South Australian boss Rob Sadler has set his Black Falcons a high bar for next month’s Australian Rugby Shield following the state's breakout 2023 campaign.
Both sides tasted victory at Ballymore last year with the Black Falcons men particularly impressive across pool play, comfortably beating Tasmania (25-8) before pushing heavyweights Perth Gold (13-20), NSW Country (20-25) and Victoria (29-40) in narrow losses.
The men eventually finished sixth with the women finishing seventh after winning their play-off final 15-14 over QLD Suburban in dramatic fashion.
With this year's ARS reduced from 16 teams to 12, Salder believes 2024 may be South Australia's best chance yet to make their mark on the national stage.
“I think our men’s program might’ve been the surprise package of last year’s tournament last year and there’s a lot of enthusiasm around what they might be able to achieve this year,” Sadler told rugby.com.au.
“Last year we struggled for continuity and training overload heading into the tournament but this year we’ll get four weeks of solid training in without competing against the clubs.
“Our men will be really getting up for that first game against ADRU because I think this tournament is wide open, especially on the men’s side, and everyone’s aware of that.”
Premier Grade winners Burnside (men) and Woodville (women) will be well represented in the 2024 Black Falcons but Sadler is expecting an even spread of players after a strong local season.
“There’ll be a few Burnside boys as expected plus the likes of Old Collegians and Brighton but there’s been real improvement from men's teams like Woodville, Adelaide University and Onkaparinga," Sadler said.
“In the women’s side, Wasps have got a good contingent now and deservedly so as state champions but it’ll be an interesting squad.
“We’ve 12 new Black Falcons women this year as well with a few moving from interstate and we’re really happy to see a few girls from our development program progressing into senior rugby.
“Both sides were great in pool play last year and we’ve identified the big rocks and areas we want to improve to help us go better this time around.”
The Black Falcons men tackle ADRU, QLD Suburban and QLD Country Heelers in round robin play with the Black Falcons women set to face ACT & SNSW Kestrels, NSW Country Corellas and QLD Country Orchids before finals.
