OPENING SURPRISE
EAGLES DEFY HOTSHOT
GOLD Coast Eagles and Coolangatta Tweed could have been forgiven for feeling a tad nervous about their chances heading into the opening round of the rugby season.
The Eagles were on the back foot after a late change in coaching structure while the Barbarians, coming off a particularly tough 2017, entered the new season with no trial matches under their belt.
Yet, both sides produced convincing performances on Saturday to be surprise early ladder leaders.
Many have tipped the Van Humphries-coached Palm Beach Currumbin for a big season but the Alleygators were swept aside 37-10 by the Eagles at James Overell Park.
Co-coach Jason North was pleased with the result after a disrupted pre-season.
“We’ve had very minimal preparation time,” North said.
“We’ve had some changes in the structure of our club.
“We lost one of our most senior coaches (Joe Faalogo) and with the coaching group that we have, we were sort of thrown into the deep end pretty quickly.”
The foundation club made up for lost time by going back to the basics.
“The three key parts of the
game we had to go right back to basics to get the buy-in from everybody for something that would work really well for us in the short term,” North said.
“And then during our break in April, that gives us an opportunity to clean up and evolve some of the structures that we have put in place.”
Co-captain Brad Tully, who has switched from flanker to inside centre, was a particular standout.
Coolangatta Tweed meanwhile got started by ambushing 2017 preliminary finalists Bond Pirates 34-0.
“It’s a good way to start the season,” said Barbarians skipper Mitch Planten.
“Poor old Bond were a little bit understrength, a fair few of their guys played both grades.”
Over at Albert Park, Surfers Paradise extended their winning streak to 38 games with a 19-0 victory against Helensvale.