Henderson Shield Grand Final Post Match Q&A

By Paul Cook - Sydney University captain Adam Campbell:

clubrugby.com.au: Always nice to win the big one and you’ve won back a trophy that’s been missing from the Uni cabinet for a few years?

Adam Campbell: “Yeah, it’s been a while and we’ve had a couple of shots at it and luckily we had a couple of guys involved that have had a couple of cracks at it as well so it was really good to finally get the job done.”

CR: It was a terrific start from Uni, you got out to a 15-0 lead in the first quarter and it all seemed plain sailing but Grand Finals are never that easy are they?

AC: “No, not at all. We knew that if we slipped up even for a couple of minutes that Easts would jump on that opportunity and they did to their credit. It was a little lapse but we were lucky enough to get a couple of penalties back in front and then held out.”

CR: You’ve had a couple of close ones with them this year so you knew they could play if given the chance and they started to find some holes either side of half-time didn’t they?

AC: “Yeah, we expected that and they had a good win over Randwick last week so we knew they were in form. We didn’t have that good a game last week which I think worked well for us because we’d been through that moment of doubt in the war zone so I think that actually helped.”

CR: At 17-15 down, was it just a case of backing yourself and sticking to the game plan because it had already earned you that success early on?

AC: “Yeah, we had to. We were shooting ourselves in the foot a little bit, we weren’t playing with any territory but once we got down there and we got a penalty, we had to take those points, get ahead and then just try and wind the clock down.”

CR: Minor Premiers and now Grand Final winners – the perfect year?

AC: “Yeah, a great year and I think I’ve got through every game this season so I’m happy not to have been injured as well!”

Eastern Suburbs captain Will Catherwood:

CR: Commiserations, you won’t have been happy with the start but that was a see sawing game that you came very close to winning?

Will Catherwood: “Yeah we did. We came out of the blocks a wee bit slow and made too many basic errors off first phase early on and in finals footy you can’t afford to do that. That gave Uni a bit of a lead and we were playing catch up footy from then and we came close but not close enough.”

CR: You did come back and you did it by playing some terrific rugby and really stretched their defence across the park?

WC: “We did and that was the talk at half-time, to keep the ball in hand as we were kicking away too much possession in the first half. The guys really came back and had a good crack and scored a couple of good tries but we just fell short.”

CR: Field position was key and although you had Uni on the backfoot for large parts of that second half, when they did get into your 22 they looked like coming away with points?

WC: “They’re a real threat out wide and we knew that and in the second half, we really tried to cut down that option. I think we did that well and managed to get some points on the board ourselves but we just couldn’t hold out.”

CR: It was an incredible end to the game with all that possession inside their red zone after the siren and you were just held up at the end after the siren?

WC: ‘Yeah, we had opportunities to score if the ball had come a couple of seconds earlier but that’s footy, on another day it might have been a different story.”

CR: Despite today’s disappointment, it’s been a good season for the side though?

WC: ‘It was, we started off a bit slow but we galvanised and we had a lot of changes throughout the season with guys coming up and down through the grades so to go sixteen or seventeen games unbeaten and make the Grand Final was a real accomplishment.”

Sydney University joint head coach Peter Playford:

CR: Congratulations, terrific start at 15-0 but Grand Finals are rarely that straightforward are they?

Peter Playford: “They’re not easy but all year you work for it, you train for it, you get them in that area and you work them hard and they came through. Also, we had Scotty Stumbles at nine and being able to draw on his experience was brilliant. It was good, they came back and both sides played it in good spirit. Third grade is a grade that Uni haven’t won for a few years so it’s good to win it.”

CR: What stood out was the quality of play from both sides, the handling, execution and decision making all made a mockery of the 3rd Grade status on the day?

PP: “Well, I finished playing about three years ago and if that’s third grade, that’s the grade I would have played I think! There’s some first graders in there in the making and there’s some who have played first grade like Dave Dillon, Adam Campbell and Aldy King so it’s an exceptional side.”

CR: What was the message when you did go behind because you still looked dangerous when you got in the right areas?

PP: “I told the number ten – who missed three kicks last week – that if he can get us home today that I’d shout him all night. He’s just told me that he’s only a poor student so I owe him a few!”

CR: You had some success in your playing career but how’s this coaching lark compare?

PP: “It’s good fun. You get there and the boys love it, they want to get to training, they want to get better – it’s a good environment. I said to the boys during the week that this is probably the best experience out of all of them. Being able to teach a group of kids and get them together and win a Grand Final we haven’t won for a while tops all of them. It’s probably the best time of my career in rugby and I’ve had a bloody good one!”

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