THE 2023 Sunshine Coast Rugby League season is looking promising for the Beerwah Bulldogs Men’s A Grade team after winning the pre-season nines competition on February 25.
Beerwah Bulldogs A Grade coach, Brett Hill said the team won $1500 plus bragging rights on the day and said he hoped this was a good sign for the squad’s future come the finals this year.
“It was pretty tough going, four games on the day and very hot, I think our preseason training kicked in a bit earlier than other teams,” he said.
“We played a couple of our local clubs like the Caloundra Sharks and Kawana Dolphins, all the games were relatively close but we played a team from Logan in the grand final, and we beat them 28-nil.
“I’ve been coaching the team for two and a half years, we came third in the normal Sunshine Coast comp season in the first year, second last year and hopefully first this year.”
Coach Hill has praised the new recruits who have re-energised the side, as well as their preseason preparation ahead of the 2023 season.
“We started preseason training last year and we’ve got a couple of new blokes to strengthen ourselves up, and these guys are really driven because they’ve played at a higher level before,” Brett Hill said.
“I think everyone has bought into the idea of ‘no more just turning up to training to muck around’, it’s getting a bit more serious.”
He also commented on the enthusiasm from the team this year, from new seasoned recruits upping the ante at preseason training, as well as a clean slate for player injuries.
“By the end of last year, we had four or five blokes out with season ending injuries and they’ve all recovered during the off season so they’re already ready to go,” he said.
“The recruits who are used to playing in bigger competitions are used to a higher level of training, so they are bringing everyone else up to their level which is awesome.
“It’s a really good atmosphere, it’s fun to go to training, everyone is enjoying it, and everyone is just putting in 100 per cent, as a coach I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Brett’s son Jamie Hill is joining their squad too, who has played 80 games in the Queensland Cup, and will be the first time his sons Jamie and Blake Hill have played on the same team.
“They are actually really looking forward to it, I’ll just have to break up the family fights,” he joked. The team is aiming to go one better following their nail-bitting 26-16 grand final loss to the Maroochydore Swans last year.