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After a dominant win over Easts in the major semi final, UQ looked on track to claim another Premier Rugby title in 2020, only to be scrummed out of the grand final by the Tigers.

While anything but a premiership is disappointing by Mick Heenan’s standards, the coach seems confident his squad has plenty to build on for next season.

Overview with Mick Heenan:

“I was proud of the way we came together this year after a pretty difficult double preseason and that COVID period,” Heenan told Rugby News. 

“I’m also proud of the way we went through the home and away season. We started with a loss to Easts and then we had a number of close wins through that period where we showed a lot of character to fight back from big deficits and find a way to win. 

“Sunnybank and Jeeps, they were really important wins for us and the guys showed a lot of determination and fight.

“With it only being one round, those wins became really important because by the end of the season we had five teams all fighting for four finals spots and there wasn’t a whole lot between them. 

“We played really well in the major semi and then not so well in the grand final so it’s a mixture of pride and disappointment I guess, after not being able to get the job done when it really mattered. 

“In saying that, I think we improved throughout the season. The guys developed each week in both attack and defence, in all areas really. Plus they showed a lot of character to win some of those tight games, which is something we can build on for next year. 

“The set piece was an issue for us in the grand final. That was disappointing because we’d done a fair bit of work in that area leading into that game and we had every reason to believe that we would have done better. 

“We knew that Easts were going to take us on there and that it was going to be a battle but Easts really maximised their advantage and forced us to play to their game plan. 

“If you compare the grand final to our earlier clashes against Easts, the scrum was always going to be an issue but our lineout wasn’t great either that day and then we made a number of unforced errors that put us under a lot of pressure.”

What needs to happen between now and round one?

“I think most clubs would agree that we all need a decent break from one another. It was a really long season. 

“We’re very deliberately going to change things up this preseason and start a lot later than usual. With the season starting later next year, you want to use your time wisely so we’ll start later and then have an intense, shorter preseason which should put us in good shape for round one. 

“We’re in a fortunate position that we’ve been successful over a long period of time now, so I don’t think a whole lot has to change to be honest. We don’t need to make radical changes but part of our success is that we’re always looking to tinker with little parts of our game to find improvements. 

“I don’t think the scrum is just becoming more important in club rugby, it’s becoming more important in all levels of the game. That’s despite there being less scrums than there used to be. 

“Teams are really trying to maximise their set piece advantage if they have one and that didn’t really happen 15 years ago. 

“Look at the World Cup final last year. England lost their tighthead in the first five minutes and South Africa decided to scrum for penalties for the rest of the game. 

“It’s important and it’s always been important but tactically, teams are just using it better I think.”

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

“We had a few guys that had breakthrough years and really announced themselves on the Premier Rugby stage.

“Mac Grealy was in his first year out of school, he’s only going to get better. Will Roach is still a colt again next year but played all of this season in Premier Rugby and ended up winning our Player’s Player award. He’s certainly has the respect of his teammates and he’ll only become more and more effective as he gets older. 

“We only played one round this year so that probably limited their development, in such a short season. Playing a full year next year will be really good for both of them. 

“Josh Nasser is another interesting player. He made the shift to hooker while at the Reds this year but didn’t get to play much. He came back to us and managed to get a few games in. Hopefully he gets an opportunity with the Reds next year but I think it could also be good for him to play plenty of club rugby at No.2 and really learn his craft.”

Bold predictions for 2021: 

“I’d say a club with a new coach will make the finals, there are plenty of them. Jeeps and Brothers both have new coaches so that will be interesting. 

“We’re seeing a few of the same clubs in the finals most years but this season, we had Bond jump in and it wouldn’t surprise me to see another team do something similar next year. 

“It’s getting tighter and tighter each season.”

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