After playing in seven straight Hospital Cup grand finals, things didn’t quite go to plan for UQ in 2023 under new coach Elton Berrange. 

The Red Heavies struggled to close out time games and suffered a massive injury toll, eventually finishing seventh. 

But Berrange has rebuilt the group over summer and seems confident the students will be back in the mix this season. 

Overview with Elton Berrange: 

“We started our trial period playing 40 minutes against the Reds Development side and that was a really good hit out,” Berrange told Rugby News earlier this month. 

“We were up against some really good specimens but obviously they don’t get to play too much together as a team so it was ideal for a first trial. 

“A number of our players have impressed through the trials and I’ve been really pleased with how physical we’ve been. 

“There weren’t as many penalties as I expected with the new tackle laws. I think we’ll see a few more through the early rounds in the season but we’ve had the refs down at training helping us with the adjustment and we’re confident we’ll be able to adapt. 

“Last year was enormously disappointing to miss the finals. To have a good season, you need a bit of luck and we had none of it. We had a lot of unfortunate injuries, we had some decisions go against us, then we made things hard of ourselves as well. 

“It just wasn’t out year and we were probably due for that. There’s been seasons before where we’ve had a lot of luck go our way. 2019 is one that springs to mind. 

“There was a challenge around every corner last year and we ended up using 52 players so hopefully we see the benefit of that this year. 

“It’s certainly reignited the fire at the club and I think everyone knows what we need to do this year to turn things around. 

“We lost a lot of tight games and while that was frustrating at the time, we learnt a lot of lessons from that. 

“Winning games and losing games is a habit so hopefully we’re able to change that habit this year and I’m confident we’ve got the players and the coaches at the club to do that.”

2024: 7th (6 wins, 1 draw, 9 losses)

Ins: Manu Paea (Tonga), Setefano Funaki (Tonga), Jethro Felemi (GPS), Niven Longopoa (GPS), Lachlan Connors (Bond Uni), Jackson Clarke (Souths), Tapi Allen (NZ), James Te Pairi (NZ), Willy Rua (NZ), Joe Brial NZ/Reds), Tom Molloy (Cambridge, UK), Kye Oates (Australian 7s).

Outs: Pat Morrey (sabbatical), Connor Vest (Souths), Nathan Beil (Bond Uni), Dane Zander (MLR), Tom Manca (Italy).

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

“Predominantly we’ll play a similar style. There has always been a brand of rugby that has been played at UQ and I think we’ve got a responsibility to uphold that, so we’ll always try and play an entertaining, expansive style. 

“What we’ve had to do is add a bit of a harder edge. We’ve done a lot more contact this preseason and that comes at a risk, but we’ll see how that turns out at the end of the year.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“I think our captains Brad Twidale has been knocking on the door for the last few seasons and he nearly got a chance to play professionally this year and didn’t. 

“He’s very hungry and has had a really good preseason. He’s got 70 odd Premier games under his belt as well and he’s still only 25 years old. 

“I think he could be the best player in the competition this year. 

“Ethan McFarland at outside centre has got a season of Premier Grade under his belt and learnt some tough lessons last year. 

“He’s come back bigger, faster and stronger and I think he’s going to cause some headaches throughout the season.”

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

“I think we’ll be there and I think we’ll play Brothers. They’ve got a fairly settled playing roster and Ben McCormack is a very, very good coach and has Brothers DNA all over him. 

“With the players and experience that they’ve got, it’s hard to look past them. 

“Us versus The Filth in the final, it’d be a great afternoon of rugby.”