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QLD Premier Rugby 2021

Jets

Paul McLean (56)
Staff member
Seems like the right time to start this.

Can we lock in
  • Norths, Sunnybank & Wests being really disappointing?
  • Souths beating one of the top four but loosing to one of the bottom 3?
  • Bond improving, can they make the GF?
  • Brothers or GPS missing the finals
  • Uni making the GF
  • Easts not being as dominant, or can they build on their success?
 

PhilClinton

John Hipwell (52)
Lots of Wests supporters in the forum - what's happening over there? They're pretty local to me so I enjoy watching a few games there.

Is there legitimate improvement on the horizon?
 

Cancelled Account

Desmond Connor (43)
Seems like the right time to start this.

Can we lock in
  • Norths, Sunnybank & Wests being really disappointing?
  • Souths beating one of the top four but loosing to one of the bottom 3?
  • Bond improving, can they make the GF?
  • Brothers or GPS missing the finals
  • Uni making the GF
  • Easts not being as dominant, or can they build on their success?
2020 is a year that many will want to put behind them. At least we got to watch club rugby.
2021 will be a change in the guard with talented young recruitments looking at other than Brothers and UQ. There are a couple of Shute Shield blokes looking to make their way up here. UQ will be solid with the field quite open after that.
 

thierry dusautoir

Alan Cameron (40)
Thought it might stimulate some conversation.


Didn't mind it at all.

For the most part I agree...I do think Wests will be better if they can keep the majority of their players and let them get some cohesion up.

Norths probably need the same and maybe a bit more punch from their tight five.
 

SouthernX

Peter Johnson (47)
Wonder where Suliasi Vunivalu lands in terms of club rugby alignment?

I'm going to guess either Norths or Bond with no mail whatsoever.
 

PhilClinton

John Hipwell (52)
I think it'll be a moot point whichever club he ends up at - he's training with the Wallabies before playing a game of Super Rugby. I don't think he'll ever lace up for a club game. RA probably don't want to risk their $900k investment getting injured at that level either.
 

Bulldog

Nev Cottrell (35)
For me Bond are the team that are at cross roads - can they take another step up or will they fall back?

And Easts will experience somewhat of a premiership hang over.

So of the top 4 this year - I think 3 (Easts, Bond & GPS) could be in a battle to stay there.

Will be interesting to see when QPR kicks off in 2021.
 

PhilClinton

John Hipwell (52)
Not sure Easts will experience the hangover as much as previous teams have. Yes they will likely need an entirely new front row haha, with Van Nek and Asiata already heading off and Francis likely to have a contract somewhere.

But the fact they cleaned up the top three grades says they've got depth. Maybe not the same depth as this year but I imagine they will be in the top 2 teams again.
 

Happyman

Ted Thorn (20)
For me Bond are the team that are at cross roads - can they take another step up or will they fall back?

And Easts will experience somewhat of a premiership hang over.

So of the top 4 this year - I think 3 (Easts, Bond & GPS) could be in a battle to stay there.

Will be interesting to see when QPR kicks off in 2021.
For mine it could be GPS that could have a tough year. They seem to be aging and do not have the Colts coming through.
my top 4 in no particular order
Bond, UQ, Brothers, Easts
 

The Nomad

Bob Davidson (42)
For mine it could be GPS that could have a tough year. They seem to be aging and do not have the Colts coming through.
my top 4 in no particular order
Bond, UQ, Brothers, Easts
Agree GPS need to work on their Colts program and stop parachuting players into 1st grade . They have a fantastic nursery up on the hill and need to réengage this progression from Colts to Grades .

Easts will be fine with the depth they showed taking out 1/2&3’s , but if you took away their very dominant scrum and their Captain from this year’s team they might have struggled to even make the four . A couple of close games this season could have easily gone the other way without such a dominant front row and the leadership of Mowen. They will be hard to replace for next year, not saying it can’t be done , but it will be a big ask to find like for like replacements.

Assuming we get a full season in , the extra depth of Brothers and Easts will see them in the top 4, most likely joined by UQ and Bond.
 

Bulldog

Nev Cottrell (35)
I think you need more than just Marist Brothers Ashgrove to secure success.

Coincidentally as Brothers evolved from the Christian Brothers, Wests evolved from the Marist Brothers and were known as the Maristonians.
 

The Nomad

Bob Davidson (42)
I think you need more than just Marist Brothers Ashgrove to secure success.

Coincidentally as Brothers evolved from the Christian Brothers, Wests evolved from the Marist Brothers and were known as the Maristonians.
Absolutely they do , but something is going wrong there .

Only two Colts teams this year and neither were competitive.

What do Marist play down to in the AIC ? Something like a 6th XV maybe ?

First year of Colts being U20’s and GPS can only field two teams . That doesn’t look great for Grades in a few years .

It’s all about progression and my concern for GPS is that they have focused on First grade to the detriment of the whole club in recent years .

Hopefully they prove me wrong and have a strong season across all grades next year .
 

Dean Moriarty

Billy Sheehan (19)
I think part of the issue with Jeeps through their junior pathways into Colts over say at least the last 5 to 6 years has been one of ownership and identity , in that , it has been too limiting in how it is perceived. And perception becomes reality. It is too lazy in thinking and expectation to expect that all Marist lads will just toddle off down the hill when they complete their schooling. The reality is over the last few years 7 or 8 of out their best 10 players have either favoured league, gone back to the farm, or gone to other clubs.

And then on top of that nothing has been done in proactive management to address proper engagement through the juniors , or externally , through other natural school catchments to change the thinking that :

1. It’s just a Marist Club (when you get into Colts )
2. And because of that the Colts teams aren’t going to be any good

Further to that, UQ and Brothers don’t need to do shit to attract and recruit because the reality is , there is perceived status / quality in aligning with UQ or Brothers.

Easts and Souths may not have as the same perceived elitism in their status in the minds of 16 to 18 year old guys ,but, have done well to build their own brand of tribalism / cult in their culture that creates the sense of belonging that a lot of young guys might be looking for.

Clubs like Jeeps , and Norths , and in fact any Club that doesn’t get their thinking up to date in and around the forward challenges of building a Club will slowly die. The lazy , cliche’d throw away lines of what they think it’s about are at least 10 years plus out of date and until they get it right it’s a slow death

Maybe the appointment of Steve Meehan as Director of Rugby is a strong step in the right direction of broader engagement , but , it isn’t really on him to set the tone on what the identity of the Club is - that starts at the top of their leadership , and it is leadership that is absolutely required to properly define this and then set about getting buy in. Are they up to it ? Guess we’ll see.
 

Bulldog

Nev Cottrell (35)
Part of the issue is the widening gap between GPS and AIC(formerly TAS) rugby.

And the fact that in the last 10 years Ashgrove hasn't dominated like it use to with Padua, St Edmund's, St Lawrence's & Villanova winning 1st XV premierships.

So whilst MB Ashgrove once sat well above the other AiC schools in Rugby that is no longer the case - having said that they are still a heavy weight in the comp and may have won 1st XV premierships in 2019 & 2020.
 
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