By MARK CASHMAN

Sydney Uni skipper Jack McCalman pinches himself when he views the Students’ wrap sheet for their Shute Shield season so far.

Seven from seven from their first block of games in the 2021 season with some big wins against teams like Eastern Suburbs, Eastwood and Warringah and four points clear of the nearest chasers in Northern Suburbs and Gordon.

But the big thing for many at Uni, as they head into this coming weekend’s bye round, is the fact that they are rediscovering the structure and ruthlessness of seasons of the recent past.

There’s no doubt that Uni’s failure to make last season’s grand final rankles a large section at the club and the loss of the treasured club championship is something that everyone at Camperdown is keen to see return “home”.

“We’ve probably surprised ourselves as much as anyone,” McCalman told Rugby News in the wake of his side’s 45-12 win over Warringah at home on Saturday.

“To have played two trial games and go seven from seven to start our season and play some pretty good football at the same time, you’ve got to be happy with that.

“We’ve got the bye weekend coming up so it’s a good time to physically and mentally refresh and then get across a lot of the detail that we need for the next block of games.”

The Students jumped out to a 19-0 early in the encounter against the Rats and pretty much kept them on the back foot for much of the 80 minutes.

Tries to McCalman, Ben Hughes and the in-form Eddy King saw them jump away to that lead early before Warringah were able to get on the scoresheet through their skipper Ben Marr.

That block of games involves Gordon and Norths as well as a side that McCalman sees as a team with the tools to challenge the Students, Southern Districts.

“We’ve just been going week to week at this stage and there is no doubt that it is going to be a very tight competition at the back end,” McCalman added.

“We’ve worked hard to get where we are now but there are some massive challenges through the rest of the home and away season.”

McCalman says he was “shocked and honoured” to be asked to lead the first grade side this year.

“Shocked and honoured yes I suppose that’s a good way to put it,” McCalman said of the little ‘c’ following his name on the player sheet.

“For me this year was all about getting into the first grade side and getting mob hands on the No.7 jersey and anything that came after that was a bonus.

“So to not only get the No.7 jersey but to lead the side for the first seven games has been a huge honour.

“It’s all about maintaining our training and playing standards which is important because of the structure and style of footy that we play at Uni.

“But at the same it’s a really well supported role and I’m not having to do all the talking and strategy out on the field with guys like Nick Champion de Crespigny, Harry Clunies-Ross and Tim Clements there.”

McCalman reckons that Uni’s brutal off-season set them up for their racy start to the season.

“It was one of the toughest that I have done,” he said.

“We’re looking to squeeze teams and work hard for long periods of time so the only way that you can do that is to be incredibly fit.

“As a group we sat down when we came back in on January 5 and everyone committed to do what was required to win the Shute Shield and the club championship.”

McCalman is part of rugby royalty in the NSW Central West and is the son of former Beasties backrower from the 1990s Andrew.

The family farm is at Cumnock in that part of the world and McCalman has plans to return there to help out at some stage.

Before that happens there’s a premiership to win and a new job at KPMG in the agri business unit to bed in as well as a busy training schedule to manage.

IMAGE: AJF PHOTOGRAPHY