After GPS missed the playoffs in 2023, former Jeep Sio Kite has taken the reigns at Yoku Road and inherited a squad that lost quite a bit of experience at the end of last season.

But Kite seems confident his side will be fitter this year and play more with the ball in hand as they look to push back up the Hospital Cup ladder and into premiership contention.

Overview with Sio Kite: 

“We’re inside two weeks from the start which is really exciting. The boys are raring to go and I think they are just really keen to play some competition footy,” Kite told Rugby News. 

“Obviously we’ve been playing trials, but it’s not the same as a competition match. 

“My family’s history at the club is pretty long. Four of my five brothers have played first grade at Jeeps, so we’ve probably had a 20-year association with the club.

“I’m well aware of the identity of the place, what it means to the local community and what we’re capable of as a whole. 

“I’m not going to come in and do a complete 180 in terms of our style of play. Jeeps have always played smart running rugby but when we’ve been at our best, that style has been grounded by a combination of hard work and fitness and we’ve been ripping in over the last few months to increase the fitness levels across the group. 

“Naturally the big boys have been struggling a little, but they’ve been working as hard as anyone, which is great to see. 

“Things have been set up really well by Shane Arnold and Elia Tuqiri but with a new coaching group and a relatively new playing group, we want to form our own identity. 

“The club has such a proud history and it’s such a big club, not just with our seniors but with the juniors as well and we want to be playing finals every season. 

“Obviously there’s a long way to go and a lot of work that needs to be done before we can worry about that.”

2024: 5th (9 wins, 7 losses)

Ins: Jayden Green (NZ), Nakoa Marcroft (Caloundra Lighthouse), Peter Welsh (Toowoomba Bears), Henry Radel (Bond University), Tiko Twist (Wests Bulldogs), Jonah Pologa (Caboolture Snakes), Malakai Taulani (Brothers). 

Outs: Chris Kuridrani (retired), Michael Richards (retired), Joshua Collins (retired), Jack Straker (retired), Jethro Felemi (UQ), Tonga Maafu (Norths).

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

“The statistics showed that we didn’t spend enough time with ball in hand last year. So we’re trying to hold the ball a little more this season in the hope of building a bit of pressure. 

“It might look a little different and it will probably look like a slightly riskier style of rugby, particularly in the early rounds as players adapt to it, but I’m confident if we keep backing our skills and the fitness we’ve built up over summer, then it should come right.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“We’ve got a young player who has graduated through our juniors and colts and into seniors named Campbell Moller. He’s an inside or outside centre who has been killing it throughout preseason and I think he’s primed to have a really good season,” the coach said. 

“He had a pretty bad shoulder injury last year so it’s good to see him back on the park.

“I’d also keep an eye on our hooker Tevita Kaitu’u. He’s got big shoes to fill being the brother of Feleti who is over at the Force, but he’s another that has graduated from our colts program and has a lot of potential. 

“Naturally, younger players are going to make mistakes at times but I think the future is pretty exciting for those two in particular.”

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

“I’d like to say that one side will be us. That’s our goal for sure,” Kite said. 

“Outside of that, I think it could be anyone from Brothers, Uni, Wests, Souths maybe even Bond with Mick (Heenan) down there. 

“It’s only early in the year and there’s a long way to go but it’d be nice to play in the final game of the season this year.”