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As the players take a well deserved break over the June long weekend, we spoke to all 12 Shute Shield coaches and asked them what they would grade their side’s start to the season.

Plus we asked them what part of their game they are looking to improve in the remaining rounds and what needs to happen before finals to consider the regular season a success.

First up, Eastwood, Gordon and Randwick.

Eastwood – Ben Batger (6th – 6 wins, 4 losses)

From A to E, how would you grade your opening 10 rounds and why?

I’d probably rate our season as a C so far. We started poorly, we were good during the middle rounds but then our last game against Uni was our worst performance of the season. Statistically our attack is ranked at the top and our defence is at the bottom. Our lineout is in the middle and our scrum is near the bottom so we are struggling to get all parts moving cohesively at the same time.

Our defence is our biggest concern . We leak way too many points . The best defence team normally wins the SHUTE SHIELD and we are currently ranked 10th. 
Our discipline is also worst in the competition and this naturally puts pressure on your defence .

What is the main area where you’d like to see improvement?

Our defence is our biggest concern, we’re leaking way too many points. The best defensive team normally wins the Shute Shield and we are currently ranked 10th. 
Our discipline is also the worst in the competition and that naturally puts pressure on your defence.

What do you need to do between now and the end of the regular season to consider the regular season a success?

To consider the regular season a success we need to fix our defence and our discipline. We want our set piece to keep improving and we need to evolve in attack. If we can do that, then we’ll be aiming for a top two finish and a second chance in the finals.

Gordon – Billy Melrose (4th – 7 wins, 3 losses)

From A to E, how would you grade your opening 10 rounds and why?

“I would have given us a B but that got put into question after our last outing against Manly. 

What is the main area where you’d like to see improvement?

I’d like to see us spend a bit more time with the ball in better areas of the field. That would be nice to see. We’ve had a lot of changes week to week so I think our cohesion in attack has some room to improve. 

What do you need to do between now and the end of the regular season to consider the regular season a success?

We just need to have ourselves fit and in the race to contend at the end of the year when it counts. 

Randwick – Steve Hoiles (5th – 6 wins, 4 losses) 

From A to E, how would you grade your opening 10 rounds and why?

I’d give us a B- minus at this point. We’re sitting fifth or sixth so we’re in the mix. I’ve been happy with our defence, we’ve worked hard on that and made it a big focus. 

The end score in our best games and our worst games aren’t far apart from each other. I think last weekend’s performance was up there. We scored some of the best long range tries we’ve seen all year and that’s another area we will keep working on.

What is the main area where you’d like to see improvement?

We need to improve our consistency across all major aspects of our play.

We’ve had great scrums for a few weeks, poor scrums before that, excellent lineout some weeks and issues the next. Our restarts hurt us for a few weeks but then we were really good on Saturday so there hasn’t been a lot of consistency. 

Lots of these issues are somewhat related to opposition pressure but on several occasions it’s been unforced errors that have hurt us.

What do you need to do between now and the end of the regular season to consider the regular season a success?

We’re just going to keep working hard and see where we land in late July.