Last year it was COVID-19, this year it is La Nina.
Shute Shield players are getting used to curveballs as Sydney’s big wet this year threw the usual pre-season schedule out the window.
Gordon are the defending champions as the 2022 season kicks off on Saturday on the back of last year’s competition being cancelled for the first time since World War I.
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“Everyone’s just excited,” Gordon captain Jordan Goddard told Stan Sport’s Rugby Heaven.
“It’s been a long layoff so everyone’s been training hard in the off-season and really looking forward to putting things into action. The Shute Shield is always a great competition, there’s some really talented players running around and everyone wants to do well and be holding the trophy up at the end of the year.
“For it to be cut short was disappointing but it was out of our hands and we’re just looking forward to what happens this year.”
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Gordon meet the Hunter Wildfires in Newcastle in round one after a boggy buildup.
“You’ve just got to adapt and evolve your training sessions,” Goddard said of the incessant rain and ground closures.
“We’re fortunate, sometimes we do have access to artificial turf so you’re able to get some work in there. You’ve just got to evolve how you practice things, get your learnings in. The first couple of games might be a bit scrappy in terms of contact and the guys’ lungs will be feeling it in terms of the legs. But you can’t have any excuses, you’ve just got to deal with it.”
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Goddard predicted a more even competition this season and a new look Western Sydney Two Blues outfit to push hard for a top-eight finals spot.
“It’s really important that we have a footprint in Western Sydney,” he said.
“The new competition, new agreement, clubs have to do their best in terms of having a professional environment or close to it. That’s up to the clubs to put those programs in place and hopefully that will ensure some consistency right across the competition and have some really competitive games.”
Goddard joked that Gordon’s championship-winning coach Darren Coleman – now guiding NSW – had “lost his number” since making the step up to Super Rugby Pacific.
“I tried to send him a message of good luck and he didn’t know who it was.”
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