Colin Caird Shield Grand Final Post Match Q&A:

By Paul Cook – Southern Districts captain Dewet Roos:

clubrugby.com.au: Congratulations, you got the win you wanted but you had to come from 9-0 down at one point and things weren’t going your way, were you worried with the start you’d made?

Dewet Roos: “I wouldn’t say I was worried with the start, we made a few silly errors, a few dropped balls and we didn’t play outside our twenty-two and didn’t kick for territory in the first fifteen minutes and I think that’s what cost us because they got the penalties and converted them into points. But there was never a nervous moment there, I knew the boys had it in them to come back from that.”

CR: And you did come back to then go into the break 14-9 ahead and it was off the back of some storming work from a couple of your big boys, Ruben Vito and Luke Smart, who really got you some go forward ball to work from didn’t they?

DR: “Yeah, they’re very positive players, and they’re always getting over that advantage line. They just go forward and stay on their feet so well and they gave me better ball to work with and to feed the backs.”

CR: You controlled large parts of the second half without being able to finish them off and all of a sudden, they’re back within a point and there’s ten minutes to go, were you nervous at that point?

DR: “Yeah, at that stage I was a bit nervous, we gave away two or three penalties in a row there which cost us and we were marched down the field and they put points on straight away. It just shows that you can’t slack off, you can’t be ill disciplined, you’ve just got to stick to your game and be patient.”

CR: A real positive for this side is the pace and ball handling skills it possesses and the threat you pose on the counter attack and that was the case at the end when you broke away for the winner wasn’t it?

DR: “Yeah, it all comes down to the confidence we have in our team. It’s a young team with an average age of 20-21 and I think a lot of the boys can go places. They’re very confident and it shows up in our attack.”

CR: Some of these guys – including yourself – have already played quite a bit of 1st Grade, is it fair to say that you should go onto form the nucleus of that next level at Southos for the next few years?

DR: “Yeah, we spoke about that not too long ago, about the club moving forward and they said that they want to look after the players that are already here and not just bring other players in when they don’t need them. We’re getting rid of a few things at the club and bringing some new things in which will all combine to provide a positive for the club next year.”

CR: So, it’s about putting faith in those ‘home grown’ players rather than chasing ‘names’?

DR: “That’s the thing and they’ve said it will take time, maybe two or three years but we’ve got to stick to that. We might not make the finals next year but with a bunch of guys like this coming through, it is going to be amazing. I must pay a compliment to the boys, they helped me a lot and if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. If we can keep these guys happy, then we will go somewhere, we will go higher.”

Eastwood captain Chris Dan:

clubrugby.com.au: You won the Minor Premiership but just couldn’t quite put the icing on the cake today, you must be very disappointed?

Chris Dan: “It’s extremely disappointing, we’ve trained hard all year and been pretty consistent and we were in it until the last minute there. They got turnover ball, spread it wide and they had some quick backs and we knew that but we just weren’t able to shut it down. Credit to their boys, they just kept coming at us all game.”

CR: You got the start you would have wanted and took your opportunities for a 9-0 lead but there was still an awful lot of footy to be played wasn’t there?

CD: “Exactly. You’ve got to play the full eighty minutes and that’s what Souths did, they kept going and held us out and like I said, it was a credit to them. They had some big forwards and I think they just got over the advantage line a bit better than we did.”

CR: Having had that early lead only to be pegged back and overtaken, what was the message at half-time?

CD: “It was pretty much that we’d been on top for the first thirty minutes, we’d played some pretty structured footy and with the wind at our backs in the second half, we just needed to play some field position. We did do better in that area but we just couldn’t seal the deal.”

CR: Ill discipline cost you as well at times with a number of crucial penalties going to Southos and you appeared to be having a running discussion with the referee as a result?

CD: “Yeah, I did. It was a challenging game for the referee but that’s the way rugby is. You win some, you lose some and we did what we could. That’s all I can ask from my boys.”

CR: You did comeback however but the more the clock wound down, the more you pushed for the winner and the more susceptible you became for the counter attack?

CD: “Yeah, I thought we had it there. We were going forward and the boys were all up for it but you can’t stop that quick turnover ball, there’s not much you can do. We’re a young bunch of boys and we’ll come back bigger and better next year and hopefully, we can snag it ourselves.”

Southern Districts head coach Alan Wright:

clubrugby.com.au: Many congratulations, it’s been a good season as a whole for the side, a terrific last few weeks in particular and now you’ve capped it off with a Grand Final win over the Minor Premiers – you must be very pleased?

Alan Wright: “Very and I think the difference was that we had what was really a ‘no name’ pack of forwards and they just stood up constantly all season. There’s blokes there that have played fourth grade last year, blokes that played a bit of second grade last year but there’s not too many that have had first grade games, maybe a couple and they just kept standing up. We’ve got a classy set of backs but the forwards have set the platform for them all year.”

CR: It’s a young side too?

AW: “Yeah, I think the oldest person in the backline is twenty-two and the oldest person in the side is the number eight who’s twenty-nine but after him, I think the next is twenty-five so they’re all young players and hopefully, they’ll all be back next year.”

CR: You fell behind by 9pts in that first half, missed a kick at goal and a couple of tries fell by the wayside, was it a case of just backing yourselves to finally come good?

AW: “What we talked about before the game is that the way the game’s played now, you’ve just got to be patient. No matter how far you are behind, it doesn’t take much to catch up and we just said that if we were patient, the opportunities would come. The game always goes in ebbs and flows if you take your opportunities, we probably didn’t do that as much today because we got held up three times over the line but we won the game so it doesn’t matter!”

CR: Well, you did stay patient and the points did come but despite having the better of the second half and the better chances, it still came down to the final ten minutes to settle it?

AW: “They’re a good side and they’re actually a very fit side as well so you can’t afford to relax. I think we had a few brain snaps in the middle period of that second half, we weren’t prepared to hold the ball for as long a period as we needed to and I think that made a difference.”

CR: And as we saw, when you did keep ball in hand, your backs can be devastating?

AW: “Particularly Ben [Volavola], Apo [Latunipulu] and Rohan [Saifolio] at full-back. They’re all only nineteen years old and Jale [Vatabua] in the centres is the same age too – they’re all only going to get better.”

CR: You’re the first head coach to bring a Premiership back to Forshaw Park – how does it feel?

AW: “Well, it’s just great for the club. They’ve had years where they were considered the easy beats of grade football and now they can stand up and say that ‘s no longer the case.”

CR: The club has come in for some criticism over the last couple of years for trying to ‘buy’ success but this side shows that you already have the nucleus of an exciting young team that should go on to greater things in 1st Grade as they get older. Could today’s result be a turning point in terms of the recruitment policy at the Rebels?

AW: “I think so, I mean, you’ve got to want to play and you’ve got to want to play for the team, you don’t necessarily want to play for the money. If you’re playing for the money, you’re playing for the wrong reason and these guys were playing for nothing today. They got nothing out of it other than winning and that’s what they’re playing for and for each other and that’s what you’ve got to do if you want to win Premierships.”