2014 Season Preview: Eastern Suburbs

by Paul Cook –

Eastern Suburbs flew under the radar a little bit in 2013. Losing as many games as they won, consistency was their Achilles heel but a late run of victories saw them bag a creditable 6th place on the ladder. They then went on to despatch Norths in the first week of the finals before going out of the competition in a tight one to Manly a week later, but with a mix of young talent and a few old heads, it seemed as though they had a platform from which to build on for the seasons to come.

As it panned out, three of those old heads departed in the off-season with Andrew Shaw and Rob McMickan hanging up the boots and skipper Pauliasi Taumoepeau calling time on an injury blighted career that prevented him from attaining the heights his talents deserved. It’s left them with a dearth of experience to try and overcome and with the departure of three 1st graders to local rivals Randwick, two more to the fertile pastures of Europe and the arrival of their replacements, pre-season has been a challenging time for the coaching team.

Campbell Aitken started his life at Woollahra Oval on the other side of the fence rope before taking his first steps into coaching in lower grades with the Beasties. After guiding 3rd grade to two Grand Finals in 2010 and 2011 he made the move up to club defence coach in 2012 before landing his current role as assistant coach to Mark Bakewell last season. Rugby News caught up with Aitken recently to ask him for his thoughts on the 2014 competition and just how Easts are placed for the season ahead…

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Last season Easts had a record of nine wins and nine losses in the regular season with a couple of notable victories alongside some frustrating defeats. Was it just a question of inconsistency?

“We struggled a lot for consistency. We had a lot of relatively new players in key positions, Will Fay at fullback, Henry Hudson at five-eight, both in their first season in first grade so they are naturally going to have ups and downs as the season goes on. They’re a year older now so they’ll be better for the experience.”

Campbell Aitken is starting his second season as assistant to Mark Bakewell at Woollahra Oval – Photo: SPA Images

In previous years, Easts have been fairly free-scoring but last year had only the ninth best attack in the comp, was that down to inconsistencies in selection, injuries, form or anything else?

“I think all of the above to be fair. We introduced a new structure and a new shape which probably took quite a bit longer than we hoped to implement.  What that lead to was a struggle to score tries.  Also our strength was the forward pack to be fair and I think we probably tightened up a little bit too much in a number of games and just focused on the forwards rather than actually playing the fifteen man game.”

You’ve also brought through a lot of younger players into 1st grade over the last couple of years which is refreshing and should stand the club in good stead moving forward but short term, can that lack of experience sometimes be a detriment, particularly in closing out some of the tight ones?

“That’s a case by case thing I suppose, some of the kids will stand up and others won’t. You’d like to think that given that opportunity they’ll learn from it. It’s always great to have experience, you look at the likes of Sydney Uni and Eastwood who set the benchmark and they’re littered with experience throughout their ranks so it’s no surprise there that they both got through to the Grand Final all the way through the grades.  Experience counts for a hell of a lot in those key positions in particular and that clearly helps anyone.”

You’ve got legendary All Black Andrew Mehrtens on board to help out, what is his official role?

“He’s a technical advisor, that’s his official title and he’ll be at training every Tuesday and he will be a mentor for the coaches or a mentor for the players. He’ll obviously have a look at what we’re coaching and give some feedback either to the coaches or the players and to obviously look at our games on weekends and pinpoint a few things where he thinks we can improve. I’m loving the fact that he’s there, it’s great having someone like that on board, it’s great for the club and the players love having him around and he brings plenty of that experience to the table that we were just talking about.”

How did you get him on board?

“We knew he moved to Rose Bay and his son is playing juniors down at Easts, so we asked the question and he was happy to help.”

There’s been a lot of player movement around Easts since last year, has it been a hard pre-season in terms of turnover of players as a result?

“I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t been, it’s been pretty challenging losing that volume of players and obviously we’ve been trying to recruit to replace them as well. That takes time and it’s not until the last three or four weeks that we’ve had a full compliment that we’re happy with going forward. It does give other younger players opportunities and while it has been difficult we’re pretty comfortable with the squad we’ve got now and we’re looking forward to the start of the season.”

Eastern Suburbs: Ins & Outs

There’s an earlier start to the competition this year, a couple of extra rounds and a six team finals series – are you happy with the changes?

“It is what it is, we’d prefer to play everyone twice and I don’t think that’s any secret, home and away makes a bit of sense.  Having eight teams in a 12 team comp qualify for the finals was ridiculous because it rewards mediocrity. Having the top six makes it a bit more competitive and I like the fact that we’re playing week-in, week-out for the duration, that’ll be good. Those clubs with big squads will be able to rotate their players, those that don’t might struggle more than others so the more opportunity you can give to more players early in the comp will stand you in good stead later on.”

The NRC arrives at the end of the year, what are the pros and cons of this competition for club rugby?

“I’m a huge supporter of it, I think it’s long overdue and I hope they stick with it. It gives our players an extra carrot, it gives them an opportunity to play at a higher level and our goal will be to develop as many of our players as possible to play in that comp. I’m all for it, I think if you ask any of the players or any of the current coaches they are overwhelmingly positive about it. There is going to be a lot of pressure on clubs to get sponsorships going and I think if it had come in next year it would have been a bit more sensible but clearly, there’s reasons for doing it this way and we’ve just got to get on with it.”

With the Super Rugby final only two weeks before the Shute Shield grand final this year, those clubs with Super Rugby players will have less access to them depending on the relative success of each state. Can we expect a more level playing field across the regular season as a result?

“Ideally yes, but the stronger teams have always come through anyway. Those with greater access to Super Rugby players come finals time tend to push through regardless. It might make for a more interesting comp up until the Minor Premiers are decided but no-one remembers who the Minor Premiers are so when it comes to the finals series, that’s when it counts.”

What trends, if any, do you think we might see appearing in the way the game is played or approached by teams this year in regards to law interpretations – particularly at the breakdown?

“It’s mainly around the breakdown and guys staying on their feet. Games tend to be won and lost at the breakdown so those teams that are more proficient at it will benefit. It all comes down to the referee’s interpretations as well.  Hopefully there will be consistency across the board.  Getting guys to stay on their feet will be paramount and getting back on your feet and playing the game, so not rolling away from rucks will ideally be policed a little bit better which will help to make it a faster, more attractive game.

Lock Gabe Passmore has progressed through every grade to get his chance in top grade and is one to watch according to Aitken – Photo: SPA Images

“The new scrum laws seem to be working, I don’t see many people complaining about them and it’s certainly tightened up a lot from last year. However, you don’t want referees one week focusing on straight feeds and the next week not, it has to be really consistent.”

Players to watch out for in 2014?

“I think one would be Dan Gallagher. He’s been involved in the New South Wales U20s and we’re pretty excited about him, he plays at 13 or 15. I think he’ll get more and more exposure and he’s a really exciting player for us. In the forwards I’d probably say Gabe Passmore, he’s a young guy who’s come up through the ranks, played 4th grade, 3rd grade, 2nd grade and now he’s in 1st grade and he’s playing as lock alongside Richard Stanford. We’ve got big hopes for him to play maybe the next seven or eight seasons and be the cornerstone of that pack for the next generation coming through.”

What is a successful season for Easts this year – finals footy will be harder to achieve with only 6 spots available or is that looking fanciful given the disruptions to the squad?

“I think finals football may be a stretch for us this year. We’ll be disappointed if we don’t make the finals but if we do, I think we will have achieved what we wanted to. Whether that’s realistic or not is probably for other people to judge but that’s certainly what we’re aiming for and if we do it, it will have been a successful season for us. It’s going to be more of a year of transition with the amount of older generation players that have left the playing ranks such as Pauli Taumoepeau, Rob McMickan and Andrew Shaw. Losing them all at the same time is going to be challenging and there will be a transitional period but we’ll still be hard to beat, we’ll give our all and hopefully be there or thereabouts at the end of the season and with a chance of getting into the finals.”