Canucks Rugby Club 2007 Senior Playing Season Recap
- Larry Jones, President-

As the season is now in the books, it is important to summarize, for posterity, the exciting times and progress that the club enjoyed in 2007.

The Canucks enjoyed a tremendous amount of success this year with all 3 senior divisions making the playoffs (the only club in Calgary to accomplish this feat) and the Under 18 junior side going undefeated yet again in the regular competition.

Firstly, the Thirsty Thirds made a comeback when the Old Boys decided that it was time to take the reins and combine a team that would consist of the old guard for experience and the young up and coming talent to provide the spark and enthusiasm. The Thirds record of 11 wins and 1 loss speaks for itself and there were some outstanding games where fun was had by all and the young guns learned a tremendous amount by taking in all that experience that was offered up for them.

The Thirds took it into the City Championship and lost a close tough game.  This year will undoubtedly be the beginning of a long run in Thirds, that is for sure, as the group kept getting stronger all year and the fun factor brought out some familiar faces that still have a lot of rugby left. Well done Thirds!

In Second Division the club was very strong all year and was led by Captains Mike Murphy and Mark Morrison to the playoffs where they met a tough contingent of South Sea Islanders from Medicine Hat. Regrettably teh boys weren’t able to pull off the upset.

We had many young players on that squad that gained invaluable experience and next year the 2nds will have an even younger and stronger squad. The future of the club lies in the experience received at this highly competitive level as we continue to emphasize our youth programs.

The success in those programs can be seen in First Division where we had 6 players at 20 years of age or under playing regularly in first division (Paul Spoering, Sunshine, John Ogilvy, Danny Schwarz, Dave Thom and Steve Inman)

The Club had a new coach in Matt King this year who brought enthusiasm, motivation, fun, variety and a good looking physio to us. It took a while to get the veteran club in to the win column as we got off to a late start but the goal of being highly competitive and ready for the playoffs came to fruition.

The club started off the playoffs against the Hornets who had been a nemesis all year and who were very confident. But with a few changes in the Canuck lineup and strategy they were surprised and the Canucks rolled over the competition handily.

Up next were the second place Irish who had beaten everyone during the season and the Canucks in the first game of the year. I remember Coach King at the time saying “We’ll get them in the playoffs.” In a battle that will stand as the toughest game that Calgary has witnessed in ten years, the Canucks won in double overtime by two tries led by the fierce resistance of the veteran pack and the shut down defense in the backs. The stands were filled with Canuck supporters and the day ended with more than few beers quaffed.

On to the Provincial Championship in First Division against the Saints in Edmonton in front of a large crowd. Unfortunately, the injuries took a toll early and the Canucks were not able to come back to score enough points in the second half despite the Saints only crossing the half way line once.

All in all, it was a great season and accomplished all of our goals. We were successful and highly competitive in all divisions, we brought up and provided great experience to our younger players and most importantly had more fun than any other club. As usual, no one was close to our performance on the social side both after games and in the Canuck clubhouse.

Moning into 2008, we will only be better as there are very few changes to occur in coaching or players. Everyone is excited and it will be a terrific year to play rugby on the pitch and celebrate the game off the pitch with your mates.