A young but talented Shore squad have spent the past few months focussing on their defence under new coach Hadley Jackson, who previously coached Randwick’s first grade Shute Shield side.

Jackson said he’s been pleased by his side’s development in recent weeks and is confident his team will be in the mix this season.

Overview with Hadley Jackson:

“We’re all really excited for round one this weekend. It’s a bit strange that we’ll play one game and then have four or five weeks off before playing the rest of our matches but we’re really looking forward to having a crack in round one and then we’ll assess where we are at and go again,” Jackson told Rugby News.

“We’ve had a number of really good hit outs in the trials. We’ve played a combination of CAS and GPS schools and we played Scots on the weekend. 

“We’ve taken a lot out of each of our games so far this year and I think it helped highlight some areas that we’ve needed to work on, which should help through the season. 

“Our defence has come a long way compared to where we were last year. Now we’ve just got to get our attack improving at the same rate so that we can put a complete performance together. 

“We’ve tried a few different combinations in the trials and I think we’ve worked out our best options there. We played with that against Scots and we took a really good step forward. 

“It’s my first experience of coaching schoolboy rugby, so it’s been great to play against a number of different schools in recent weeks who all play different styles.”

What style of rugby can we expect to see from your side? 

“We’re going to try and base our game around our defence. That’s one area that we knew we had to improve if we were going to be competitive in the GPS competition and we’ve done a lot of work in that area. 

“Everything will hopefully come off the back of that. 

“We’ve got a number of smart decision makers so we’ll look to play what is in front of us and make smart decisions when it matters so that we can attack with the ball in hand.”

2021 Squad: 

“We have a few boys returning from last year but we’ve also got a good group of year 11 boys and even some year 10s pushing in to the squad, which is exciting to see. 

“It’s a good mix. It’s not all year 12, but a good combination across the board.”

Players to watch:

“Tom Klem and Jackson Stiel have been really impressive in our trial games. Tom is a young fullback and Jackson plays in the front row. 

“Henry Murray in the outside backs has also shown some impressive form through the preseason. 

“We need those boys to be at the top of their game throughout the competition.”

Bold prediction for the season ahead:

“We’re going to keep getting better every week,” Jackson said. 

“It’s probably not as bold as you’d like, but I think it’s an important target to set.”

“We’re going to come up against five strong rugby teams and strong rugby schools. For me, it’ll probably come down to the team that can keep their best team on the pitch. That makes a huge difference in the big games and at the business end of the season.”