UQ went into this year’s grand final qualifier against Wests on the back of a nine-match unbeaten run. 

But a try against the run of play swung the match, leaving the Red Heavies free on grand final weekend for just the fifth time since 2010. 

Overview with Elton Berrange:

“It was a disappointing finish to the year, considering how we built towards the backend of the season,” Berrange told Rugby News.

“We had a bit more consistency in our selections in the second round and that allowed us to focus on the areas of our game that we wanted to. 

“Once we got some of our small detail down, it allowed the bigger detail and our attack to come together. 

“Our attacking breakdown work allowed us to put pressure on teams and that led to us scoring more points. 

“We also did a lot of work with a sports psychologist this year to help with our starts to matches. 

“This is a psychological term, so don’t think I’m a weirdo, but we focused on what our ‘arousal’ levels looked like before we played well and before we played poorly. 

“Everyone’s arousal levels are different and the sports psychologist helped our players realise that they needed to work out what worked for them. 

“Some players are like an old-French style forward who wants to headbutt the wall, while others need to stay relaxed and walk around with a smile on their face. 

“It was a really interesting exercise and had a big impact on our performance. 

“In the final against Wests, injuries really hurt us and impacted our ability to play in the right parts of the field.  

“But credit needs to go to Wests, they are a fantastic team. 

“The sliding door moment was when they went from behind their line and ran over a hundred metres to score a brilliant counterattack try. That was a 14-point turnaround that cost us. 

“Sometimes you’re at fault when that happens and other times, you need to give credit to the opposition for scoring an incredible try.”

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

“The initial focus is retention and recruitment and not just into Premier Grade. We want to build depth right through the club,” Berrange said. 

“We’ll do an off-season block of conditioning and we’ll base that around strength and conditioning games. It’s always more fun to run and work hard when it’s part of a competitive game so we’ll look to capitalise on that this side of Christmas. 

“We also want our guys working as a club rather than as individuals. 

“We’re really proud of the culture we’re developing at the club. We’ve talked about a no-dickheads policy and I feel like this group and our group for next year has bought into that.”

Which of your players do you think can push on next season? 

“There’s been a bit of noise around Kye Oates, which is warranted, but his timing with the Rebels stuff doesn’t help. 

“He’ll push on eventually but at the moment, he seems to be really enjoying playing rugby with his older and younger brothers. 

“Chase (Oates) also has a lot of potential, so they are two to watch in the years ahead.”

What can we expect in 2025?

“We’ll continue to evolve our attack. This year, we worked hard to create a bit more variation in our attack and I think we did that but we’ve still got a long way to go. 

“Despite the fact that I’m a South African, I really enjoy attacking rugby and I enjoy playing an Australian brand of rugby where attack is used to entertain so we’ll look to add to that next season. 

“In terms of the competition, I’ve had a lot of contact from Shute Shield players and players over in the MLR. If they are talking to me, they are obviously talking to other clubs as well so I reckon we might see an influx of talent that boosts the level of the competition. 

“We all learnt to adapt to the tackle laws this year and it added a bit more fatigue to the game, which is a real positive, so I think the rugby will only improve next season again”