Southern Districts will have a harder edge in 2024 under new coach Joe Barakat according to club captain Phil Potgieter. 

After a season to forget in 2023, Potgieter said there’s been a very different feel around Forshaw over summer and seemed confident that would translate into better performances on the field this season. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever done as much contact during preseason as I have this year. It’s been really physical,” the forward told Rugby News. 

“We’ve also done plenty of really tough beach sessions. Being in Cronulla, we’ve been able to utilise the beach and I think we’ll be fitter and more physical as a result. 

“If I compare it to the last few seasons, as a club we’ve got a really clear identity this time around and that’s helping us all push in the same direction.”

Southern Districts won just four matches in 2023 and acted quickly to recruit former club coach and Shute Shield veteran Joe Barakat back to his local club to lead the rebuild at Forshaw. 

“Whenever you finish last, you just want to forget about the season but it was important that we looked back at the why and we spent quite a bit of time doing a fairly painful review,” Potgieter continued. 

“Joe came in and helped with that, then we started working on turning things around almost immediately. We’ve got a really clear understanding of what he expects from us and how we wants us to play and we’ve been working towards that all summer.”

It didn’t take long for Barakat to identify that Southern Districts had lost their identity in recent years. 

“Traditionally Souths have played with a big, physical forward pack and then been really tough in defence,” Potgieter said. 

“If you look at the Shute Shield over the past few years, any team that wins the competition finishes as one of the top defensive teams and that’s what we’ve got to strive for. 

“Our set piece also died off over the last two years and that’s an area where we’d like to dominate again. 

“In the backs, we’ve never lacked speed, we’ve just got to get our quick guys the ball in space.”

Potgieter, who finished fourth in the Catchpole Medal voting at the end of last season, said he was confident that the Rebels had a playing group that was good enough to make big improvements from last season and push up the Shute Shield ladder in 2024. 

“We’ve had a lot of guys return from last season, which is really positive after the year we had. 

“We probably haven’t had as big a focus on recruitment as we have had in the past either, the club really wants to give the players we’ve got an opportunity to prove that they can match it with the best players in the competition. 

“We had some young, local juniors debut in first grade last year. Declan Mulcahy and Corey Goldsbrough were both really impressive in the backs and we expect them to take another big step forward this season.”

After trials against Canberra side Queanbeyan and Western Sydney, Souths open their Shute Shield campaign at home against Warringah on the first weekend in April. 

Potgieter said he’s seen enough in recent months to believe his side will be more than competitive this season. 

“Round one is going to be a really good test because they are another side looking to bounce back from a disappointing season last year. They’ve got a new coach and quite a few new players so they’ll be tough. 

“Our focus is on performing well in front of our home crowd. If we can do that and build into the season, then I’m confident we’ll play some really good rugby at the pointy end of the year and push for a spot in the top six.”