Griffins Confirm Player Numbers for 2026 Enough to Field a Doubles Suburban Ping-Pong Side

🦅 THE GRIFFINS GAZETTE

Special Report — November 2025

Rugby ambitions placed on hold as club pivots to more manageable competition.

In a modest but notable development, the Griffins Rugby Club has confirmed it has secured sufficient player numbers for the 2026 season to compete in the Suburban Doubles Ping-Pong Championship.

The announcement follows an off-season in which a significant portion of the 2025 playing group departed for rival clubs, leaving the Griffins’ depth chart in its most precarious state since record-keeping began. With a full XV proving out of reach, club officials have opted for a competition requiring only four participants, a target described internally as “refreshingly realistic.”

The new committee comprised of old boys with a collective career win rate in the low teens said a pivot into the sport they play in Asian dorm rooms is really a growth opportunity.

“We really see the only risk being we lose either one or both of our players to a rival start up suburban ping pong fraternity” said one club official

.Pictured is John Gumb and Johnny Gumb who’ve elected to sign on for next years season

Early ping-pong sessions have reportedly featured the hallmarks of traditional Griffins rugby: committed enthusiasm, intermittent accuracy, and spirited debates with officials over marginal calls. Coaching staff maintain the group is “building nicely,” with at least one player successfully mastering a legal serve.

Whether the shift represents a temporary measure or the dawn of a new sporting identity remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that for the first time in several seasons, the Griffins will enter a competition with the required number of players — a detail the club intends to celebrate accordingly.

More to come