After a mixed season in 2022, a reasonably experienced Gregory Terrace outfit returns for a second crack at the GPS competition under new coach Adrian Thompson.

Thompson joins Gregory Terrace from Rugby Australia and seems confident his side will be in the mix in 2023.

Overview with Adrian Thompson: 

“We’re confident that the boys will be ready to go for round one this weekend. They’ve had a pretty good preseason through the trials,” Thompson told Rugby News.

“We went down to Nudgee on the weekend but they are obviously a very good side and we did some good things against them so hopefully the boys have a good year. 

“From the trials, it looks like the competition is going to be very even again, just like it was last year. 

“I think we’ll need to be a team that doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and that competes really hard physically every week to give ourselves the best chance of winning. 

“We’ve managed to keep a pretty consistent group from last year. We had a few positions that we needed to fill through the trials and I think we’ve been able to do that. 

“We also managed to give some of our younger U16s, who have been a really strong age group, we’ve been able to give those boys some game time and that will be positive not just this year but in the years to come. 

“We had a camp two weekends ago up on the Sunshine Coast and now we’re all really looking forward to a game this weekend. 

“We play Toowoomba first which will be tough, but I think every game will be tough this year so I’m pleased that we’ve got them first up and at home. 

“They went really well against Grammar. They’ve got a strong 10-12, some talented forwards and they’re good at set piece time, particularly in the lineouts. 

“It’s going to be a challenge but we’re focussed on what we need to do.”

2023 Squad: 

“There’s a bit of everything in this squad. We’ve probably got seven or eight boys back from the first XV side last year,” Thompson said.

“We’ve got a couple of U16s boys who have stepped up and earned starting roles, then the rest are guys who played in our second XV last year. 

“We’re probably going to have quite a young bench. We’ll have some new faces on the bench and it will be exciting when they get their opportunity at different points of the season.”

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

“I think everyone plays pretty similar at the moment. We looked at last year and thought we probably lacked a bit of confidence to back ourselves in attack. 

“We’re certainly keen to do that this year. But at the same time, we also understand how important field position is in these games. 

“We’ll try to play the game differently depending on where we are on the field.

“I don’t think we’re a side that will run away and smash teams by big scores, but we have to be physical and compete in every contest.”

Which sides pose the biggest threat this season?

“It’s always hard to read form out of trials because teams are always resting players or trialling others. 

“Nudgee were very good on the weekend so I think they’ll be right up there, as they usually are. 

“We had good trials against BBC and Southport before the holidays and we won one and lost one. They were very competitive trials though and I think they’ll be two sides in the mix. 

“Toowoomba Grammar have trialled really well and they’ve got some very talented individuals. Churchie were also really good before the holidays. 

“It’s going to be an even competition and I think we’ll see some surprising results every week.”