VALLEY
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Despite all the craziness of this year’s Citizens Shield competition, Valley once again find themselves in first place.
The defending champions have lost only two games this year and by finishing in the top two, they have earned a second life should they lose to Excelsior tomorrow.
Valley co-coach Barry Matthews and his team are fully focused on what is ahead of them, not what has already happened.
"The season starts again on Saturday. What we’ve done in the past doesn’t really hold too much, so we’ve got to start again," he said.
A strong culture focused on the team rather than individuals has built a level of trust that allows players to back one another at crunch time.
"We haven’t got too many stars, we haven’t got too many X-factor players but the boys play really well together.
"We’ve won three or four games in the last two or three minutes. They just don’t panic, and play together."
EXCELSIOR
Not to overuse a cliched sports line, but it really has been an up-and-down season for Excelsior.
They started the season with four straight wins and then had a draw followed by three losses, only to recover and finish with two wins to snag second place on the ladder.
"We’ve played some very good rugby and we’ve played some very average rugby," head coach Jason Forrest said.
Being able to turn their fortunes around at the right end of the season was crucial for them.
"We needed to get ourselves back in that winning circle.
"We had to change how we went about things, had to change our mindset and just get back to having a bit of fun."
They know what they are up against when they head to Weston tomorrow to take on Valley.
"We know what we’re coming up against. They’ve got some exceptional rugby players.
"They’re top of the table for a reason. We’ve just got to get things right. We’ve got to do the simple things well."
KUROW
Kurow’s 2024 season season can only be described as extraordinary.
Despite winning just three games, they collected enough bonus points to finish third and host the elimination match tomorrow.
To add to the wackiness, those three wins all came from scoring match-winning points with time up on the clock.
"We like to do things the hard way this year," head coach Andrew Fisher joked.
"It shows the fight the boys have. With the wins and losses we’ve had, we’ve always fought right to the end."
Getting the set piece right will be a big key for them at home, he said.
"We’ve worked on our scrum the last few weeks and that’s been quite solid.
"Getting that done right and getting good, clean ball to our backs is what we want to do because our backs are dangerous."
The Red Devils are also bolstered by the return of Matt Faddes and Angus Foster to the match day 23.
"Coming into this weekend, I think everyone’s available, which is a first for us."
ATHLETIC MARIST
Welcome back Athies.
Athletic Marist returns to the post season after missing out in 2023.
It has been a stop-start sort of year for them as they have not won or lost more than two games in a row all season.
Four wins and a draw have them sitting in fourth place, enough to book a trip to Kurow for their elimination match tomorrow.
Athies head coach Tim Anderson is mostly known as the man who led Kurow to glory with back-to-back titles, but is now looking to eliminate his old team.
He was looking froward to the atmosphere up the valley.
"It’ll be pretty awesome.
"I know them extremely well and I know they’ll be up for it."
What will be key is players taking personal responsibility for their work rate.
"It’s a team game. You’ve got to work together but if you all do your individual jobs."
Anderson was keeping Athies’ strategy relatively straightforward.
"Set piece, physicality, hanging on to the ball, kicking long, defending well. Pretty simple."
