After falling short against eventual premiers Randwick in last year’s playoffs, Gordon backrower Milan Basson thinks a fresh approach and better depth can lift his side to a Shute Shield premiership in 2024. 

Following the departure of veteran coach Billy Melrose at the end of last season, Basson said new coach Harry Fehily has had a positive impact in his first few months as head coach. 

“Billy is a big personality and he was fantastic for the club. We played in a grand final in 2022 and were in the hunt again last year but it has been refreshing to have a new voice in Harry,” the backrower told Rugby News. 

“He’s been at the club as an assistant for the last few seasons and knows how the place operates and he’s been eager to share a few new ideas and a few new ways of doing things, which everyone has really bought into.”

Basson had a breakout season in 2023. Statistically, he made the most tackles of any player in the Shute Shield last year. He ranked second for dominant tackles and equal seventh for carries and finished the year as one of the form backrowers across the competition. 

He’s developed a lot from the player that wasn’t overly focussed on rugby just a few years ago. 

A Gordon and Wahroonga Tigers junior, Basson played one season of colts at Sydney Uni after finishing school at Knox before returning to Chatswood Oval. 

Now a civil engineer, Basson said he struggled to manage the balance between uni, rugby and life throughout his early 20s, but said things have started to click in recent years. 

“I’ve definitely committed to footy a lot more over the last few years, on and off the field. When I started to get a chance off the bench in first grade under Billy, I probably still thought it was a really big step up and I probably didn’t believe that I was up to it. 

“But after a while it all started to feel a bit more natural and I realised that I could compete with the first graders at training, then in games and eventually I broke my way into our starting side and started to make an impact on the field.”

Still just 25, the backrower has enormous upside and will sit firmly in the sights of professional rugby coaches in the years ahead if he can replicate his form from last season. 

But Basson isn’t looking that far ahead. 

“I’d love to play as much footy as possible. It looks like a much better life than working a 9-5 job but I haven’t really put myself out their too much and don’t really know how I’d do it. 

“I’ve been talking to Harry about what I can improve in my game and how we can improve as a team and hopefully if we can be successful on the field this season, then we’ll benefit as a team and as individuals.”

Gun forwards Thomas Maka and Ola Tauelangi both picked up Super Rugby contracts with Moana Pasifika after impressing for the Stags last year and while Basson said the pair will be hard to replace, he said he was confident in the depth the club is building. 

“From first grade to fourth grade, Harry has made us feel like one big squad and I think that is going to be important this season,” Basson said. 

“If you look at Randwick last year, they had a club mentality and that created a lot of depth throughout the grades. 

“I distinctly remember Randwick bringing in six fresh forwards with about 20 minutes to go in our semi final, whereas half of our forward pack played the whole game and carried niggly injuries into the match. 

“We didn’t have the same sort of depth as Randwick so we weren’t able to give players games off towards the backend of the season. 

“This year, I feel our depth is a lot better and I think players right across the grades will be physically and mentally ready to step up throughout the season when needed.”

Gordon open their 2024 campaign against Western Sydney at Eric Tweedale Stadium on April 6.