Sunnybank were right in the mix in the first round of this year’s Hospital Cup season but struggled to close out tight games.

The Dragons won one and drew two of their first eight matches, then lost four more games by nine points or less.

Coach Rob Roiri thinks the time for excuses is over though and seems confident his side is on the up.

With strong depth across the grade, colts and women’s programs, there’s plenty to be positive about at Sunnybank.

Overview with Rob Riori:

“When we look at this season in the context of our five year plan, 2024 was always probably going to end up the way it did,” Roiri told Rugby News. 

“If we had of won a few more games and slipped into the top four, it probably would have masked some of the issues we’ve got at the club. 

“We need to improve the connection between the juniors and seniors at Sunnybank, that’s a big work-on. 

“But we also need to look at the competition. I’ve been around for a while now and I think the competition is a lot stronger than it’s been in a number of years. 

“The professional players that have come back have really lifted the standard and we as a club are underneath that standard at the moment. 

“We’ve acknowledged that and we know where we need to get to. We weren’t far off in a lot of games this year but as a whole, we’ve got to improve our consistency. 

“This year, when we prepared well and came with our best, we were in it. When we didn’t we struggled at the backend of games. 

“Through all of that though, we never lost our identity. We kept playing that razzle dazzle type of football where we attack from anywhere.  

“We don’t want to lose that, but now we’ve just got to be a little smarter about it. If we’re ahead late in a game, we can play field position to close out a match. We can find a balance there that will help us win more rugby games. 

“The depth at the club is really strong though. This year we had six senior teams, four colts teams and two women teams.  

“So while we didn’t win trophies or as many games as we would have liked, it was a really good year for the club in terms of getting us back to where we need to be.”

What’s the focus now and round one next year?  

“There’s no hiding for us moving forward. Everyone talks about the rebuilding phase but sooner or later you have to stand up and you have to be accountable,” the coach said. 

“Next year we have to be looking at winning more games and being more professional. 

“We’ve retained 95% of our players from this year so we’ve got plenty to build on and I’m excited to see what we can do over the coming months.”

What can we expect in 2025?

“I think there are going to be clubs that will be be looking over their shoulders at other clubs moving up the ladder and we want to be driving that.”