Despite heading into the 2017 season with plenty of momentum on and off the field, Parramatta were unable to find their best last year and finished the season with just three wins.

But Paul Hardwick’s side have regrouped over summer, added some new and old faces to their squad and altered their playing style to suit a young group who are hungry for more success.

Overview with Paul Hardwick:

“Preseason has been fantastic, we’ve had heaps of numbers and seen a few new faces who have brought some new enthusiasm to the place and a bit of spark. We’ve also welcomed back a few old heads that have come back to the club and there is plenty of excitement around the place with the new facilities that are planned,” Paul Hardwick told Rugby News.

“We were certainly disappointed with our performances last year, particularly early on in the season when teams just out enthused us in the back end of matches. We just leaked far too many points in the final 20 minutes of games.

“Reflecting back on that, we’ve worked hard on our defensive structures ahead of this season and I think that’ll work well with the players that we’ve got.

“Last year we were also able to blood a lot of young guys in the higher grades and we’ve got a lot of graduating colts coming into grade this year as well. They won’t be awestruck by some of the bigger names at other clubs, they just love playing footy, so we want to to capitalise on the youth and enthusiasm that we’ve got at the club this year.

“We’re extremely excited about our new facilities that are being built. It’s great for the club and the players but I’m really excited for our supporters. It will make it a much more comfortable place to watch rugby and I think it will help us as a club to recruit and retain players in the years to come.

“It’s extremely important that Parramatta is a strong club. Obviously Penrith are dealing with some well publicised issues at the moment and we’re really hoping for a positive outcome there. With the Western Sydney Rams being based out of Eastwood last year, it’s important for western Sydney rugby that clubs like Parramatta and Penrith are strong in all grades.

“I know it’s a bit of a throw away line these days, but we’ve got untapped potential in our region and although we compete against the other codes, our club has a long, proud tradition and we’re able to offer players a lot of things that other codes can’t.”

2017 result: 11th (3 wins, 15 losses)

Ins: Curtis Rona (Western Force), Hilton Gibbons (New Zealand), Zac Campton (Norths), James Kings (Mittagong), Jordan McCoy (New Zealand), Gideon Uelese (New Zealand), Levi Tofa (Gordon), Andrew Vatuvei (sabbatical), Sione Fonua (sabbatical), Sione Fafita (sabbatical).

Outs: David Lolohea (West Harbour/France), Nigel Vaiele (West Harbour), Michael Ross (Rugby League), Waldo Wessels (Gordon), Tyrone Viiga (France), Senio Teleafoa (France), Andrew Cox (retired).

2018 captain: TBC

Key areas of improvement: 

“Defence is certainly a big focus for us this year as I mentioned earlier. I think also last year we probably coached the players into being a little too structured and predictable, particularly in attack,” Hardwick said.

“This year, we want to give players parameters to work within, but we want to allow them to make decisions on their own. During training, we’ve had a big emphasis on decision making so that players can feel a bit more familiar in certain scenarios throughout a game.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“I think Hilton Gibbons will be exciting, he’s new to the club and has fitted in really well. He already knew a few of the boys so I think that has helped.

“I also think someone like Jaline Graham will have a big year, he’s a very talented footballer, then a few of the new guys, Zac Campton is one who is training the house down heading into his first year of grade.

“I’m hoping someone like Andrew Vatuvei will also step up this year and use the experiences that he’s gained in different programs over the past few years to make a big impact on the competition.

“We’ll be an extremely young side this year.”

Hopes and expectations for the season:

“The standards that we’ve been setting throughout preseason has brought a new atmosphere to training and I’d like to see that continue throughout the season. We want plenty of the colts that are stepping up into grade this year to transition well into senior footy and get a taste of the higher grades,” Hardwick said.

“We definitely want more engagement with our juniors and with the community and we can do that through our colts, through our women’s program and in grade.

Then we want our young and enthusiastic side to be competitive week in, week out.”

Who will Parramatta play in the grand final this year?

“Last year I said Warringah and I think they’ll be tough to beat again. They showed last year that they can get into the rhythm of the game very early, but also close out games well. They seem to be one of those sides that plays the last 10 minutes of every match with intelligence but with plenty of spark. They’ll be tough to beat.

“I think it’ll a very tight competition. There won’t be any easy games this year and speaking to other coaches, they’re of the same opinion. The calibre of players across the clubs in very strong so it is going to come down to who can put it all together on the day.”