Waverley went undefeated in 2023 to win the CAS first XV premiership for the fourth time in seven seasons.

But just three regular starters return from last year’s squad and while Director of Coaching Lachlan Drew-Morris is confident Waverley will be in the mix again, he’s expecting a far tighter season in 2024.

Overview with Lachlan Drew-Morris: 

“We had about 10 boys play in the State Championships over the long weekend so at the moment we’re hoping we see all of them arrive at school on Tuesday fit and healthy,” Drew-Morris told Rugby News. 

“It’s great to see them playing rugby for their clubs though so we’ll just manage that this week.

“It’s been an interesting preseason with regards to the weather and everyone has had to adjust because of it. That’s probably going to continue throughout the season to be honest, so we know what we’re in for. 

“We also haven’t really had our full team on the field together yet. We got close in one game but we’ve had boys playing league and also had a few injuries. Hopefully we can build a bit more consistency over the next two weeks. 

“We haven’t had much continuity through the trial period. That’s been challenging but we’ve learnt a lot about playing wet weather rugby from games against Oakhill and also against Riverview so I think that will benefit us moving forward. 

“We also played a really close trial against (Saint) Augustine’s where they beat us on the siren. 

“They are a really quality side so it was pleasing to get within 30 seconds of victory against them and still take plenty of learnings from that game. 

“We like to think our trials have set us up well for the season. We played three strong GPS sides in Shore, Kings and Riverview and then had some tough games against some good ISA sides so that’s given us a lot to build from.”

2024 Squad: 

“We don’t have many coming back from last season, I think we’ve got three back from 2023 then quite a few boys stepping up from our 16As last year.

 “They are still getting used to the standard of first XV footy. 

“It’s a big step up in terms of the physicality and speed but we’ll look to our more experienced guys, particularly in our halves, to help lead us around the field.”

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

“I think teams that manage field position well this year are going to have plenty of success, particularly if it stays wet like this,” Drew-Morris said. 

“The other side to that is that you need to be clinical and limit your errors when you’re trying to get out of your 22. 

“We haven’t changed things too much from last year. We figure if we focus on our defence, then our attack will come quite naturally. 

“We’ll work hard on our defence and make sure we are working hard for one another and putting pressure on the opposition.”

What are you expecting this season? 

“It’s open slather I think,” Drew-Morris predicted. 

“With the weather and the way the squads match up this year, I think it’s going to be a pretty even competition. 

“We’ve got two tough games against Aloys and Cranbrook to start the year before we go into the school holiday break. 

“We’re just focussing on starting the season well in these first two games and then we’ll see where we land after the representative rugby is played. 

“We finish the season with matches against Barker, Knox and Trinity, which will all be tough. 

“It’s a challenging draw but it’s a draw where if we can find some consistency, then we’ll give ourselves a really good chance to do something towards the backend of the season.”