Southern Districts had a disappointing season in 2023 but welcomed a familiar face back to the club over summer.

Joe Barakat was club captain at Southern Districts in 1989 and first grade coach in 2000.

In 2024, he's back at Forshaw and eager to turn the Rebels into a tough, hard footy side capable of playing finals for the first time since 2017.

Overview with Joe Barakat:

“Things are looking alright down here. We’ve worked pretty hard and it’s been fairly arduous but I think we’ve prepared ourselves way for some tough games ahead,” Barakat told Rugby News.

“We’ve done a lot of contact over summer and typically if you do too much contact with bodies that aren’t up for it, they break, but we haven’t broken anyone. It shows these guys are really good athletes.