The Bull Sharks delivered the perfect finals tune-up at the weekend, racking up huge margins across the board against Norths and sending a clear message that they’re ready for the finals.
Premier Men, Premier Women and Colts 1 all closed their regular seasons in emphatic style, while Second Grade secured their own spot in the playoffs — meaning the club will field four sides in the finals for the first time in history.
The wins all featured slick attack and physicality in defence. Lopsided games can often lead to a lapse in standards – but the coaches were thrilled with the attitude and discipline of the players.
Premier Men
Bull Sharks won 60-26
How it was won
I just think we outworked Norths. Our contact skills were much improved. I thought we executed the basics better than Norths did.
What made you happy
The scoreboard was good. The guy's turned up with the right attitude and I have to give them credit because the result didn’t matter. We turned up ready and scored three quick tries in the first ten minutes. Norths were out of finals contention, and I think that probably knocked the wind out of them a little bit. They came back and scored a couple of tries after we'd blown attacking opportunities, but I was impressed with the way the guys prepared during the week and how they turned up ready to rip in.
Bull Sharks Footy
Norths have some really big powerful players and I thought the way we matched their physicality was a good way to prepare for Wests in the minor semi-final.
The challenge
Rhys Sheriff, Dan Boardman, Jordan Lenac and Dylan Roe were all rested, and we managed to get seven guys off about 50 minutes in. Tyler Campbell and Liam Daniela and five forwards. So we were able to give solid minutes to the second grade back row and front row. Players like Harry Bell, Harrison Usher, Morgan Reedy, Mak Fonamonu and Kaia Gate came on and did the job.
Trademark Player
Matt Engelbrecht set the tone once again. And Tai Dowling at full back got us going with a super solo try in the opening minutes.
The final word
I’ve said to the players there’s three parts to any season, there’s the pre-season, there’s the regular season and there’s finals. They are completely different and the whole purpose of the regular season is to get yourself in finals. You want to get yourself in finals with some confidence, which we've got, and you want to be healthy, and we’rereasonably healthy.
With Mick Heenan
Colts 1
Bull Sharks won 59 – 31
How it was won
We just had too much fire power. You’re not going to lose too many games when you score 59 points.
What made you happy
We were looking for a performance that could really launch us into the finals and we got it. The attitude was right, the effort and discipline were there. It wasn’t perfect and there’s always areas we can work on, but that was exactly what we wanted to see in the final game of the year.
Bull Sharks Footy
It was all about putting guys into different positions and the players getting a feel for it, just in case we need cover during the finals. And there was also a couple of guys that needed some game time, they had been off the bench for a couple of weeks. And a couple who could do with a freshen up. Kenny Harris needed a bit of a break, he throws his body out there every week and gets bashed around so it was good for him, he came on for the final twenty minutes and did very well. The players all understood what we wanted to achieve out of the game, and we’re now better placed for a finals campaign.
Trademark Player
Max Angove was one who needed some work. He started and played the whole game, and he did really well. He is one of the players we needed to give the best opportunity to be ready for playoff games and his performance on the weekend was good for him, and for us.
The work to do
There are always a few things that go out the window when you shuffle your side around. We conceded 30 points at the end of the day. They probably scored three tries off turnovers that we don’t normally make, and we made those because of personnel changes. So, there were some learnings from the boys there, particularly with our kick off receiving and there was a couple of lineouts that we didn't secure, and it led to their tries.
With Rico Gear
Premier Women
Bull Sharks won 57-0
How it was won
We strung some really good phases together, we structured our attack very well and were able to score some really good tries.
The challenge
It was one of those games where we had players coming back from injuries – some that had been out for a while. So we were really left with one game before finals to identify any areas we would need to work on.
What made you happy
The result was good, but for us it was important that the returning players slotted in so comfortably. It was like riding a bike for them.
Trademark Player
Jemma Bemrose had a really good game. She missed a lot of footy for us this year with the Reds and then injury, so it was great to see how well she performed. She will be an important player for us.
With Lawrence Faifua.