The Canal will come alive for Saturday’s Past Players Day, which will see the Bull Sharks try to rain on Sunnybank’s parade.
Colts 1 will be looking for a convincing win to improve on their current fifth place standing, with the return of Australian under 20’s representatives Kenny Harris and Jonah Rangiwai sure to provide an extra dose of excellence.
Meanwhile, our premier women will be bolstered by the return of several Reds players, who will provide depth and experience against a hard-hitting Dragons’ side.
Premier men will be looking to avenge last week’s loss to Norths in front of a home crowd, including several of the club’s founding members.
Premier Men
Last Round
L 34 – 38 against Sunnybank
The Opposition
There has been a bit of disruption, as we lost our skipper, Tyler Campbell, to a significant leg injury It's a very even competition, Sunnybank are a dangerous team, and they will be motivated to win. They are toward the bottom of the ladder, but they have beaten some good teams. They have strike power and some good players.
The Challenge
We need to be able to control the ball when we've got it and defend well when they have the ball. They play a really open style of footy, so we need to get on top of that early on.
Shuffling the magnets
We've got Will Rua moving from number eight to 12. Herami Murray is being called away to the Reds. Dylan Rowe will come in at number eight to start, and we've got Fergus Gillan coming back in from the side after being injured last week. Dion Samuela is having his first start of the year as a fullback, meaning Luke Depiazzi will move to 10.
Ones to watch
Looking forward to seeing how Luke and Dion can combine and work together.
The Focus
Heavily focusing on our defence. We defended poorly last week, letting too many easy tries through. We also need to work on finishing our opportunities. We created plenty over the past week but didn't quite finish them.
Final words
The boys will be motivated to put on a good show for Old Boys' Day!
- with Mick Heenan
Colts 1
Last Round
W 36 – 27 against Norths
To get five competition points from any away game is a huge win, which was our end goal. There was a lot that went into getting that goal. It was a very hard-fought win, but we got there in the end, so we’ll take it and move onto the next week.
The Opposition
Sunnybank have been the huge improvers of the competition and are moving about their business quite well. They’ll provide a very tough challenge at home for our boys.
The Challenge
They bring energy and they bring enthusiasm. They are generally very good in unstructured attack, so we’ve really got to be on our game both defensively and field position wise, to deny them that opportunity to attack. They’re a very momentum-based team so we can’t allow them to get on top of us.
Shuffling the magnets
We will have our two Aussie under twenty reps returning in Jonah Rangiwai and Kenny Harris. It will be great to have them back in the team.
Ones to watch
Keanu Rasch stepped up and led from the front, getting us over the line on the weekend. Being Old Boys’ Day back at home, he’ll be one to watch. Another one to watch back at home is Kobe Nouanrasy.
The Focus
Each week is an opportunity to improve on what we’ve done and keep raising the bar – not maintain it, raise it. It’s about keeping on doing what we’re doing, but at a higher standard, improving each week.
Final words
Our last performance at home was below standard. Being Old Boys’ Day, we are looking to fix that and put in a performance that’s worthy of not only our team, but also to make Bond University old boys proud to be associated with the club still.
-With Adam Fahey
Premier Women
Last Round
W 68 – 12 against Norths
We set a goal for our two sides to come away with two maximum point efforts, and we achieved that in both first and second grade, so we were very happy.
The Opposition
In first grade, it will be second versus fourth and in second grade, it’s one and two, so a top of the table battle there. It’s going to be a really big day for both sides.
The Challenge
Sunnybank traditionally have a big pack and also strong running, hard hitting backs players so it’ll be a pretty massive challenge for both of our teams this weekend.
Shuffling the magnets
The Reds played a trial match on Sunday so we’re awaiting some information around availability of some players. With our injury toll, both of our teams could do with an injection of Reds players to help us.
Ones to watch
We blooded a 16-year-old on the weekend in Kahleah Graham who wore the ten jersey. She gave a really good account of herself and was able to back up in second grade as well off the bench and put in a really good performance there. She had a good day out and performed really well in a high-pressure position.
The Focus
To embrace the physicality that we know is going to be coming from the Dragons’ teams. We want to be able to absorb all that pressure coming from the contact in the collisions and be able to play our footy. I’m confident that if we play our footy, we’ll be extremely competitive in both games.
Final words
Our Reds are tied up with the Super Rugby Womens, so this is probably the last chance for us to have some Reds players available until finals time.
-With Setu Naseri