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In his final season at the club, things didn’t quite pan out as Elwee Prinsloo and GPS would have like. The Gallopers fell just short against Bond in the finals but impressed many by making the top four, despite missing a host of Super Rugby players for most of the season.

Shane Arnold takes the reigns at Yoku Road from 2021 and Prinsloo seems confident that Jeeps will remain at the top end of the competition and add to their premiership tally in the years to come.

Overview with Elwee Prinsloo:

“It was a hell of a season with COVID and I don’t think we’ll ever have another one quite like it. Playing just one round this year also made things very different,” Prinsloo said. 

“Looking back, we didn’t win the competition and that is always our goal so from that perspective, it’s was a disappointing season, but I think when you consider the difficulties we faced, we performed well. 

“At one stage we had just two players who had played Premier Grade in the last two seasons in our starting forward pack. We lost a lot of players to Super Rugby and the bubbles so I was really proud of the boys to make the top four. 

“This is the fourth year in a row that we made the semi finals and that hasn’t happened at the club since the 1960s or 70s. 

“I think we did as well as we could have with the group that we had, but in saying that we want to be competing and winning the Hospital Cup every season and that didn’t happen this year. 

“In the semi final against Bond, we were ahead in most of the stats that usually count but didn’t end up winning. In terms of execution, we struggled to find our feet at scrum time in that first 15 minutes. 

“We also threw some of our Reds players back into the side and some of those boys hadn’t played a whole lot of rugby this year, so that had an impact. 

“We had a few opportunities in the first half that we would have usually converted but we didn’t. We led at half time and the message was to keep playing in that second half. I thought we probably deserved some reward for our scrum at the end of the game, but it didn’t come and that’s rugby. 

“I’ve had an amazing time at the club. I joined in 2017 and since then we’ve played in the finals every year, we won a premiership for the first time in 22 years, we won an Australian Club Championships for the first time in the clubs history so I’m very proud of what we’ve been able to achieve as a group. It’s a great club.”

What needs to happen at the club between now and round one next year?

“Shane Arnold is stepping in as head coach and I think he’ll do a great job. He’s been around the group for the last two years, he’s an outstanding bloke and a really good coach so it’s going to be great for the club. There will be some continuity moving forward.

“A new voice will be good for the group and I imagine that Shane will tweak the way the side plays a little bit. In my time at the club, we’ve been very forward dominant, that’s the South African in me, but the squad has changed quite a bit over the years with retirements and players moving on so I think they’ll need to recruit in the forwards a little.

“A new voice and some new ideas will be great for the group though.”

Which of your players do you expect to go on to bigger and better things from next season?

“I’m really excited to see Tuaini Tualima develop, he’s an outstanding prospect and I think if he gets the right support, which he will at the Reds, I think he can be a Wallaby in a couple of years. 

“Cullen Cooper-Jones, our young No.9. He stepped into Premier Grade this year and the way he handled himself was outstanding. He’s got a bright future in professional rugby 

“Then you’ve got Matty Giquel and Tom Kibble coming back from injuries. They are both training at the Reds and they’ve both got big careers ahead of them. They are good players, that work hard and if they stick to it, I think they’ll get an opportunity.”

Bold prediction for 2021 season:

“There’s no way you can ever go past UQ. Speaking to Mick Heenan, we’re good mates and he’s obviously the most successful coach in Brisbane for the past decade. When they recruit, they don’t have to offer anything outside of working under Mick because he has such a good track record of developing players and coaching winning sides. 

“The machine will keep rolling at UQ.

“I think Brothers will improve next year, they had a bit of turnover this year but they’ll improve. I also think Wests are a darkhorse. If they can get a couple of small things right, they’ve got a very big pack and some skilful backs and I think they can be a real threat in the competition. 

“Jeeps will continue to be up there, I’m biased, but I think they’ll make the top four again and with a couple of small changes, they’ll go close to winning it. There are good things to come in the years ahead.”

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