The Bull Sharks came away with two strong wins and a near-miss in a round that showed plenty of promise — and a few reminders of the work to do.
In Premier Men, the side overcame an awkward GPS outfit at Yoku Road with a dominant second-half display.
Colts 1 fell agonisingly short in a 38-36 thriller. While the Bull Sharks scored more tries than their opposition, a lapse in game management and missed kicks ultimately proved costly. Still, there were positives — including the response from Callum Simpson, who came off the bench and helped spark a late surge.
Meanwhile, the Premier Women wrapped up the Hospital Challenge with a commanding 44-17 win over Gold Coast Eagles. With round one against Wests looming, the performance was a timely confidence boost and a clear sign that preparations are on track for a big opening to the season.
Premier Men
Bull Sharks v GPS at Yoku Road
Bull Sharks won 31-24
How it was won
We controlled the game really well in the second half in the sense that the Jeeps only got down into our 22m maybe twice and we camped down in their 22m the whole time.
Our forward pack was under a bit of pressure all game although I think our defensive lineout was pretty good.
The challenge
In the first half we didn’t take the opportunities to score and bombed two or three tries and we made some pretty bad errors that handed Jeeps a couple of tries. Jeeps are an awkward team to play, they go really hard at the breakdown and we didn’t deal well with that.
What made you happy
We created a lot of opportunities in the backs and scored some good tries in the second half.
Trademark players
Heramaia Murray played his first game for the club on the weekend and his try bought us level in the second half.
Work to do
We’ve got a bit of work to do around our physicality and our scrum. We also have a bit of work to do around our work off the ball, we were just a bit slow to get ourselves into position.
With Mick Heenan
Colts 1
Bull Sharks lost 38-36
How it was lost
We probably did enough to win, but the biggest thing I saw was that Jeeps were just a bit more desperate, and they played like it. Whereas we had moments where we probably just took the foot off for a little bit, and a couple of blokes just weren’t switched on. But to be fair they deserved the win.
What made you frustrated
We were only 50 per cent off the boot with our conversions and we missed a couple of easy ones, including the one at the very end that would have tied the game.
What made you happy
We scored more tries in them, which is always pleasing. We're scoring a lot of tries. Last year we were really lucky to score three or four tries but we’re scoring six or seven tries some weeks in which is a good sign.
The work to do
We had a couple of set piece turnovers, which we've been dominating everywhere. There were two free kicks against us because we took too long which means we weren't organised. There was also some game management at No.10 and once again we made some mistakes in the backs, so we have got plenty to work on.
Trademark Player
Callum Simpson had dropped back to the bench this week because his decision making had been a bit off. His response was excellent. When he came on at No.10 he was very good and he probably got us back into the game.
The final word
The scoreboard clock said seven minutes remained when GPS hit the lead. The referee called it two. The Bull Sharks had their player rotations organised to finish with a strong lineup. “I think because it was such a tight game, the last five ten minutes becomes crucial. We had a plan on how we wanted to finish and that went out the window and we ended up scrambling a little bit.”
With Rico Gear
Premier Women
Bull Sharks v Gold Coast Eagles
Bull Sharks won 44-17
How it was won
We definitely improved on the week before around the ruck and with the fundamentals. Also our tactics were much better. Our game managers got everyone around the field well.
What’s next
Everything has been built towards that round one battle against Wests. We know if we win that game, we put ourselves into a real good spot to reach finals. So we will go hard this week and then going into the Wests game we’ll take the foot off the pedal and do a lot of game plan work.
The focus
I have already picked my team for the opening round so we’ll do a fair bit of work running that team against the rest of the squad in opposed sessions.
With Lawrence Faifua
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