After falling one win short of claiming their third straight GPS premiership, Joeys will begin their 2021 campaign with a blockbuster clash against CAS rivals Knox at Bankwest Stadium.

The match will be played as a curtain raiser to the Waratahs and Rebels clash on Saturday evening and couldn’t be further from the empty sidelines schoolboy rugby players played in front of last season.

“We were really happy with our boys last season considering all the disruptions throughout the season,” Joeys first XV coach Tim Andersen told Rugby News.

“From training in pairs, to training in groups of ten. Then the season was called off, then it was back on again.

“For it to come down to the very last game of the season against Kings for the premiership, it was a great effort from all involved

“Kings were a great side and played very well on the day and while we were unhappy to lose that one, as you can expect, we were pleased with the season overall.

“One more win would have been nice but it was still a great season regardless and Kings were worthy winners.”

Andersen will unveil a new look squad featuring a mix of year 11 and year 12 boys and a handful of returning players for the first match of the preseason on Saturday.

“We took a group of 55 players up to Tamworth for a camp and that was fantastic. We spent a lot of time working on the basics, getting our set piece right and making sure all 55 boys were all on the same page across a range of areas,” he said.

“It was an enjoyable, effective and efficient camp so hopefully we see the benefits of that in the coming weeks and months.”

Joeys and Knox have built a strong rivalry in recent years and Andersen said he’s expecting another tight clash on Saturday.

“They’re always a good side. They’re typically well drilled and well coached, particularly in the set piece and I’d expect nothing different this weekend,” he said.

“They’ve been very competitive against us in recent times and that’s been fantastic for both schools to have a number of tight, close games. They’ll come out firing and will play really aggressive, particularly at the breakdown and I think that will be a good challenge for our guys.

“It’d be nice to see some of the things that we worked on at camp start to transition into our game.

“As our first run of the season it’ll be good to see how the boys go playing against another school who run different attacking and defensive system to us.”

After such a disrupted season in 2020, Andersen said hiss boys would be happy to play just about anywhere this weekend, but said the opportunity to play a Curtain Raiser at Bankwest Stadium before a Super Rugby match was exciting.

“It’s great for the boys, they’re all really excited. Particularly after missing out last year on playing in front of crowds, the school and their parents and families.

“That’s such a big part of schoolboy rugby and it’ll be great to see it back.”