EASTWOOD, PARRAMATTA, GORDON & PENRITH

by Paul Cook –

The new Shute Shield season kicks off this Saturday with 12 teams facing off over 18 rounds to vie for six finals places and a shot at title glory. With half the competition boasting a new coaching set-up and plenty of player movements to discuss, Rugby News went around the grounds to find out the lie of the land and how your side is looking for 2015…

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EASTWOOD with John Manenti

Last Season’s Ladder Placing: 2nd – 74pts (Champions)

Ins: None

Outs: Andrew Clyne (long term injury); Jed Gillespie; Pierre Hola; Pat Sio (leaves in June)

Captain: Hugh Perrett

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With three Grand Final appearances, two Premierships and four Minor Premierships in his five seasons in charge at Eastwood, head coach John Manenti knows a thing or two about getting the best out of his players. The longest serving coach in the Shute Shield enjoyed a stint with the Greater Sydney Rams in the NRC off the back of last year’s title success and after recharging the batteries in the off-season, says he is now relishing the prospect of defending their title. Player movement has been minimal with no gains of 1st Grade significance and only the impending loss of French bound Pat Sio in June, and the promotion of prop Jed Gillespie to the Rebels, disrupting a squad that on paper at least, looks set fair to be heavily in the mix again come September…

Overview:
“It’s a club that I always say punches above its weight. We don’t have a lot of resources in that sense but we have managed to be relatively successful in 1st Grade and in the top three or four clubs in the Club Championship for the last few years and while winning things is always your ambition, we’re performing well above where we should be on a consistent basis and that’s an achievement in itself. We’ve had a very different pre-season than in the past because none of the NRC players trained with us until February and we will, I expect, have a much slower start to the season as a result. Probably our greatest thing over the last five years has been consistency. We’ve had bad days and lost a few but generally, we’ve been consistent and put ourselves in a reasonable position from which to attack the finals and we’ll need to be better than we were last year if we want to be there or thereabouts again.”

Key Areas of Improvement:
“Our depth is certainly not what it was last year and we’ve lost a few players through the lower grades in particular, so that will be a challenge. Andrew Clyne will be a big loss for us because I thought he was the best lineout forward in the comp last year and with Steve Cummins having left during last season for Melbourne and Jed Gillespie joining him, you’re talking about losing potentially your two best lineout forwards and our best scrimmaging loosehead, so we’re going to be a work in progress. In the backline at the moment, if they stay fit and well, there’s not going to be a lot of changes so I think the biggest challenge for us is to be inventive and keep them stimulated with some variation etc to keep them fresh and excited about their game.”

New Sensation:
“Matty Gonzalez – Promising young halfback that will be good to bring into games at the back end, he’s got real speed.”

Hopes/expectations for the Woodies in 2015?
“Aim to be in the top three at the business end of the season and give yourself a crack at going all the way again. It would be nice to go back-to-back and defend your title but I can say from experience that it’s bloody hard the second time around because every team wants to knock you off your perch, you have to keep players motivated and you need a bit of luck on the injury front. We may not blow the socks off everyone in the first half of the year but if we keep working hard, we’ll put ourselves in the right position for the back half.”

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PARRAMATTA with Gerrard Fasavalu

Last Season’s Ladder Placing: 7th – 41pts

Ins: Nigel Vaifale (Penrith)

Outs: Joe Dakuitoga; Myles Hunkin; Josh Kaifa; Josh Kron; Rodney Ma’a; Sakaria Noa; Alex Samoa; Sililo Savea; Dion Taumata; Lani Tiatia

Captain: Andrew Cox

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Gerrard Fasavalu took his first steps as a head coach last year and guided the Two Blues to within one place of what would have been only their second Shute Shield finals appearance in the last 20 years. Blessed with an abundance of attacking talent, it was their inconsistency and an inability to close out some of the tight ones that proved to be their downfall but the platform appeared to be solid enough upon which to build some greater structure and maybe go one better this time around. The off-season has seen a handful of 1st Grade departures but Fasavalu is confident that he has the squad depth to not only survive but prosper and a trial run against the Super Rugby champions has instilled a positive mindset…

Overview:
“There was no need for any motivation, just playing against the Waratahs, and the Super Rugby champions, was big enough. It was a good opportunity for the guys to put their best foot forward and set a benchmark in terms of the level they need to play at in order to achieve their aspirations, and that’s on a consistent basis, week-in, week-out. We’ve got a very young first grade team, last year the average age was 22, but they’re willing to learn, absorb and better themselves, not only as footballers but as men. I’m very comfortable with the boys we’ve got coming through, it’s just up to us as coaches, to make sure we educate them up to the standard where we need them to be.”

Key Areas of Improvement:
“Mental application and attitude, both as individuals and as a group, and not just the players but also us as coaches and as a management team. We were quite weak in our scrums last year so that’s been an area we have looked to address and will continue to address as the season progresses. We’ve had former Wallaby Tony Daly coming down to training to help us out but while we’ve seen some improvement, until the comp starts, we won’t know if the work that we’ve put in will bear fruit.”

Hopes/expectations for the Two Blues in 2015?
“We’ll take each week as it comes and as long as we improve and hit our targets, I’ll be happy.”

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GORDON with Geoff Townsend

Last Season’s Ladder Placing: 10th – 28pts

Ins: Nick Faumuina (NZ); Lefu Ioapo (Eastwood); Mark Johnson (overseas); Ben Lawley (Sydney Uni); Luke Rissman (overseas); Harry Rorke (rugby league); Lucas Simkin (returning from injury)

Outs: Johnno Broome; Matt Gordon (long term injury); Matt Hayter (long term injury); Jack Maguire

Captain: To be confirmed

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Geoff Townsend returned to Sydney club rugby last season on a rescue mission. Having performed admirably in similar circumstances at other Shute Shield clubs in years gone by, he was the go-to man tasked with turning around the fortunes of a Highlanders side that had fallen far and fast since their back-to-back Shute Shield semi-final appearances of 2008-09. A shocking run of injuries heavily disrupted the first half of the season but the last few rounds saw signs of a young side blossoming, warming to the task in hand and proving to be more than a handful for any opponent. 2015 then, looms as a potentially large step in the right direction towards their intended aim of finals football…

Overview:
“We had five 1st Grade footballers requiring surgery within a 20 day period, all within the forwards, and we didn’t see Jack Dempsey, who’s now training with the Waratahs, until about round 14, so we didn’t have a lot of luck on the injury front at all last season. We had a lot of trouble bending the line when we lost all those forwards, we were often running into brick walls so that when we had the ball, it was always a bit of a chore trying to get any go forward but those guys got better in their execution as the season went on, learned a few more tricks and started to come to terms with our style of play and we certainly had some pretty competitive performances towards the end of the year. Souths went to the Grand Final and we finished our season with a five tries to four draw with them and we also pushed Uni all the way as well. We’ve got the basis of a good backline there, we have some, if not all, of those forwards back, so it’s all really positive at the moment.”

Key Areas of Improvement:
“We’ve got to be more potent up front and we’ve got to try and get some more bonus points. We created opportunities but we didn’t quite have the potency to finish them off but this year, I think we can play in a couple of different ways which is a bonus, whereas last year we were probably a bit limited in how we could play the game. There’s reasons to be optimistic but there’s also a lot of boys who we haven’t really seen the heat of battle yet so it will be interesting to see how they go against Easts in round one.”

New Sensations:
“Luke Papworth – He’s still eligible for colts but he’s pushing hard for a 1st Grade position in the backrow and is an exciting prospect.
“Harry Rorke – He’s a lock that we’re looking forward to seeing back on board. He’s got over all the injuries he had when he went to Manly in league and if he gets it right, he could be sensational.”

Hopes/expectations for the Highlanders in 2015?
“We as a club would definitely like to finish in the top half of the club championship and maybe even the top four. We think that with the numbers we have in our colts now and the depth we have in the club that we should be competitive in all grades. I’m not putting a figure on where we can finish in 1st Grade but overall, the big thing for the club is to really move up in that club championship.”

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PENRITH with Teki Tuipulotu

Last Season’s Ladder Placing: 12th – 21pts

Ins: Jason Havea (Eastwood); Phoenix Paeu (NZ); Kevin Palavi-Fiu (Warringah); Johnny Poe (Parramatta)

Outs: Daniel Arona; Arthur Brown; Michael Mate; Robbie Mate; Cecil McKenzie; KJ McKenzie; Jerome McKenzie; Andrew Pelasio; Wilson Silipa; Junior Sotogi; Notise Tauafao; Senio Toleafoa; Josese Tonganivalu; Nigel Vaifale; Tyrone Viiga; Malakai Watene-Zelezniak

Captain: Jason Havea

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From zero wins in 2013, Penrith coach Teki Tuipulotu oversaw an influx of players last season – mostly from rugby league – and his strategy improved their lot somewhat, the Emus still propping up the ladder but finishing with two victories, as the 8th highest scorers in the competition and having earned the joint-third highest number of bonus points. They certainly could have added a few more scalps to their name across the season but any hope of building on that relative success in 2015 has been scuppered by the subsequent departure of that same nucleus of players in the off-season, leaving Teki the difficult task of replacing them with enough quality, mostly from within their existing ranks. If he can’t, it could be another tough year ahead at the foot of the mountains but the stoic coach remains resolute and maybe, just maybe, he has a future as a poker player…

Overview:
“Last year was a progression, we got two wins and we could have had another six to be honest so for me, it was pleasing. We have lost a lot of players but I don’t think it will have a big impact because a lot of them were rugby league players that came along together and are leaving together. I want players here that want to be at the club and want to play for the club, if they don’t want to, they’re just a waste of time for me. I think we will have better quality and better class rugby players than we did last year. We’ve got some locally produced guys alongside some guys who come from Sydney and the outskirts and a couple from Newcastle and the country, so it’s a good mix.”

Key Areas of Improvement:
“I think we still need to improve in the forwards, there were games last year where I wanted them to step up and take control and unfortunately, they didn’t, so that’s an area we’ve been looking at. We’ve also been tightening up the defence in the off-season.”

Hopes/expectations for the Emus in 2015?
“I’m hoping we can win a lot more games than we did last year, the aim is between six and ten, and that would mean a really good season. I already know what the prediction is for us from everyone and it hasn’t changed for years, so I won’t give them any gossip. We will just go quietly about our business. You never know what the 50th Anniversary year for Penrith Rugby Club will bring.”