Gordon almost ended Randwick’s run to last year’s breakthrough premiership in the opening week of the playoffs, but fell short in the final 10 minutes after trailing by just two points late in the afternoon at Coogee Oval. 

It was a disappointing end to Billy Melrose’s time in charge at the Highlanders, but it’s given new coach and former assistant Harry Fehily plenty to work with in 2024. 

Overview with Harry Fehily: 

“We’re about a month out from round one and the last few weeks of preseason have flown by,” Fehily told Rugby News. 

“We’ve had quite a big turnover of players from last year, which is fairly typical for most Shute Shield clubs, so the last few weeks have been focussed on building some cohesion between the new guys and our returning players.”

“That’s not just on the footy pitch either. It’s sharing experiences together away from rugby as well that help teams come together and we’ve had quite a few of those so far. 

“There’s always a few teething issues at this point of the year, but we’re moving forward nicely at this stage. 

“Last year was a bit of a missed opportunity. I was actually in an out of coaching last year. I had originally planned to take a year off but Billy dragged me back in to help out. 

“Gordon were in a really good spot around the middle of the year. They were top of the table at one point I think, but there were a lot of injuries through the middle part of the season and they lost a lot of momentum because of that and struggled to get it back. 

“We’ve tried to grow our top squad so that we have more players capable of doing a job in first grade. Depth and cohesion across all the grades and our colts program becomes really important when you’re trying to do that. 

“We’ve taken a bit more control over second grade this year as well so that everyone is on the same page.”

2023: Semi finalists – Lost to Randwick 32-23 in week one of finals. 

Ins: Jay Fonokalafi (Western Sydney), Conrad Cade (Newcastle Falcons, UK), Liam Usher (Wests Bulldogs, Brisbane), Joe Snow (Exeter Chiefs, UK), Alex Humphries (Manly). 

Outs: Thomas Maka (Moana Pasifika), Ola Tauelangi (Moana Pasifika), Rory O’Connor (retired), Tiaan Tauakipulu (Western Force), James Lough (retired), Harrison Goddard (Brumbies), Rod Iona (MLR), Jack McGregor (retired).

What sort of rugby will we see from Gordon this year?

“It will be slightly different but we’re not going to go away from our set piece. You can’t play rugby unless you go forward, it’s that simple. 

“Outside of that, we’ve tried to get the guys more comfortable and confident on the ball in pressure and tight contact areas. We’ve evolved our attack on the back of that and I think you’ll see a bit more ball movement from us when we’re in the right parts of the field. 

“The contact area of the game has been another big focus for us compared to the last couple years. 

“I actually don’t think the new laws are going to be as bad as some people think. I think we’ll see quite a lot of penalties in the first few rounds but I think the referees at a first grade level are very high quality and we’ve been in constant dialogue with them throughout the preseason. 

“I think we might see more issues in the lower grades but I’m confident everyone will be able to adapt.”

Players to watch:

“I think this year is the year Milan Basson and Kainoa Gudgeon step forward and become really dominant players. Milan obviously had a very good year last year and won the club’s players player award.

“He might make a slight positional change so he’ll be an interesting one to watch. 

“Kai had a full season of first grade last year and did some really good things in attack and he’s really grown as a leader within our group over the last few months. I think he’ll really push on this year. 

“Ollie Arcus is another younger player who has been in and around first grade over the last few years. 

“With a few players moving on, I think it’s his time to secure his spot in first grade and although he has his eye on playing sevens, if he can cement his place in first grade I think he’ll be really good for us this year.”

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

“Randwick are certainly the team to catch at this stage. Outside of that, Norths will also be hard to beat because they both really set the standard last year. 

“Ultimately, I’d like us to be playing one of those two sides in the grand final but we’ve got to catch them before we worry about that.”