No more worlds to conquer?

Short and Sweet Message from Tony George, Club Captain

Select managed to clinch the Third Division on Saturday. They beat Police 37-10, securing the bonus point necessary to put Valley Mustangs under pressure. Sure enough, they couldn't manage enough points against Kowloon Pussies, so Select take the title on points difference.

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So that's it then (this is Harps again, by the way, although you had surely already noticed the improvement in style). HKFC completes what is believed to be an unprecedented clean sweep of Divisions One, Two and Three. As our esteemed Captain pointed out, his first season at the helm "could have gone worse." Now that it's happened, there is a certain sense of inevitability about this tremendous achievement - it now seems that anything less would simply have been disappointing. And, of course, in a sense, it would have been. HKFC has been blessed this year with a large pool of committed, talented players across all divisions: if we had not brought that strength to bear, we could justifiably regarded it as a failure.

I think that's the burden of "big" teams everywhere, whether that means the All Blacks on the international stage, or the club with the best player resources and facilities in an amateur league. And we've seen how the expectation cripples the ABs when it matters, and how all of their talent, all of their resources and all of the support they have from a rugby-mad nation is not quite enough when they are confronted by, if I may, more committed, more cohesive teams in knockout situations.

I'm not here to knock the ABs (although it does have its pleasures), but - on a much more modest scale - Club have often been victims of a similar dynamic in the past. As the team with the biggest player group, the best facilities and the highest expectation levels, they have been outfaced by teams from smaller clubs playing with more hunger, more togetherness and the enormous motivation of beating The Establishment. Not so any more. Club have taken the enormous step forward of combining their historic strengths with a new intensity and drive. The coaching staff and all the players can take enormous credit for that, and the rest of Hong Kong rugby should be afraid.

In a fever of excitement, the great darts commentator Sid Waddell once said of the-then young darts champion Eric Bristow: "When Alexander of Macedonia was 33 he cried salt tears because there were no more worlds to conquer - Bristow is only 27." Like Bristow at that time, a mainly young Club team have carried all before them in Hong Kong. So what next?

Well, first and foremost, there is a knockout cup final to be played against HKCC at King's Park on Saturday. There is a point to prove here: HKCC have beaten Club 2-1 in three matches this season, although one of Aberdeen's victories was later overturned because of an improperly registered player. Club have an opportunity to (i) set the record straight against HKCC and (ii) wrap up the knockout cup in addition to the league championship. And this should not be missed.

In the long term, it will be critical that Club does not sit back and bask in the reflected glory of 2007-08 for more than a few weeks. Otherwise they risk falling into the trap that claimed England after they won the RWC in 2003. Great teams do not win one-off championships - they dominate for a generation, or a generation's sporting equivalent.

The season is not over for Dragons either: they must face Division One side Causeway Bay on Saturday. It is unquestionably within Drags' power to beat CWB, who struggled badly in Division One this season, and go on to a "glory" final against Kowloon (providing they beat PLA). The structure of this knockout competition makes it a hiding to nothing for the teams from the higher division: win and no-one is impressed; lose and it's embarrassing. But for the teams playing up, it's a real chance to make a point. Drags can do this, and argue their Division One credentials to the powers that be.

All the best for now
Harps