The Bond Bull Sharks are entering a crucial phase of their Queensland Premier Rugby campaigns.
There is a lot on the line against Souths this weekend.
The three-time premiership winning women have found the rest of the competition have studied their tactics, adopted them into their own game styles and are often executing them better.
The Colts bounced back into the winners circle last week against UQ, but they are still chasing consistency. Revenge against the Souths side that knocked them out in last year’s major semi final would be nice too.
And the Premier Men just desperately need a win.
Get down to The Canal on Saturday and show your support.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Bull Sharks v Souths at The Canal
Premier Men
Last time we met
Rd 17, 2024 at The Canal
Souths won 57-21
The defence that day from the Bull Sharks was poor. The players didn’t have the right attitude, and they paid a heavy price.
The opposition
They play a very simple game. They have a big pack, big centres and they play a high physicality power game.
Shuffling the magnets
Kaleb Ngamanu Moana will move into the centres to replace captain Tyler Campbell and we need to find someone to come in for Dion Samuela. Deon Evans Ao is back from injury and will press for selection.
The focus
We won’t change the way we play. Because I don’t think our mistakes stem from a lack of skill. There has been a lot of dropped ball, but we have played all our games in wet conditions and both teams have dropped a lot of ball. We just have to develop a more ruthless mentality to be switched on for every minute of the game.
The final word
We don’t fear anyone in the competition, but if we continue wasting opportunities, we won’t be too successful. We will get opportunities against Souths we just have to make the most of them.
With Mick Heenan
Premier Women
Last time we met
Rd 17 at The Canal
Bull Sharks won 49-0
It was a comfortable win that set us up well for the final series.
The opposition
They are a much bigger team who will rely on bash and crash bully tactics.
The challenge
We have to stay in the grind. If we can do that we hope to be able to attack in the last 10-15 minutes of each half when they tire. That is when we can try to exploit them out wide.
Shuffling the magnets
We will try and keep the line up pretty settled this week and give everyone a chance to respond to last week’s performance.
One to watch
Eva Doblo went really well in her first game of the year last week, following a serious knuckle injury, and will get better and better. She has great vision and is able to create space and opportunities by beating an opponent with her footwork and then looking for a support player. She will be really good for us this season.
The final word
We just want to see progression in the way we react to different situations. Our skills and our athleticism are there, we just need to take the right options and be disciplined with our support play.
With Lawrence Faifua
Colts 1
Last time we met
2024 Major Semi Final at GPS
Bull Sharks lost 18-17.
Where was it lost:
It was a heartbreaking end to the season for Rico Gear’s men who weren’t able to produce the accuracy of previous weeks. They were sloppy in key moments and gave up a lot of possession. We endured a very hard end when the referee made a call on us at which gave Souths the penalty to win the game.