The Bull Sharks return to The Canal for the first competitive hit-out of 2024 and the opposition couldn’t be much tougher.
The men make the step-up against QAFL club Labrador while an experimental women’s side play a Grand Final rematch against Aspley.
Both games will feature a blend of seniors and reserves players and will be played across six 20-minute periods.
Director of AFL Andy Lovell breaks down what he and his coaches hope to achieve from the games.
MEN
“We’ve had over 70 players at training most nights across summer so there is a lot of competition for spots in our squads ahead of the start of the season. We can use unlimited numbers across six quarters so we will try to give everyone a run and use it to try and select our final squads.”
The Side
“I’m excited to see the relationship our new coach Shaun Hart has built with his players. The energy and intensity at training has been at another level over summer and I can’t wait to see how that translates to game day. We have between 25 and 30 new players and we’ll also be trying a few established players in new positions. Liam Viney has been the standout trainer over summer, and we have great expectations for him this year. He has very good across half back last year until he went overseas late in the season, but we think he can be a premier inside midfielder in this competition and he’ll start there on Saturday.”
One to Watch
“Nick Scott will play his first game for the Bull Sharks after joining us from QAFL club Surfers Paradise. He is the only one of our three big name QAFL recruits who will play with Kain Ford and Matt Green sitting this one out. We expect him to provide great leadership, especially with his experience at this level. He has great speed and elite skills which we were really looking for behind the ball and we are excited to see the influence he can make on our ball movement from defence.”
The Opposition
“This is undoubtedly a step-up for us in terms of the quality of the opposition, especially with the speed of the game and the skill level. So that presents a great opportunity. Labrador have recruited really well, and we expect them to be there when the whips are cracking in the QAFL this year.”
WOMEN
“Training has been super-competitive all summer and the girls are desperate to get out there against proper opposition. The depth of quality has improved significantly which is really putting pressure for positions on at training.”
The Side
“It will be a new-look side with many regulars sitting this one out and we are really excited to see what some of the players we’ve selected do with the opportunity. We will trial some girls in new positions and will be keen to see if they can make the transition. Sally Evans will play across half back while our premiership-winning skipper Paris Lightfoot will leave the back six to get closer to the action and will play on a wing.”
One to Watch
Our premiership ruck Jasmyn Davidson is going to make the move to half back. We are looking at ways to help her get drafted. She’s a good player but the feedback from AFLW clubs is that she’s not tall enough to play ruck at the elite level. We think she can develop into a key position player that might improve her draft chances and we’ll support her in every way we can.”
The Opposition
“Aspley have recruited really heavily so we expect them to be very experienced. We’ve heard they want to try to find another level of physicality to try to shut down our outside ball movement which is where we got them in the grand final.”
Bouncedowns
Men, 9am
Women, 12 noon