Nudgee coach Andrew Scotney said his side isn’t getting ahead of themselves despite scoring 81 points in two impressive wins to kickstart their 2024 GPS first XV campaign. 

Last year’s premiers were challenged in the first half against both Ipswich Grammar and TSS in recent weeks, but proved too strong in the second half of both matches. 

Despite that, Scotney said his side still needs to get better in the coming weeks to continue their unbeaten start to the season. 

“It’s good to have two wins and that’s where you want to be,” Scotney told Rugby News. 

“But at the same time, you’ve got to realise that every week is a challenge in this competition and things can change pretty quickly with a bad performance. 

“Ipswich was our first hit out of the actual season and the boys were a little nervous. To Ipswich’s credit, they defended really well, as they always do, and we earned everything we got that day. 

“On the weekend against TSS, it was Old Boys Day here and our first game at home. The boys always really enjoy playing on Ross Oval and I felt they really lifted the longer the game went.”

Nudgee scored on the stroke of half time against TSS to take a 17-5 lead to the break but dominated field position in the second half and scored four answered tries in the final 20 minutes to seal a fairly impressive victory. 

“Our first half wasn’t great and we sort of just hung in there. I think TSS will probably rue some missed opportunities and to be fair, they probably had the better of the first half,” Scotney explained. 

“I thought after half time, we started to defend really strongly and we grew in confidence off the back of that. From there, we created some opportunities in attack and our support play was really good the longer the game went on.”

Nudgee and Brisbane State High share top spot on the GPS ladder after the opening fortnight but Scotney said he didn’t think there was much separating any of the teams this year. 

Nudgee face Churchie next who beat Brisbane Grammar in the opening round but were upset by Gregory Terrace last weekend. 

“There’s definitely areas we still need to improve,” Scotney said. 

“Our kickoffs receipts have been poor at times and our ball carry in contact needs to get better. We’ll also continue to work hard on our defence around our goal line. 

“They’re a tough team Churchie and they are always well organised in attack and defence. 

“They always seem to lift to play Nudgee, as do we when we play them. We’ve had some great battles over the years and I don’t think Saturday will be any different.”

In the other round two matches, Brisbane State High defeated Brisbane Boys’ College in BBC’s first hit out of the season, while Ipswich Grammar bounced back from their opening round defeat to Nudgee to beat Toowoomba Grammar in another result few would have seen coming. 

“I’m not really surprised to be honest. Last year was a really close competition and this year is going to be similar,” Scotney said. 

“Every week I think we’ll see a result that some may see as surprising. But after watching all the sides, everyone is good enough to win on their day. 

“We’re just focussing on ourselves and trying to produce our best performance each week.”

In other round three action, TSS host Toowoomba Grammar in a crucial clash for both sides. Ipswich Grammar host BBC and Brisbane Grammar take on Gregory Terrace.