The Bull Sharks head up to Chipsy Wood Oval for their first trial games of the season against Souths on Saturday.
It will be a full day of football with two Colts and two Senior sides in action.
Bond University Director of Coaching Grant Anderson gives us the run down on what he and head coaches Mick Heenan and Rico Gear hope to see from the troops.
COLTS
“We’ve had excellent numbers at training with plenty of new faces so this provides us with our first real opportunity to get a look at some of these boys playing at Premier Colts level. It is great that we’ll have two full teams and plenty of competition built off the back of our U18s Lightning Premiership side.”
The Side
“There is a lot of competition among our forwards and there are still positions up for grabs. We’ll be watching how both packs perform on the weekend and it will be interesting to see which players will put their hands up for a Colts 1 spot for the start of the season.”
One To Watch
“I’m excited to see Callum Simpson in the midfield. He has been a part of the Reds’ under 18s program and we are looking forward to seeing what he can do this weekend.”
The Opposition
“Souths were runners-up last year in Colts 1 but in both games against us, they won by less than a try. We are expecting this will be a really good hit-out and will provide us with a great gauge of where we are at.”
SENIORS
“The pre-season has been good but we’ve been really looking forward to seeing our players in action against quality opposition. And with a new coach at the helm it is also really important that we bed down the way he wants the boys to play under opposition pressure.”
The Side
“It will be a mix of experience and new faces. It is terrific for our footy club to have Fred Dorrough at No.10. Fred is highly experienced and a very good footballer who captained our 7s side over the summer after returning from a stint playing in Europe and has signed-on for the Premier Rugby season. We’ll also have some firepower outside in last year’s QPR leading try scorer Hamish Roberts.”
One To Watch
“I’m interested to see how our John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship recipient Jordan Lenac performs in partnership with Fred Dorough. And we will also have a couple of younger players in Dylan Loader and Tobey Mayes, who have both come through our Colts program, play in First Grade for the first time and we’re really excited to be able to give them that chance.”
The Opposition
“Souths are always a tough opponent and they already have a trial under their belt so they will be more match-hardened than our boys and we expect it to be a really solid hit-out.”
Kick-off times
Colts 2, 11.05am
Colts 1, 12.25pm
Second Grade, 1.45pm
First Grade, 3pm