Eye for rugby talent is a Virtue for Bond
THE visionary head coach who helped set Queensland Reds flyhalf Isaac Lucas on the pathway to Super Rugby will turn his hand to unearthing the next star talent at Bond University in 2020.
Former Sunnybank Dragons head coach Damon Virtue plucked the future Queensland flyhalf out of the club’s under-19s in 2017 and blooded him in Queensland’s toughest competition at rugby’s most demanding defensive position. Three years on, Lucas now credits his stint as Sunnybank’s Premier Grade outside centre as the making of him as feisty tackling playmaker at the Reds.
“It was an unreal experience,” the 20-year-old said.
“No.13 is deemed one of the hardest spots to defend at and I’d never defended that wide previously (as a schoolboy flyhalf).
“I learned a lot during that period, attack was natural but defending was a challenge.
“If I put on a big shot in Super Rugby this year I think you can definitely trace it back to my time at Sunnybank under Damon.”
Virtue’s work at Bond as senior attack coach began this off-season, working closely with head coach Grant Anderson and tireless assistant Ray Thomas to revamp the Bullsharks’ offensive game.
After narrowly missing finals in 2019, officials at Bond hope their new hire can unlock the dormant 10 per cent separating the club from the competition’s top attacking sides.
Virtue will spread his time across first and second grade, where his eye for spotting talent can be employed to ID any future Lucases coming through the program.
“He was great for me as my first senior coach,” Lucas said.
“He kept in close contact with me, just giving me little bits of improvement work and what I could do better and what I was doing well.
“He had a really good connection with the group where he knew how to connect with each player to get the best out of them. That was the best part of his coaching, his communication with his players, and his wealth of knowledge because he played the game.
“He’ll bring a lot of experience and they’ll definitely be in better stead.”
Virtue, who works on the Gold Coast, said joining Bond was an exciting new challenge and a good logistic fit after taking some time off coaching.
“I’d seen the potential first-hand and I liked the direction the club was going,” he said.