Souths pushed up the Hospital Cup ladder in 2024 but fell short in the finals against an in-form UQ outfit. 

The Magpies appear to be on the rise though and after winning this year’s colts competition, have even more talent pushing through. 

Overview with Garrick Morgan:

“Like all coaches, when I took on the Souths gig I put together a three year plan,” Morgan told Rugby News. 

“Our first year was about building foundations and we played a certain style and worked hard on getting connected. If you look at the Wallabies, that’s the phase that they are in at the moment under (Joe) Schmidt. 

“You hear people question why they are playing the way they are playing, but I think there trying to get connected and allow Schmidt to coach and develop them while they are playing matches, which isn’t easy to do. 

“This year, we gave the players a fair bit of freedom and ownership and the self belief within the group really grew. 

“Our game management against certain teams cost us though. If you look at our semi against Uni, our game management wasn’t where it needed to be and that cost us. 

“In pretty much every game we lost this year, it was a similar story. 

“Teams said after most games this year that we bashed them. It’s a step forward because when I started they used to say they bullied us, so we’ve swung that around. 

“We’re still working on getting the club working together as one but we’re getting there slowly. 

“Our colts won the premiership as well, which shows we’ve got the talent pushing through.”

What is the focus at Souths between now and round one next year? 

“We’ll give the boys a good rest and then get stuck into preseason. We’ve brought Jason Jones in as head of high performance,’ Morgan explained.  

“He’ll put a different spin on our off season and we’re looking forward to that. 

“We’ll also be working closely with our colts coaches to make sure everyone is on the same page and pushing in the same direction.”

Which of your players do you expect to push on next year? 

“I’m pretty biased and I think all of them have the talent to do it,” the coach said. 

“We’ve got some good colts pushing through and a few of them are 6’5 and tough. Sammy Hanna looks promising at lock, Kaleb Akaroa played No.8 in the colts grand final and had a good season and Xavier Rubens is a special talent in the centres. 

“We’re looking forward to watching them push into first grade in the years ahead.”

What can we expect in 2025? 

“We’ll look to grow again and hopefully push deeper into the season,” Morgan said. 

“We’ll be a year older come finals time so hopefully we can make the four and push for a title on the back of some better game management. 

“It’s a tough competition and every club is getting stronger every year so we’ve got to make the most of the foundations we’ve built at the club and keep pushing forward.”