Northern Suburbs were the form side of the 2022 regular season but fell short against arch rivals Gordon in last year’s preliminary final.

Zak Beer has added some serious class to his young group over summer though and seems confident his side will be right in the mix again later this season.

Image: Clay Cross

Overview with Zak Beer:

“It’s great to finally be playing some footy after a long, tough summer,” Beer told Rugby News. 

“We had a trial against Warringah last weekend and there were some pleasing elements to what we produced, also some areas that we need to work on which is what you want in a trial. 

“We had our top squad camp in Wollongong and that has become a bit of an annual event a week before our first trial. Now we’ve turned our attention to trials against Easts and Eastwood before Sydney Uni in round one. 

“There’s definitely a feeling amongst the group that there is some unfinished business after 2022. 

“Going into last season, there probably wasn’t a massive amount of expectation on this group, being younger and less experienced than other sides before them. So yes it was pleasing to perform as well as we did in the regular season and win the minor premiership. 

“But in saying that, the minor premiership certainly wasn’t our target and it was disappointing to fall short of what we wanted to achieve. We’ve been working hard over the summer to put ourselves in a strong position to push deeper into the finals this year.”

2022: Minor Premiers. Lost to Gordon 23-13 in Preliminary Final. 

What style of rugby can we expect to see from Norths this year? 

“I think our identity as a group has been has been evident over the last few years, we always try to play an assertive game style at Norths. One that is highly creative but also aggressive in terms of our attack and our defence. 

“We’ll be evolving that this year and you’ll see some new layers on both sides of the ball. But the identity of our club won’t change. Fortunately, it also aligns really well with the profile of this playing group. 

“Game style can often depend on conditions and the opposition. However, looking at last year, whilst we were able to win the vast majority of games decided within five points or less, there were two things that let us down at the backend of the season last year. 

“One was depth. We were two positions deep across the park last year but as we found out after that round 18 game against Easts, two deep isn’t enough. 

“We lost Hugh Sinclair, James Margan, James Turner, Angus Sinclair and Dave Henaway in one game, it was difficult to fill the void left by a third of your team. 

“This year we’ve added a few new guys to complement our roster, but we’ll also look to those guys that played a handful of first grade games last year to really step up if and when they are needed. I’m confident with some of those guys and the depth we’ve built within the program, that we’re now three deep in most positions. 

“The second area of improvement was leadership. Considering the number of players that had retired in recent years, there was a fairly significant vacuum of leadership gone. 

“You can’t create leaders overnight but we’ve done a lot of work throughout the offseason to upskill our younger players right across the park. 

“We’ve been selective in our recruitment, with the majority of new players added being proven eaders in their own way at their previous clubs, which adds breadth to our leadership.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“Based on what I’ve seen so far in preseason, there are two guys that really come to mind,” Beer said. 

“Reece Maau is in the best condition that I’ve seen him in in my four years at the club. His versatility will be critical as well. He’s got lots of experience playing fullback and outside centre,he’s another who’s stepping up as a leader and I think he’ll continue to be one of the strike outside backs in the competition. 

“The other is Boston Kerapa who is still only 21. The Aussie 7s have shown interest recently and I think most of the Super Rugby clubs would be having a close look at Boston as well. 

“He’s added another 8 or 9kgs to his frame from last year but he’s still just as athletic as he was before.”

Which two teams will play in this year’s grand final and why? 

“Based off the last few years, it’s hard to look past Sydney University. They’ve demonstrated that the system that they’ve got, regardless of who leaves, still has the ability to pump out players who can play their structure and compete at a first grade level. 

“The whole competition has tightened once again and there will be tough games every week. If I had to pick who we’d play it would be a Norths vs Sydney Uni grand final later this year.”