MOREE coaches Simon Hall and Andrew Pauli have had a bit to ponder as they prepare to make their 2016 charge.
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The Bulls enter the season confident they’ve got a side that can again challenge for the premiership, even perhaps go one better.
That mission starts against Gunnedah at Weebolla today.
Fitness has been a big focus in the pre-season.
“Definitely last year we weren’t fit enough,” Pauli said.
“You could tell the boys were sucking in air rather than looking at what they should be doing next.”
Their main hit-out was their annual clash against Goondiwindi.
“That was a good chance to see some of the new players who have arrived, who were pretty impressive,” Pauli said.
“We’ve got about six or seven new faces and a bit of talent in amongst them.”
It’s created some tough decisions for him and Hall.
They’ve probably got 22 players pushing for 15 spots.
The backrow for instance there’s probably four players jostling for two positions.
“There’s good competition for spots, which is a healthy position to be in,” he said.
There are a couple of notable omissions from today’s lineup such as Ben Colley, Jordan Cosh and Heath Riggs but it still reads a strong 15.
The Red Devils won’t be an easy assignment.
“Gunnedah are always pretty solid,” Pauli said.
“They’re probably a bit similar to ourselves in they have got a few older heads.
“They’re always physical and they’ve got that older core of players who have got a bit of mongrel in them.”
They certainly won’t be taking them lightly.
It has been a tough couple of weeks for the Red Devils following the sudden passing of clubmate Alex Costello and, through injury and other reasons, have got a number of players out today.
Manager Dan Martin counted about 10 backs out for this week at training the other night.
Hence they will be a bit makeshift.
The pack looks a bit more stable with the “evergreen”, as Martin referred to him, Matt Hannay, and Josh Leys up front.
The forwards will have a big job, with Martin pointing to controlling the Bulls forwards as critical for them to be competitive.
“We have to match it with them in the forwards and not let their backs take it wide on us,” he said.
They did take some encouragement from their trial against Barraba the other week.
One of the highlights, Martin said, was the way some of the younger guys performed.
In the other first-round fixtures today, Pirates travel down to Scone, Quirindi is at home to Walcha and Narrabri kick off their title defence at Barraba.
