Knox fell short against Waverley in the defining match of the 2023 first XV season but bounced back to finish last year’s campaign with a big win over rivals Barker.

Coach Cam Blades has welcomed five players back from last year’s campaign but admitted his new-look side has struggled to produce a 70-minute performance in trial matches so far this year.

Overview with Cam Blades: 

“We’ve had a mixed trial period. We’ve played against some pretty good schools and had some up and down performances,” Blades told Rugby News. 

“It’s a bit of an unknown heading in to this weekend against Cranbrook. We haven’t matched up against many of the same schools as them, so the form line is hard to read.

“But I’ve been really pleased with the boys efforts and their attitudes towards training over the last few months. We just haven’t quite got going consistently as a team yet. Hopefully that can start this weekend. 

“The weather is always tricky at this time of the year but that’s the same for everyone. 

“We just haven’t found the form we’re looking for just yet and we’ve also had some disruptions with injuries. But overall, I’m really happy with the group and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do in the coming months. 

“Last year was a really successful season overall but it was disappointing to have our only poor performance in a game that really cost us. 

“That’s the nature of this competition though. You’ve pretty much got to win five from five to win it and unfortunately we weren’t good enough on the day to do that.

“Waverley were too good at home that day and deservedly won the premiership.

“But over the last couple of years, and it’s the same again this year, we’ve got a great bunch of boys to work with and they all want to grow and develop on and off the rugby field. 

“Obviously you want to win premierships but we also value the development side of it just as much and I couldn’t be happier with how last season went from that perspective.”

2024 Squad: 

“They are a great bunch of boys and there is plenty of talent there,” Blades explained. “We’ve got a new look forward pack, with only one regular starter from last year returning. In the backs we’ve got four players back. 

“The forwards have really stood up so far and been really consistent through the trials.

“But as a team, we just haven’t quite put a 70-minute performance together yet. We’ve only had one game where we were a bit lacklustre but the rest of the performances have shown plenty of promise. 

“Our last game was against St Augustine’s at home in the we. We were leading with a few minutes to go and conceded a late try. We didn’t get the result we wanted but against a very good side, I was really pleased with our effort and performance.”

What style of rugby will we see from Knox this year? 

“We’ll still look to play a similar style of rugby where we try to climb off the back of forward dominance or at least off the back of plenty of go forward.

“Then we’ll look to unleash some of the speed and skill we’ve got out wide. Not much changes from that perspective but there are obviously a few little tweaks that we’ve made to suit the personnel we’ve got and the conditions that we’re going to play in. 

“It’s been pretty wet in Sydney which has made it hard to play much rugby over recent weeks but out intention is to play a positive style as much as possible when the conditions allow for it.”

What are you expecting this season? 

“I really don’t know what to expect to be honest. It’s been hard to get a form line through everyone this year,” Blades explained. 

“I think it’ll be tight though. It’s been pretty tight over the last couple of years and while the same few schools have been up the top, the gap to the other schools has certainly closed. 

“I don’t think we’ll know which way things are going to go until the last round or two are played in term three and we’re hoping we can be right in the mix at that stage.”