Chris ‘Yeendy’ Yeend
Another season, another quality Redland Victoria Point Senior outfit to take the Totally Workwear Park.
The Sharks were red-hot in season 2022. A smokey for the flag in a covid-interrupted 2021 season, they hit the ground running in 2022 with a new-look midfield and a dynamic forward line.
The Sharks had a great start to the 2022 season with big wins over Morningside and Sherwood. A narrow loss to reigning premiers Broadbeach sparked another 20-goal barrage against a lower placed team in Mt Gravatt.
When the heavy deluge threatened to derail the QAFL season (as if two seasons of COVID wasn’t enough; Mother Nature wanted to intervene with some heavy rain), RVP was able to beat quality sides in the form of PBC, Aspley and Labrador in heavy conditions with an average of 6.5 goals per game; far removed from the 24-goal average against the lower placed teams.
The brakes on the Sharks season was hit hard against some of the premier sides with Broadbeach (+3), Labrador (+31 in a boil over at The Tank) and Aspley (+15) defeating them in consecutive weeks.
The Sharks were challenged by Mt Gravatt (+63 after leading by three goals at three-quarter-time) and Maroochydore (+16) had provided them with some winning form.
The Elimination Final against Noosa was a classic; pushing to a big lead, losing it and fighting hard to hit the front and win; and the Semi Final against Palm Beach Currumbin was won by a point in dramatic fashion.
The Preliminary Final was as gruelling as matches come, and the 13-point loss against eventual premiers Aspley was a tough pill to swallow. Indeed it was perhaps the season that well and truly got away and a premiership cup was there for the taking.
SEASON 2023
Phil Carse will lead the Sharks again in his fourth season at the helm. Carse is one of the most respected and admired figures not just at the Sharks, but across the QAFL. He has previous experience as coach of Camperdown in Country Victoria over the course of four seasons.
Carse has a high calibre of assistant coaches behind him with recently retired club legend Tom Salter to join him in the box alongside Jarrod Keogh and Ben Davies; while Adrian Williams and Matt Hammelmann will have key roles on the field as playing assistants.
Assistant coaches: Jarrod Keogh, Tom Salter, Ben Davies, Adrian Williams and Matt Hammelmann
KEY RECRUITS
REUBEN WILLIAM – great player and can play in most positions on the field.
LUKE O’SULLIVAN – hard running midfielder/forward
JAKE CHAPMAN – a clever young forward/midfielder from Morningside
JETT JESSEN – played senior footy at just 16 for Mt Gravatt last season. He is a strong key forward.
TYLER HAUSFELD – returned from an injury absence and can play an important role for us up forward this season.
KEY OUTS
Matt Waters – Kenmore
Matt Warren – Uni in Tasmania
Kailem Baker – Wilston Grange
YOUNG PLAYERS TO WATCH COMING UP THROUGH THE COLTS THAT COULD PLAY SENIOR FOOTBALL:
Alex Pope and Dan Annable – two young kids at only 16 but both will be knocking on the door of Seniors between Academy commitments.
EXPECTATIONS FOR THE SEASON AHEAD:
“We believe we’ll still be a strong side in 2023 and want to take another step forward again for the season,” – Phil Carse
OPPOSITION TO WATCH AND WHY
“Aspley and Broadbeach will both be strong again and Palm Beach Currumbin seem to have recruited strongly,” – Phil Carse
PLAYER TO WATCH FROM YOUR TEAM
“Jack Rolls is back up and going after his injury lay off and will be very important to our make up,” – Phil Carse
PLAYER TO WATCH FROM THE OPPOSITION
“It’s a treat to see James Frawley, Mitch Robinson and plenty of other ex AFL players join the league so looking forward to seeing how they all go in the QAFL for 2023,” – Phil Carse
Fixture rating based on 2022 final Home and Away standings
7, 9, 12, 6, 1, 8, 11, 7, 9, 4, 3, 1, 8, 2, 12, 5, 11, 4 = 122
The Sharks have one of the most challenging draws in the competition based on 2022 home and away ladder standings. They play the top six teams twice across 10 games (excluding themselves) with seven of the first nine games against top six teams including Noosa, twice.
A patch during the middle of the season with four of five games against the bottom four teams on paper offer some respite but as we all know, this is a new season and its expected that those bottom four teams will have improved dramatically on 2022 form.
The Round 20 clash on the road to reigning premiers Aspley could be the all important double-chance and is already circled in the diary as one of the must-see matches of the home and away season on the eve of the finals.
At its best, Redland Victoria Point could go through the season undefeated, that’s just how good this list is from full back to full forward, and across to the bench. The fact that this group hasn’t made a Grand Final since coming across from the NEAFL in recent seasons is frustrating for those on the inside because it’s a premiership caliber type of team.
If there is one thing that’s guaranteed; and that’s with the challenging fixture for the Sharks, it simply means that every time they take to the field, it’s going to be a classic contest, and neutral supporters will do their bit to watch their games when possible.
