Before the 2020 Hospital Challenge Cup kicks off, it’s time to check in with each of the nine clubs and see how they’re tracking heading into the new season. Out of the gate, let’s get underway from the Gallopers.
2019 WRAP
GPS bowed out of the 2019 Hospital Challenge Cup finals series in straight sets in 2019, and will be out to make amends this season.
The battle for the trophy seemed a two-horse race between the Gallopers and Brothers for much of last season, before Jeeps ran into a rampant UQ outfit in the preliminary final to bring an end to their campaign with a 34-14 loss.
The side has lost a number of players who featured in that defeat, including captain Dan Gorman (retired), young scrumhalf Jordan Lenac (University of Queensland) and stalwart Mitch King (work commitments), although King may return throughout the season.
GPS have built their success in recent years largely on their back of their dominance at set-piece time and will look to continue that trend in 2020, with the likes of Jethro Felemi, Maile Ngauamo, Fred Burke and new recruit Alex Casey giving the Gallopers one of the competition’s most imposing front rows.
Star backrower Matt Gicquel will be back at Yoku Road and looking to take his game to a higher level after spending a full pre-season with Super Rugby outfit the Melbourne Rebels, while clubman Michael Richards will step back into the captaincy role after lifting the Hospital Cup as skipper in 2018.
The squad has also been bolstered by Reds duo Scott Malolua and Feao Fotuaika, although the pair will likely remain unseen in the green and blue for much of the season due to Reds commitments and injury respectively.
Returning head coach Elwee Prinsloo has also snared the services of young fullback Niven Longopoa, who has come to Australia for an opportunity in Premier Rugby after turning out for the New Zealand Schoolboys in 2016.
With title-winning experience and depth across the park, GPS will again be one of the teams to beat in 2020.
THE INSIDE WORD | Elwee Prinsloo - Head Coach
“It’s been a pretty solid pre-season, the boys have worked hard to get better at what we need to get better at and hopefully they can transfer that to the competition.“There’s not really a key thing we have focused on, but it’s been about looking at where we fell short last year in the finals and making sure we put ourselves in the position to deal with those challenges a little bit better this year.
“Of course we weren’t happy with a third-place finish, we wanted to win it.
“We need to improve on our game management, that’s key for us, and obviously defence.
“From our last two finals games, if you concede 40-points it’s not going to put you into a position to win games, which is ironic because our defence was probably the best in the competition for the rest of the season, we conceded the least points.
“It certainly wasn’t a trend, but from that big-game perspective, it’s important we manage games and our defence well.
“For the blokes who were a part of the squad last year, certainly that’s a bit of motivation, but there’s a few youngsters coming through colts who are a part of the squad so they won’t gain anything out of that, it’s really just about what we do now and how we transfer that to the season."
