quick list of what has been going on this month:
We would like to thank our sponsors that made a lot of this possible:
April is shaping up to be just as action packed as the Hibernians are fully engaged in their season, and the Sharks players/board members continue to work diligently on the upcoming Summer campaign. Plenty of Footy for everyone so stay tuned for all things Sharks!
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Shirts:
Live from the Sharkden w/ Tormey
March 29th, 2012Tune in for everything you wanted to know and more about Steve ‘The Velvet Fog’ Tormey.
Live from the Sharkden – w/ Sodano
March 10th, 2012Interview with long time Shark Ryan Sodano about the past, present & upcoming season.
Live From The Sharkden – Tomo
March 10th, 2012Hear the captivating story of how Steve ‘Tomo’ Thompson ended up in the States playing in the AMNRL and much much more in this fascinating tail of endurance and intrigue.
Brotherhood’s Our Rule We Cannot Bend
March 6th, 2012The word ‘mate’ has many different meanings, but in our global network of footy it refers to our unique brotherhood. The following note was sent from former player/coach Barry Randall from the Victoria Police Rugby League Club. Barry was here to play with the Hibos/Sharks back in 2000 and he has stayed in touch with many of the fellas over the years which is a testament to how thick our bonds are. This note was originally sent when he first heard the news, but it rings just as true today as it did 11 years ago. Barry recently came back with his family to visit some of the fellas here in the states and we picked up right where we left off. It embodies everything that is great in our sport; the camaraderie that cannot be formed any other normal circumstances. Of all the ‘laws’ that the various forms of our sport take on, the most important is the one we cannot bend: brotherhood.
“Some of the Hibos/Sharks know me, some don’t. I played with the boys in 2000 under Joe Kelly and then played with many of the same guys in the Sharks rugby league team that I coached, including Jesse.
When I decided to leave Australia in early 2000 for a year of living and playing footy in the USA, it was a huge leap of faith for me. I’d met Dave Niu and a few of the boys months earlier when I toured to the USA with the Australian Police Rugby league Team. I got talking to Niuy about coming back in 2000 to have a run with the Sharks. I came over a bit earlier and started playing for the Hibo’s as a warm up for me. I can remember turning up to my very first Hibo’s training with Niuy introducing me to the boys. Jesse was one of the first blokes to come up to me and shake my hand and welcome me on board. From that very first g’day, we became good mates. Jesse was often my taxi throughout the year, both for footy and social outings (drinks in town!). When we played down at Sea Isle City for the War at the Shore, it was Jesse that came and picked me up and drove me all the way in his jeep, music blasting as me, Sammy and Jesse talked the talk. I found out pretty quickly that Jesse just didn’t talk the talk, he followed it up with an awesome rugby ethic and work rate. Given he wasn’t a real big bloke, he had a huge heart when it came to the game and that goes a long way towards being a good footy player. I can still remember hearing the band ’3 doors down’ for the very first time, coming out of Jesse’s car on that trip to the shore.
He was funny, friendly and at times very intense and through it all, he made me feel welcome which was a huge thing for a guy that turned up in another country to play rugby with a bunch of blokes I hadn’t met. Jesse often asked me about Australia and was very keen to come and visit me in Melbourne. Before his death we had been talking about him and his family coming down under to stay with me so it was with great shock and sadness that I read Sal’s email telling me what had happened. I sat there stunned, staring at my computer as if it wasn’t real as I started to cry. I’m sure I did not know him half as well as many of the Hibo/Shark family did, but I know that I was proud to have known him and been treated so well by him. It was a true honour to have called him a mate. God bless you Jesse.” – Baz
Donnybrook Cup Update
March 3rd, 2012
