Bond’s stocks surging
THERE is something special brewing at the Bullsharks.
Bond University’s Queensland Premier Rugby outfit have been showing more and more signs of promise with each passing week but their effort at home on Saturday went to the next level.
The Tai Ford-led side wasted little time in blowing table-topping GPS off the park. Before the match had even reached the 50-minute mark, they were up 43-12.
GPS – who have now dropped to third – fought back valiantly to throw some respectability into the final scoreline of 46-31 but those late advances did nothing to take the sting out of Bond’s snowballing momentum.
Wearing a broad smile after their fourth straight win, halfback Harry Nucifora agreed there is a feeling among the squad that they are building towards something special.
“Absolutely,” he responded. “At training, everyone is really raring and keen to get down there.
“There’s a good vibe, everyone is always happy.”
The 21-year-old pointed to their determination in keeping GPS at bay late in the contest as possession swung in the visitors’ favour.
“The way we held them
out at the end was a true character test for our guys,” he said.
They are not yet the finished product but Bond are right now arguably the best team in the competition.
It’s a long way from where they were last month, sitting on the bottom of the ladder with one win from six starts.
Nucifora doesn’t believe there has been a specific turning point in the tale but rather a gradual narrative as their influx of talented recruits have found their feet together.
He is essentially one of them, having featured almost exclusively in representative under-20 programs in recent seasons.
Now back and vicecaptaining the side, Nucifora has been a central cog in their success and is doing all the right things to be in the mix himself for another dose of higher honours.