Gregory Terrace caused the upset of the opening weekend, beating Ipswich Grammar in Ipswich to kick start their 2021 GPS campaign in the best possible fashion. 

Terrace’s new first XV coach Michael Broad said he was thrilled with his side’s gritty performance in the 13-7 victory. 

“It was a great start to the season. The boys have listened to others tip them to be the wooden spooners this year and they’ve used that as motivation,” Broad told Rugby News. 

“It was a typical round one match. A real arm wrestle and neither side was perfect but we were able to dominate the set piece and that proved to be the difference. 

“Towards the end of the game, Ipswich were opting to take the tap, rather than kick for touch when they got a penalty to avoid another lineout.”

Broad said his side tightened their attack in preparation for the round one clash and did their best to turn the match into an arm wrestle. 

“We know what our skillset is and for the first time this year we played a really narrow game that allowed us to make the most of those skills. 

“It was a fairly tight, restrictive game plan but it worked and I think the boys gained a lot of confidence out of that.”

Terrace led 10-0 following tries to Riley Tillotson and Joe Liddy, before Ipswich hit back from close range through hooker Ayrton Holmes to reduce the deficit to three points. 

A penalty goal then extended Terrace’s lead to six in the second half.

“The last two matches against Ipswich, they’ve beaten Terrace by plenty and we knew they were a side that can get on a roll and score a lot of points, so we did our best to limit their opportunities on Saturday,” Broad continued. 

“We were able to control possession and territory and then when we did have the ball in the right part of the field, we didn’t panic in attack and that was really pleasing to watch.”

While Broad admitted his side will likely give up a size advantage in most games they play this season, the coach said he thinks Terrace can outsmart teams and cause a few more upsets this year. 

“We’re going to try and change the way we play depending on our opposition and the boys are really enjoying the variety that comes with that. 

“Every week we want to play a little differently and focus on a few areas of our game specifically to try and beat that opposition.”

In other results over the opening weekend, TSS and Nudgee both claimed big wins over Brisbane Grammar and Brisbane State High, while BBC were forced to work for their points against Toowoomba. 

“Southport were extremely impressive against (Brisbane) Grammar. It’s not great seeing big scorelines like that but I think it says more about how good Southport are than anything else,” Broad said. 

“When we played Grammar in the trials, they were really solid at scrum time and they had two really good centres. 

“I’ve heard BBC were a little disappointed with their game against Toowoomba Grammar. I was surprised by that scoreline to be honest.

“Nudgee also looked really good against (Brisbane) State High. It was clear that they’d done their homework and knew exactly how State High would defend, then took advantage of that. 

“Nudgee just blew them off the park in the first 20 minutes and jumped away to a 20 point lead. 

“In saying that, State High looked good when they held on to the ball. They’re a big side, they’re No.8 and No.10 both played really well.”

Gregory Terrace face Brisbane State High at home in round two and should have a fairly good idea of what to expect after training against Pat Byron’s side several times during this year’s preseason. 

“We’re going to have to really muscle up because State High are going to have a decent size advantage. 

“They’ll also be looking to bounce back after losing their first match of the season, so it makes for an exciting match up.”

In other round two fixtures, Churchie kick start their 2021 campaign against TSS, Brisbane Grammar host Ipswich and Nudgee take on BBC in a blockbuster at Boondall.