Cyclones crave control
@obrien_GCB CHRIS Miles believes the eventual takeback of control over the Gold Coast District Rugby Union competition will lay the platform for improved Cyclones performances.
Miles is the coach of the representative side that crashed to a 0-2 record at the South Queensland Championships on the Sunshine Coast on the weekend.
The Cyclones were convincing winners at the 2016 tournament but this time they fell 31-12 to the Sunshine Coast on Friday and 32-0 to Darling Downs the following day.
Miles noted the Darling 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES HOST CITY Downs representative side’s increased time spent together in the build-up had been reflected on game day.
“They had toured together to New Zealand, they had toured together to Japan,” he said.
“They had been together and you could see it. They were very well drilled, they knew where each other were.
“It’s always hard when we have got the Cyclones, we have a finite amount of time to prep.
“Really when it came to it, they were just a little bit more drilled than us and they were working their combinations a lot better together than what we were.”
Miles reckons that could all GOLD COAST COACH CHRIS MILES change if and when control of the Gold Coast competition falls back into local hands.
The competition has been run by Queensland Rugby Union since early last year when the district management fell deep into debt but it is widely thought a handover is a possibility soon.
“We are really excited about the opportunity of when we get control back of Gold Coast Rugby from QRU,” Miles said.
“We’re really hoping we can put the foundations in place that can really leave a legacy with Cyclones on the Gold Coast.
“Especially now with the Junior Cyclones really starting up, we’ll be sharing session plans, sharing experiences, sharing how we have done it here at Senior Cyclones and hopefully the juniors can follow the same sort of model and build on those lessons.”
Despite their winless tournament, Miles was happy with his team’s dominance at the scrum and felt some players put their hand up for South Queensland selection.
Among them were hooker Doug Kay, flanker Andy Finn and outside centre Jesse Mcgilvary, who last year made it all the way through to the Queensland Country Heelers squad.
“Jesse was really, really impressive in there, a very tough character and held us in the games,” Miles said. “He made a good showing of himself.”
Stewart Lauvi was taken to hospital with a suspected broken shinbone but was later cleared of major damage beyond deep bruising.