By LIZ MOORE

It’s down to the wire for Bond’s finals hopes this weekend, and fullback Maxwell Dowd is backing his team’s exciting game and playmakers in against ladder leaders UQ.

After a disappointing 34-22 loss to GPS on the weekend, the Bull Sharks are hoping to utilise their home-ground advantage and force their way into the 2020 play-offs with a win against the tournament’s top competitors.

“They scored early and got on top of us quite quickly,” Dowd said of GPS. “We kind of came back a bit but their scrum was too powerful. They pushed us around the park a bit there.

“They’ve got an older, bigger pack than us,” the 21-year-old said. “We had a fair few of our forward pack out, which didn’t help, but at the end of the day they were definitely the better team.”

Dowd said his team had been quick to learn the lessons from being outmuscled. 

“We definitely took a lot from it heading into this weekend against UQ, but it would have been good to get the win.”

Dowd said the key take-aways from the loss were focus and backing themselves.

“I think we need to learn to back ourselves a bit more. 

“We can say a lot about the opposition but I just think we’ve got to focus more on our own game plan despite who the opposition is. Really just focus on our role and our job as a team and an individual, and I think good things will happen. 

“That’s what happened previously. When we do that right, we seem to go pretty good.”

Dowd said the Bull Sharks hit top form in their wins against Wests and Easts earlier in the season, and is confident his team can do it once more to land a finals berth.

Dowd received a John Eales Rugby Excellence Scholarship to study at Bond in his first year out of The Southport School. 

The architecture student was in the Reds under-20s academy squad in 2018 and 2019, and this year has focused all of his considerable energy and communication skills on the Bond Premier grade team and his place in it for a second year.   

“I tend to organise a lot,” Dowd said of his personal playing style. “I know I’m playing good when the energy’s up and I can help with the team, and help myself bring energy to the team.

“I enjoy counter-attacking like a fullback does. I do a lot more ball-playing than other fullbacks, I think.”

It’s this proactive play that Dowd said makes the Bull Sharks appealing to the strong crowds they’ve been pulling.

“I think it’s fair to say we’re pretty exciting to watch. We play a little bit different to other teams. I think because we’ve got such a good backline, we tend to move the ball a lot more than other teams. Or we try to.”

Dowd said players like scrum half Liam Dillon; Dan Boardman and Ryan Menzies in the centres; and back-rowers Jake Upfield and Dylan Rowe, would make this Saturday’s crunch match at the Canal all the more exciting. 

Dowd said he also wouldn’t miss the women’s game played after theirs, in which Bond are also playing for a finals berth. “It’s the best game of the day,” Dowd said.

IMAGE: SUPPLIED