After losing a host of young stars to representative duties, Bond University struggled in 2017, particularly in the first half of the season.

But 2018 presents a new challenge and a new opportunity for Bond, who will welcome back some big names and add some new faces to a talented squad who seem ready to fulfil their potential.

Overview with Sean Hedger:

“We haven’t got on the paddock yet because our first trial was washed out, which wasn’t ideal, but we went away for a full club camp over the weekend, which is the first time the club has ever done that. We got all the colts and seniors bonding and working hard together and it was a really enjoyable weekend,” Bond coach Sean Hedger said.

“We’ve got lots of new faces, as you can expect at this time of the year but overall we’ve had everyone training consistently enough so that they’re all starting to understand the new patterns that we’ve introduced. We’ve got to the stage now where we are just itching to have a run, which we’ll get this weekend.

“Last year I think we had distinctive weaknesses in key positions and this year I think we’ve done well to strengthen those areas and I think we’re stronger across the board.

“Last year our front row stocks were poor, particularly in the early parts of the season and we were a little light on in our back three until the Australian U20s finished and they strengthened us up.

“With the changes to the Australian U20s program, we’ll see our young rep players a little bit more at the start of the season but we’ve also got a few less players involved this year as well.

“We’d like to move the ball around a lot more. Last year we had a big rumbling forward pack and we tried to get the ball in their hands as much as possible close to the ruck, but we’d like to play a little differently to that this year and move the ball around a bit more away from the ruck.

“We’ve got quite a few guys pushing into grade from colts. Our premier colts made the grand final a few years ago and a lot of those guys are starting to push into premier grade now. Callum Ball and Hayden Sargeant are two that I think will spend quite a bit of time in first grade this year.

“Our overall numbers are really strong. We’ll have over 50 players trialling in both colts and seniors this weekend but we know we’re going to need them all. Most importantly, they all seem very happy with things here at the moment and that’s the main thing.”

2017 result: 9th (3 wins, 12 losses)

Ins: Salesi Manu (injury), Gavan Luka (Aussie 20s), Corbin Keirnan (France), Joey Fittock (Sunnybank), Ryan Menzies (Sunnybank), Jordan Lenac (UQ).

Outs: Dylan Riley (Japan), Alex Holmes (Palm Beach), Joel Brown (Tasman NZ).

2018 captain: TBC

Key areas of improvement: 

“Set piece has to be one of the big areas. It improved towards the end of last year, but for most of the season our scrum in particular was a bit of a weak point,” Hedger said.

“Having the likes of Salesi Manu and Gavan Luka will mean our scrum will be a lot better but our lineout will also need to improve. Last year, I think we relied on Cadeyrn Neville, which is easy to do when you’ve got a lock of his calibre but we’ve probably got to be a bit smarter with our line out options.

“Overall, our attitude and confidence in defence needs to improve. My belief is that confidence is 80% attitude so if players are confident with the players around them, it generally tends to improve that side of the game.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“Corbin Keirnan will be a bit of an injection into the competition. He’s a big, fast, athletic outside back. He’s 90 plus kilos and he’s been playing professional rugby league and rugby union in France so I think his size, speed and strength in the midfield will be a bit of a step up from a lot of Premier Rugby centres,” Hedger said.

“Tai Ford will also continue to get better after playing NRC last year and then training with the Reds in the off season, I hope he brings some of that onto the field this year.

“I also think Harry Nucifora will have a big year. We got a lot out of his game management at halfback when he returned from the Aussie U20s, he was quite outstanding at the back end of last year and I think he’ll have a big impact on the competition in 2018.”

Hopes and expectations for the season:

“I think at this point of the year, all that you can focus on is making the semi finals. I don’t care what position we are in the top four because it’s a whole new season once you get to the finals, so that’s all we are focussing on at the moment,” Hedger said.

“You need to win eight to nine games, so you want to win the majority of your home games and then jag a couple away and then secure as many bonus points along the way as possible. That should get you into the top four.

“I think every club in Brisbane has done a lot of recruiting if you believe the rumour mills, but you can never look too much into last year’s form.

“I know Souths had an off year last year but they’ve recruited massively, Wests were cellar dwellers for years and then had a great year last year, Easts went from being grand finalists to finishing sixth or so and Brothers were premiers and didn’t make the finals last year.

“Last year’s form doesn’t mean a thing in the Brisbane competition, you’ve just got to worry about yourself.”

Who will Bond play in the grand final this year? 

“I think the traditional powerhouses will always be up there, UQ, Sunnybank and Brothers. Brothers were in seven grand finals last year across all the grades and they’ve got a lot of good young players coming into grade.

“I’d have to think that UQ will be the benchmark again. Although Jeeps got pretty close to them in the finals last year, I think UQ are still the team to beat and they’ve always got a huge amount of talent across all the grades and that will make them very competitive.”