Hi Onka family,

This is the president's report for July. I'm running a little late with this one because we've had a lot going on in the run up to finals.

With only one round remaining for juniors and men and two rounds left for the women, we're getting close to finals and the end of the year. Our U12s, U16s, U18s and Women will all be competing for the big prize this year, with our U12s being undefeated and the Women currently sitting second on the ladder. We are looking forward to some big games.

We have some big days down the club planned also - with the Family Fun Day scheduled for this Sunday 9th August starting at 11am. We'll have plenty of activities, a sausage sizzle and the bar and canteen will be open. We also have been successful in our application to host the first round of finals, which has been made even bigger by a Women's super round, meaning that all of the final round Women's games will be played at Onkas on that weekend also. We're going to need lots of volunteers and support for our teams, so make sure you head down on the Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th August.

As we count down to the end of the year we also are planning the presentation nights for seniors (The Bobbys) and juniors. These will be great nights to celebrate the players, the club and our achievements this year.

While not all the results have gone our way across the grades this year, its been encouraging to see the commitment and buy-in from players across all grades and genders and I really feel that we are building a strong foundation for success.

Around the club, the committee has been busy also, with some projects this year - we have completed the new gym and are in the final stages of planning to be able to open it up for use - stay tuned for more info. Coupled with the honour board upgrades, which are now complete and the new equipment shed door - we have managed to deliver some big upgrades, with more planned to come. We also currently have the updated constitution out for review among members and are hoping to put it up for approval at the AGM, once all comments have been addressed.

And to finish with the official stuff:

As we come into finals and the end of the season, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the official Strike we received last year. These strikes are a disciplinary measure by RUSA to control poor behaviour from clubs and we received one after on and off field behaviour at finals last year. Its important to remember that poor behaviour doesn't just impact on the offender, but can also damage the club as a whole - an additional Strike would cost us a hefty fine and loss of premiership points across all grades - and no-one wants to be the one who has to explain to the teams that they are the reason the team missed finals.

In general our disciple on and off the field has been great this year and we need to keep it that way for finals when we have all of Rugby South Australia watching us. Lets get out, have fun and passionately support our club but remember that abuse of players, officials or other attendees has no part in our great game, and can lead to you being removed from the event or further sanctions.

Here's to a big finish to the 2026 season and big things to come!