Are you ready for rugby?
Another Risdon Cup season has arrived and today The Chronicle looks at how your club is shaping
CONDAMINE Last year: Fifth 2018 Coach
Ben Taylor THE Cods this season celebrate 20 years in the Risdon Cup which is sure to spark appropriate commemorations and plenty of incentive on the park as they look to celebrate their milestone in style.
Condamine finished fifth in the competition last year and made it through to the second week of semi-finals.
Downs Rugby supporters are expecting to see a youthful Cods turn out in 2018 while they’ll lack nothing in the experience department with familiar figures including Roger Geldard and Sonny Power back for another season.
The Cods are also likely to retain some of their 2017 Fijian firepower and shape as a competition danger team with bright prospects of another top-five season finish.
DALBY Last year: First 2018 Coach Nathan Bradley Captain
Sam Hogarth BACK-to-back reigning premiers, the Dalby Wheatmen will be playing for three consecutive Risdon Cup victories this year, a feat last achieved exactly 50 years ago.
Downs Rugby senior coach Nathan Bradley returns as A grade coach at the club, and has once again selected Sam Hogarth as A-grade captain.
The team has lost some experience in winger/fullback Chris Shaw this year, but this gives some of the exciting younger players like Matt Donovan and Tom Morrissey the opportunity to step up to their second year of A grade.
The club has tremendous depth so it will be good to see what enthusiasm and skills some of the more youthful Wheatmen bring to the team alongside its more experienced players.
GOONDIWINDI
Last year: Second 2018 Coach Luke Fritz
GOONDIWINDI has retained a strong core group of players from last year’s team which went down to Dalby in the grand final for a second successive season.
The Emus are sure to be spurred on by those defeats and will be hungrier than ever for success in 2018.
This year they revert to a non-playing coach in club stalwart Luke Fritz and are set to field some of the competition’s most dangerous players across the paddock.
The Goondiwindi forwards have long spoken for themselves and with strike power outside in Will Gilbert, Tom Jobling, Harry Hawker, Michael Jamieson and George Stacy to name a few it would take a brave person to leave the Emus out of the 2018 grand finalist predictions.
HIGHFIELDS Last year: Ninth 2018 Coach Cameron Donaldson Captain
Blake Parton AFTER a challenging debut season in the A-grade competition the Redbacks are aiming to learn from the experience and to improve in the game fundamentals this season.
The results from last year showed they found the going tough competing in the high level of competition of the Risdon Cup.
However being one year older and wiser, hopefully this will stand the Redback in better stead during 2018.
The Redbacks have managed to recruit new players providing youth and experience. The club has also improved its player depth this year with the addition of a C-grade team to its ranks. ROMA Last year: Eighth 2018 Coach
THE proud Echidnas have felt the competition pinch in recent seasons and although they are kicking off this year as an unknown quantity, better things could be in store for them.
The club has achieved something of a coup in recruiting former Australian Schoolboys coach Rob Nowlan to help steer the Roma ship in 2018.
The Echidnas have also added a C-grade team to its competition make up which can help offset the transient nature of Roma personnel and provide the club with some much needed player depth.
Expect an improved season from the Roma team.
TOOWOOMBA BEARS Last year: Fourth 2018 Coach
Bryan Battersby BEARS have been in a rebuilding stage over recent seasons and last year they showed some benefit gained from that long-term strategy to gain a top-five finish on the back of some gutsy performances.
Bears are expected to field a number of teenage graduates again this year and although down on experience they have the potential to threaten as the season unfolds.
The club will field only A and B grade teams which does weaken their overall playing depth.
A top-five spot could be on the cards again.
RANGERS Last year: Third 2018 Coach Tom Crockett Captain
Fraser Donaldson RANGERS have undergone a changing of the guard for 2018 both on and off the field.
Former team halfback and later coach Tom Crockett returns to Gold Park after several years’ absence to take over the Rangers’ coaching role from Sam Hannant.
Crockett was a member of Rangers’ 2014 premiershipwinning team.
Rangers new-season team is shaping as a young line-up with several longer-term players exiting the club.
Exciting fullback and leading 2018 Risdon Cup try scorer Lachie Sperling has left for UQ while Ben Loxley and Luke Johnson have also moved on.
Much of Rangers on-field leadership is likely to fall on the shoulders of hard-working representative hooker Rob Paterson.
USQ
Last year: Sixth 2018 Coach Gary Briscoe Captain
James Gough GARY Brisco returns in 2018 to coach USQ Saints, this year celebrating their 50th anniversary.
As per usual Saints being a partly student-based club has a reasonably high turnover but numbers at training have been exceptionally good with the club fielding full teams in men’s and women’s competitions.
Regular A-grade players not available this year include centre Aaron Davis, utility back Matthias Humpe, centre James Legget, and winger Braydon Williams. On top of that there are six regular players that are unable to commit to the early season games.
There are a number of new players that look to have the goods to feature in the Risdon Cup during the season, with an exciting young halfback and two very elusive wingers amongst them.
With a late training start this year Saints will go into the first round “underdone” with no pre-season games behind them but shape as a competition dark horse.
UQ GATTON Last year: Seventh 2018 Coach James McColl (part time) Captain
Mitch Waters MOBILE second-rowers Thomas Barnwell, who is returning from a season off, and young Sam Coffison, fresh out of school from Charters Towers, will be important gains for the Pigs’ forward pack in 2018.
On the downside, they have lost 2017 captain-coach and Queensland Country Representative forward John Vinson along with talented five eighth Cam Griffin.
UQ Gatton has decided to field only an A-grade side this season which will allows for a greater focus on their performances.
Numbers and interest at the club have been strong throughout pre-season. Although there has been a large turnover from the 2017 side, plenty of fresh, enthusiastic faces have come into the 2018 squad forming a new-look Black Pigs.