Cranbrook coach Brad Gill is quietly confident that his young side can match it with the competition’s best when the CAS competition kicks off this weekend. 

Cranbrook travel to play Knox on Saturday in round one and Gill said he excited to see what his young team can produce. 

“We’ve got a fairly young group this year with only two or three boys returning from last season and they are all really excited to get stuck in and get a taste of first XV CAS rugby,” Gill told Rugby News. 

“I thought we built nicely through the trial period and we’ve had our best week of training so far this week so I think they’ll be ready to go come Saturday. 

Gill said he’s been impressed with his side’s attack in recent weeks and said execution and defence will be the key in round one. 

“I’m really liking what I’m seeing from our attack, we’re creating a lot of opportunities but we need to find a way to convert those opportunities into points as much as possible,” he said. 

“Knox are a big side with a big forward pack that will look to dominate so we’ll need to aim up defensively.

“When we’re on and we’re focussed on playing the type of footy we want to play, then we can be a really good football side and I’m hoping we show that this weekend.”

While Gill said Knox, Barker and Waverley were the teams to beat this year, the coach was quietly confident that his side will cause an upset or two this season. 

“We’ve definitely got the ability to challenge those sides and if we play our best footy, I think we’re capable of winning matches every week. If things go our way and we stay injury free, there’s no reason why we can’t be right in the mix towards the end of the competition. 

In other round one CAS matches, Trinity host Barker and Waverley take on Aloys.