Bond University surged into their first Premier Rugby grand final as the Bull Sharks with a commanding 47-14 win over Easts in Sunday’s preliminary final.
The Bull Sharks exploded out of the blocks to open an early 21-0 lead. And while a yellow card allowed the Tigers a brief foothold, a turnover try and another before the break pushed Bond out to a 35-7 half-time advantage. From there the contest was all but sealed.
Coach Mick Heenan praised his side’s muscle in the contact areas and their resilience on the line, saying defence had underpinned their surge through the finals. “Even at the end of the game when the result wasn’t an issue, we showed good character, especially in defence,” he said.
Dan Boardman was rewarded as player of the round for his impact in both attack and defence, with Tyler Campbell strong alongside him in the centres. The return of Wallaby lock Josh Canham added further steel up front as the Bull Sharks booked a historic Hospital Cup decider against Brothers.
It was a double celebration on the trip back down the M1 with 2nd grade fighting back from a 12-0 half time deficit against GPS to win 21-12 and join the Premier Men and Premier Women in grand finals.
Premier Men
Bull Sharks v Easts
Bull Sharks won 47-14
How it was won
It started really well. The guys brought a good energy and enthusiasm from the kick off and when you get a bit of reward for that early, momentum builds. So, we were up 14-0 pretty quickly and then 21-0 sooner after. We lost our way then for a little bit. There was a ten or 15 minute period where we had a few turnovers, got a yellow card and Easts had us under pressure. They got the score back to 21-7 in that period, but then we got a try from a turnover deep in our own area and that took the wind out of their sails. We got another one before half time we went into the break leading 35-7. I wasn’t thinking it at the time but in retrospect, the game was probably over by then.
What made you happy
I just thought we muscled up at the contact. In attack our cleanout was very good and then defensively, we held them out time and time again on our own line. Even at the end of the game when the result wasn't an issue anymore, we showed good character, especially in defence.
Bull Sharks Footy
Defensively we have been very good for the past three weeks. That is what has got us into a grand final.
Trademark Player
It’s a great question. There's so many. I thought our centres were important again. Tyler Campbell and Dan Boardman were very good. I think Boardman won the player of the round that the QPR hands out and he deserved it. He had a good hand in two of the first three tries and his defence has been fantastic.
Our forward pack was great. Josh Canham coming back in was huge for us. He did a great job and was a real physical presence. He won a lineout on our own line during that period that Easts had us under pressure.
With Mick Heenan