Things didn’t quite go to plan at finals time for GPS for the second straight season in 2020.

Coach Shane Arnold has returned to Yoku Road to lead Jeeps in 2021 though and has brought some familiar faces back to the club with him.

Overview with Shane Arnold:

“Things aren’t looking too bad at the moment. We did miss a trial last weekend though with the weather and that was disappointing,” Arnold told Rugby News. 

“Besides that, everyone has been working really hard and putting in plenty of effort which has been great. 

“I’m loving being back at Jeeps. It’s been six years since I last coached here and it’s great to be back. I played all my junior footy here and have a lot of fond memories so it’s great to be coaching again.

“There’s a good squad of players, we haven’t really needed to recruit anyone and it’s great to work with guys from within the club. We’ve had quite a few guys return to Jeeps after spending time elsewhere, which is great. 

“Jack Straker has come back after playing all his junior and colts footy at Jeeps. Alex Samoa has also come back, he played Premier Grade a few years ago and has played Sevens for Samoa. 

“There’s a good squad there and everyone from last year has hung around, which is great. 

“Looking at last season, Jeeps had a good year. It was a tough year for everyone obviously but I thought they were right in it and just missed out in that semi final. It’s hard to comment on it too much because I wasn’t involved. 

“I know the boys were all quite disappointed with how the year ended though and they’ve been disappointed with their results in the last two seasons. They haven’t won a finals game in two years now and we spoke about that the other day actually. 

“They aren’t happy with that and they want to change it because there are some guys at the club that are probably getting towards the end of their careers and they want as much success as possible while they are still playing.”

2020: Semi finalists

Ins: Jack Straker (returning), Alex Samoa (returning), Alex Mafi (Reds)

Outs: None

Key area of improvement: 

“I think defence is key. If we look at all the scores from last year, every team clearly has the ability to score points and most teams are scoring four tries or more every game,” Arnold said. 

“We feel if we can keep teams to three tries or less, then we are a good chance of winning most games. 

“We’ve tried to simplify our defensive systems so that we can focus on all the things that don’t take talent. Things like communication, work off the ball, getting off the line. 

“If we have a simple system and some key principles that we stick to, then hopefully we can stop teams from scoring too many points.”

Player(s) to watch:

“Josh Collins on the wing always plays well, he’s a very consistent player,” the coach said. 

“Teti Tela and AJ Alatimu at No.10 and 12 are both really important for us. We want them to control the game. 

“Ollie Bartlett and Dan Burns have both returned to Jeeps. They were both part of the 2018 premiership winning side and have both had some time off but they are back and looking really good ahead of the season. 

“Cullen Cooper-Jones still has two more years of colts but he played Premier grade last year and he’ll be looking to build on all the good stuff that he did last year. He just had an opportunity with the Australian U20s and went on their first camp, so he’s excited for a big year.”

Bold prediction for the season ahead: 

“I think we’ll see plenty of fast, free flowing footy from the whole competition this year. I think there will be more than four teams pushing for those finals spots. My bold prediction would probably be for Bond Uni to have a really strong season. 

“For us, the plan is to get into the finals and then see what happens from there.”