FIRST SUTHERLAND SEAHAWK PLAYER REACHES THE NFL.

We've had some success over the years with former players heading off to play college football but for the first time a former player has reached the NFL.

Blake Muir has decided on an offer with the San Francisco 49ers and will head there for off season training before returning home to Australia in a few weeks. He will be team mates with fellow Australian and former Rugby League star Jarryd Hayne.

Blake played for the Sutherland Seahawks Colts and then Senior team in 2009, leading both teams in sacks and forced fumbles, playing defensive line, tight end and offensive line.

He joined the University of Hawai'i Warriors in January 2011 and redshirted as an offensive tackle. In 2012 he set testing records for the OL in the Clean, shuttle and vertical leap then started all 12 games at Left Tackle. A new coaching staff had taken over in Hawai'i and Blake felt that his football career would be better off elsewhere, a good decision given the 10-37 record the program had from 2012-2015.

Blake was able to find a new home at Baylor University in Texas, part of the Big 12 Conference. The school had turned around 2 decades of poor performances into a new era of success with new Head Coach Art Briles. Blake would be joined by his brother Sean at the school and the two of them were able to spend the last 3 years together going to school, training and playing.

With room mates in Texas.

Bringing back some Baylor gear for the Sutherland Seahawks Junior players.

Running out at the new home stadium.

Blake was present for two Big 12 Conference Championships, 3 Bowl Games, a win in the Russell Athletic Bowl at the end of the 2015 season and the highest ever rankings for the program. His 37 career starts in 37 eligible games set him up as a genuine prospect for the NFL in 2016.

Blake's Pro Day results were excellent, having the best performance in the broad jump at his position and several other top 10 results.

As captain for the 2015 Texas Tech game.

There are numerous people to thank.  

Coach Gordon Shaw was the only coach to offer a scholarship in the beginning as the OL coach at Hawai'i from 2009-2011 and Blake's first OL Coach.

Paul Manera at Bring It On Sports who was integral in introducing connections for Blake to explore when he decided to transfer to a new school and help his brother Sean to join him at Baylor.

Coach Randy Clements and Coach Art Briles at Baylor who really wanted Blake as a prospect and coached him his final 3 years.

Shire Speed and Strength has been the home of training and development of players at the club since 2009. Contact Coach Pete to find out how you can learn skills for general preparation training in the weight room, sprinting, agility and jump development.

It has been to the club's benefit that Blake has gone on to bigger and better things. He is a great example of what student athletics is all about, adding to his football successful with numerous conference academic awards and Dean's lists at Baylor.
 

As always you can follow Blake and Sean's diary page here, and pay attention to the club Facebook page for more information when it comes.

Peter Upham
President
Sutherland Seahawks
coachupham@shirespeedandstrength.com.au

COLTS TEAM AWARDS AND RECORDS 2015 SEASON.

There were multiple achievements from the 2015 Colts team.

Its 3rd straight championship and 8th overall for the club came with a second straight undefeated run.

Whilst 2014 saw a massive leap in the performance of the offense, in 2015 it was the defense that vastly improved.

The 2015 unit limited opponents to just 2.76 yards per play, a new season record that tops the 2006 team's 2.82 yards per play. 2014 allowed 4.09 yards per play.

Touchdowns allowed drop to just 4 for the entire season. That is down from 16 in 2014 and equals the club record of 4 from the 2003 team; arguably one of the best defenses the club has ever had.

Takeaways equaled the 2014 total of 26 but it came from 118 less plays. In 2015 a turnover came once every 11.7 plays! Just better than the 2003 record of 1 in every 12.4 plays.

Sacks were down in 2015, only 20 after last years' record 34 for the season. But more importantly, 1st downs allowed were down from 86 to just 37 in 2015.

The 2015 defensive unit also saw a record for points scored themselves, with 8 touchdowns returned and 2 safeties scored. 5 touchdowns was the previous best.

Individually the defense saw Dylan Dinale equaling the record for touchdown returns with 3, he also led the turnover count with 5 altogether; 4 interceptions and 1 fumble recovery.

Jackson Young broke the record for forced fumbles in a season, having 8 this year, the previous record being 5. Young also led the tackle count with 61 for the season which is 9th all time. He also led the defense in sacks with 8 and fumble recoveries with 4; 2 of them returned for touchdowns.

Offensively, there was a drop from the all time records set in 2014. Rushing avg was 6th highest ever with 6.43 yards per play, rushing touchdowns finished with 26 which was 4th highest all time. Haoping Tang had the 5th highest rushing yardage total with 777 yards, his 19 touchdowns good enough for 2nd all time for the Colts team in a season.

Passing touchdowns equaled the highest ever output of 26 in a season with the 2006 campaign. That put QB Daniel Besz equal with 2006 QB Trevor Chambers.

Justin Whiting's 438 yards left him at 3rd all time in receiving yards in a season, Jake Wedesweiler ended up 6th with 368. Their reception totals of 35 and 34 respectively are 3rd and 4th all time for the club in Colts football.

The offense gave up just 4 sacks on the season, the lowest since 2002 which had 3. Turnovers were down to their lowest ever level from 1 every 42.9 plays in 2014, to 1 every 47.4 which is the lowest ever for a season, a credit to all offense players, Center Bailey Cribb as much as anyone.

The Team Awards:

Team MVP: Jackson Young 61 Tackles, 8 sacks, 8 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries 2 returned for TD. 9 receptions 2 TD, 2 PAT's.

Offensive MVP: Haoping Tang 111 carries for 777 yards 7 yard avg, 18 rushing TD, 7 receptions 88 yards 1 TD.
Defensive MVP: Dylan Dinale 24 tackles, 4 PBU, 1 fumble recovery, 1 forced fumble, 4 INT, 2 returned for TD.


Rookie Offense: Jake Wedesweiler 34 receptions, 368 yards, 8 TD, 5 PAT.
Rookie Defense: Andrew Di Cesare 28 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery.

Seahawk Spirit Award: Bailey Cribb Club record low 4 sacks allowed.