Shute Shield: Rebels look within to spark a revival to end title drought
By MARK CASHMAN
The Covid-19 crisis has seen many things change in rugby but Southern Districts head coach Todd Louden is of the opinion that the revival of Shute Shield clubs’ community connections will be one of the big ticks from this testing period.
The Rebels looked long and hard at where they sat in the Shire at the end of last season and decided that they needed to fortify their links with the community and get back to basics - grow from within
After playing in the 2012 and 2014 grand finals the Rebels’ results at Shute Shield level have dropped away in recent seasons as opportunity at the next level drew players away from the week to week at Forshaw.
They finished ninth in 2019 with six wins and were four good wins away from playing finals last season.
“In many ways it was one of those perfect storm sort of scenarios where Super Rugby quality players took opportunities and the colts that were coming through needed time to make their mark in first grade,”