THE Carson Graham senior boys have been pretty big ball hogs in the Lower Mainland AAA rugby league for the past quarter century.
The Eagles have won 17 of the past 23 New Zealand Shields - the trophy awarded to the Lower Mainland champion each year - and have finished no worse than fifth in the province in each of the past 21 years. West Vancouver secondary has put up strong challenges in some years, 2013 certainly included with the Highlanders sporting the best record on the North Shore so far this season, but all-in-all it's been a dominant ride for the Eagles.
Recent years, however, have brought stirrings from a pair of upstart North Vancouver programs and early results from this season indicate that maybe the balance is shifting just a little. Argyle and Handsworth are much better known for their basketball and soccer programs but after years of running as rugby also-rans, they're starting to prove that they're no pushovers on the pitch.
Handsworth head coach Curry Hitchborn has been involved with the program as a player and coach for more than a decade and in that time he can't recall too many victories over Carson Graham.
"You can absolutely list it on one hand," he said with a laugh. This year, however, the Royals added to the list, scoring a 23-19 victory over the Eagles last month. The three North Vancouver programs actually played a bit of rock, paper, scissors this season with Carson Graham knocking off Argyle 17-7 and the Pipers taking a chunk out of the Royals with a 22-7 win.
"Argyle jumped up and surprised us, threw the kitchen sink at us," said Hitchborn. "My guys weren't ready for that kind of fight."
The great thing, according to Hitchborn, is that each match now is much more of a fair fight, each team coming in hopeful of a good result.
"You're not just going to go out and win a championship because you go to a certain school," he said, adding that the Carson program may have come down a bit but mostly it's the rest of the bunch catching up. "What you're seeing is you get a lot of kids who get developed in the (Capilano Rugby Club) go out to their other schools, bring with them that level of play. You're seeing an evening out of the playing field."
Hitchborn has a lot of respect for Carson and their program - he's an assistant coach for the Capilano Rugby Club's premier men's team that is head coached by Tom Larisch, who also happens to be the head coach at Carson Graham.
"I'm with Tom three or four times a week - I know Tom a little too well," said Hitchborn. "He's a brilliant coach, he's dedicated, hard working, he's very kids-first but make no mistake about it, Tom is one competitive dude."
That makes it all the more sweet to take down the Eagles.
"There's always been that hilarious Carson theory, like 'Oh, Carson. Oh no, Carson!'" Hitchborn said in mock horror, adding that with the growth of other programs like Handsworth and Argyle, that attitude is changing. "They're no longer this horrific powerhouse that they used to be, now they're just another group of teenagers."
Ultimately the parity benefits all of the teams involved, said Hitchborn.
"I think it's great for rugby overall," he said. "You look at a school like Carson Graham that has held pretty good sway over results these past couple of years and to finally have other teams come up through the willingness of volunteers, the engagement of kids at the provincial, national and club levels - you're seeing way more positives out of this than back in the day when Carson would roll out and put 70 points on a team. I think it's good for Carson as well. . . . It's good to have competition. It's great for these guys to be able to go out there and play against other teams and not get blown out or blow other teams out. That doesn't help anybody."
This conversation so far, however, has mostly neglected two important points as the Lower Mainland playoffs approach. One is the aforementioned West Vancouver Highlanders who beat all three North Vancouver teams this season to finish league play with a 3-1 record.
"West Van has always been a strong program," said Hitchborn. "That's an excellent example of kids buying into rugby at an early age, coming to the front, realizing the potential there."
The other neglected piece is Vancouver's St. George's, the No. 1-ranked team in the province who kicked the snot out of all of the North Shore teams this season, scoring 196 points and giving up just 10 to finish with a perfect 4-0 record in league play. The road to the New Zealand Shield will no doubt travel through St. George's this season.
Whatever happens in the Lower Mainland playoffs, all of the teams that emerge will be threats to do damage at the provincial championships, said Hitchborn. Last year all four North Shore teams made it to provincials with Carson finishing second, Handsworth seventh, West Van 10th and Argyle 14th.
Provincial play can seem tame in comparison to the local wars on the North Shore, said Hitchborn.
"When you face these teams from the Valley and you've had Argyle up in your face or Carson up in your face or West Van up in your face - those local teams that throw the kitchen sink at you - it makes it a lot easier playing a Yale or an Elgin Park when there's a lot on the line."
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The Lower Mainland AAA playoffs begin this week but as of North Shore News deadline the final schedule had yet to be confirmed. Check the Sports page at nsnews.com on Monday for an updated schedule.