Technically, Gordon head into the 2022 Shute Shield season as the defending premiers. But the side that will run out in round one against Hunter next weekend will look vastly different to the team that beat Eastwood in the 2020 grand final.

Billy Melrose has had his first, full preseason with Gordon and will be looking to take his team back to the final weekend of the season.

Overview with Billy Melrose: 

“It’s been a wild off season with the weather and covid interrupting things. Everyone is in the same boat though,” Melrose told Rugby News.

“We a trial and lost a trial, both in tight games, so it always makes you wonder if you are as prepared as you could be at this time of year. It’s a bit more problematic with the weather to prepare perfectly but it will all get real soon.

“Some of the small changes we’ve made worked well in the trials. We played one dry and one wet trial against Eastwood and Southern Districts and it showed some upsides and a few areas that need more work . I don’t take too much notice of the results in trials but they do expose your better and lesser points.

“There’s nothing wrong with a wake up call during trials as well,  so it’s been positive overall.

“We’ve got a few players training with the Waratahs and we have got to look to integrate those players back into our ways and that is not always instantaneous.

After a long off season, we’re really looking forward to kicking things off  next Saturday against Hunter and we we’ll need to be in a good place to succeed.”

2021 position (after 10 rounds): 6th – 6 wins from 9 matches

Ins: Tristan Fuli (New Zealand), Sam Babb (Two Blues), Fraser Conway (New Zealand), Robbie McIntosh (New Zealand)

Outs: Ahmu Tuimalealiifano (Easts), Kurt Heatherley (overseas), Ivan Fepulea’i (Manly), Jack Parfitt (Hong Kong), Kevin Fuavao (retired), Lucas Price (retired), Ollie Smeallie (injured).

Key areas of improvements: 

“We weren’t physical enough last year.  We were a good side, we were playing some good footy and developing well but I think against the top three teams, we were a touch off the pace in those first 9 rounds.

“We didn’t lack ability, we probably just have to get that harder edge back.

“We’d like to think we can improve our defence as well. It’s always been pretty good but I do think we can improve by a few percent to get it back to level that it needs to be at to challenge at the end of the year .”

Player(s) to watch: 

“The interesting ones are always the new guys. You’re always hopeful that new players can come in and improve your team.

“We’ve got a couple of exciting colts who will push into the squad and they’ve already played first grade trials so far this year.

“Guys like Ben Pollack, Mike Pavlakis and Will Bremner all had debut seasons last year and I think they’ll be better for it.

“We’ve got another hooker from colts in Thomas Maka who is a good young player. It’ll be exciting to see how he goes.

“I’m also looking forward to seeing how the few new guys that we’ve picked up perform and to see what they can add.”

Bold prediction for the season ahead: 

“The competition is increasingly looking to be as competitive if not more competitive than the year before,” Melrose said.

“At club level, it’s often hard to know where each club sits at this time of the season. I do think the bottom pushes up. It’s hard to know exactly where they end up but teams such as  Hunter, Western Sydney and West Harbour have added significantly to their squads and their coaching staffs.

“When push comes to shove though, I suspect the usual contenders will be the ones hanging around in the final two weeks.

“Randwick, on paper, has great potential. As do Easts. When you look at the representative representations, it’s fairly obvious which teams should do well at the end of the year and as a club we will be aspiring to be in that fight at the pointy end of the season.”