Eastwood floated under the radar for most of the 2020 Shute Shield season but then came within a whisker, or a scrum penalty, from winning the whole thing. 

Ben Batger’s side will be without some of their young stars until late in the season, but the Woodies seem confident that they’ll be right back in the mix again this year. 

Overview with Ben Batger: 

“I think we’ve finally recovered from last year. All of us probably still get a little bit upset anytime anyone mentions the grand final loss but that only lasts about five minutes and then we look past it and get excited about 2021,” coach Ben Batger told Rugby News. 

“It was a great season all in all, with a fairly new squad and a lot of new faces. We lost a lot of experience from the season before so it was a younger team to what we’ve had at Eastwood in the past and we were able to change the way we play slightly and come together really quickly. 

“A grand final appearance is a great achievement, even though we lost. It’s still a very tough match to make. 

“The goal has to be to go one better this year. Once you lose a grand final, the hunger just builds. You can’t help but keep that bitter taste in your mouth and we want to use that this season. 

“We’ve lost a few players to Super Rugby but we had a bit of a succession plan ready to go. We had a really strong second grade team last year and a lot of players will be moving up into first grade this season. 

“Chris Bell shifts from fullback to No.10 to cover Tane Edmed, that’s his natural position, and young Harry Wilson will play fullback. 

Up front, Willie Leoso is back after missing the back end of last year, we’ve also picked up a young prop from New Zealand, Lewis Ponini.

“We also get Michael Icely back after he missed the backend of last season through injury.”

2020: Grand finalists (lost to Gordon)

Ins: Lewis Ponini (New Zealand), Josh Nercessian (Gordon), Rhian Stowers (QLD), Adrian Brown (Gordon).

Outs: Mark Nawaqanitawase (Waratahs), Tane Edmed (Waratahs), Ed Craig (Rebels), Tim Anstee (Force) Lachie Anderson (Rebels), Jed Gillespie (retired). 

Key areas of improvement: 

“We want to be a bit more efficient in our attack. We held the ball for longer than any other side last year and we were the second best attacking team in the comp, but we think we can be a bit more efficient and use the ball more wisely. 

“Last year, it might have taken us 30 passes to score a try, whereas this year we want to bring that number down because attacking with the ball the whole time can tire a team just as much as defending can. 

“We know that we can grind teams away, but this year we want to out skill them as well. 

“In defence, I think we were ranked seventh last year and to win a grand final you need to be in the top two or three teams defensively. We have to improve there. 

“Our breakdown also has to improve. Gordon probably won the competition on the back of their efforts at the breakdown and that’s not an area that we’ve been particularly strong in in recent years. We’ve put a fair bit of time into that over the offseason. 

Player(s) to watch:

“Willie Leoso, our loosehead prop, is due for a big year. He was playing in the local Newcastle comp back in 2019 and came to us halfway through last season. I don’t think we lost a game when Willie was starting. 

“He’s a late bloomer and played his first year of Shute Shield as a 28 year old, but he’s got a great work ethic. 

“Our two second rowers, Jack Lafolafa and Charlie Cale will both be players to watch. We don’t have a lot of height in Australian rugby and they are two very tall boys that play quite different styles. 

“Rhian Stowers in the backs is a really busy player, like a Damien McKenzie from New Zealand. He’s only a little guy, but he’s great on his feet and can kick, run and pass. 

Bold prediction for 2021: 

“Based on the fact that they’ve recruited 20 odd players, I think Newcastle will move right up the table. They must have a hell of a budget up there. 

“Besides that, Sydney Uni don’t like losing and generally bounce back pretty strong after a poor season. With Rob Taylor back, they’ll be back in the mix.”