A star-studded Barker outfit were the dominant side of the CAS competition in 2022 and led the school to their third premiership in five years.

Coach Dean Hargreaves knows how difficult it will be to win back to back premierships this season, but seems confident his young group are capable of filling the big shoes left for them.

Overview with Dean Hargreaves: 

“We’ve been happy with how we’ve been progressing. I think we’ve been improving week to week, which is what you’re after at this point of the season, so I think we’re in pretty good shape,” coach Dean Hargreaves told Rugby News.

“Last year was a fantastic year and we had a great bunch of boys. They were really talented and they were good kids as well, which made for an enjoyable season.

“Winning CAS was great, then we topped that off with a trip up to play Nudgee and we got a good result up there as well against a very good side. We were really pleased.

“We’ve worked hard to develop our rugby program and we’ve intentionally focussed on all our sides, from the younger age groups, through to the first XV with an eye to the future.

“The school is really proud first and foremost of the effort the boys put in, but also in the results they are achieving and we’re happy with the way the program is heading.”

“It’s been great to watch Isaiya Katoa do so well up at the Dolphins in the NRL in his first year out of school. He’s stayed in contact with the returning players and he’s been doing a bit of mentoring of our young playmakers, which has been terrific and very generous of him.

“Doug Phillipson, our No.9 from last year is over in Perth with the Western Force. He’s going to be working under Nic White for the next few seasons, which is a great opportunity.

“Lachlan Hooper is down with the Brumbies and he’s playing with the Junior Wallabies at the moment as an 18-year old. Oniti Finau has been playing with the Waratahs A side and Aden Ekanayake has just travelled to England and France with the Australian 7s side.

“It’s great to see so many boys from last year doing so well.”

2023 Squad: 

“We’ve probably got about seven or eight players coming back from last season, which is about what it usually is for us,” Hargreaves said.

“It’s a hard working group and there is plenty of talent.

“The one disappointment we’ve had is that our captain Matt Hanley did an ACL a few weeks back and he’s now out for the season. It’s disappointing for Matt and for the side because he was going really well.

“We’ve got a few boys out of the U16s from last year, then we’ve got two U16 boys this year at No.8 and No.10. They’re both performing really well.”

What style of rugby will we see from Barker this season?

“This year we’ve got some good penetrative runners and some really solid ball carriers in the forwards and in the centres. Those guys have been really aggressive in the trials and have helped us get over the advantage line.

“We’ve got a lot of pace at fullback with young Charlie (Poynton). He’s still only in year 11 but has a lot of talent.

“We’ll look to break the line with our bigger runners, then use our speed to play off the back of that.”

Which sides pose the biggest threats this season? 

“Based purely on the results so far, Knox probably jump out. They’ve had some very good results against some good sides.

“Knowing a few of the Knox players that are returning, they’ll be very competitive.

“A number of the other schools have had some good results through the trials so I think it’ll be a good competition across the board every week.

“We’ll need to be on our game every week if we want to get the results that we want.”