Warwick Water Rats transform rocky start into winning streak, stringing together four back-to-back victories
The premiership-winning Warwick side’s golden form has catapulted the team up the ladder, with hopes the new-look team can recreate their 2020 success.
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The Warwick Water Rats men’s side have overcome a rocky start to the 2021 season and look to be returning to their premiership-winning form.
A run of four consecutive wins has catapulted the defending champions up the ladder in the Downs Rugby B-grade Bill Flamsteed Trophy, with the Rose City side only one competition point behind current leader Dalby.
With several players from last year’s winning team leaving the club for other sports, Water Rats head coach Dean Cullen said it was the tough two losses at the start of the season that reignited the 2021 side’s fire.
“Most of the players we lost were in our backline, so the main focus was getting the back players comfortable playing how they want to play and building up their confidence,” Cullen said.
“We identified in the first two games we lost that fitness was a bit of an issue. One of the games we lost was against Dalby, who are currently undefeated, because we were too slow and they just kept running around us.
“We’re just trying to keep everyone coming down to training and keep that team environment and consistent line-up.”
The Water Rats team will again be captained by inside centre Jared Fearby, with fellow long-term player Harry Marshall joining Cullen on the 2021 coaching team.
Cullen said the side was nursing a few minor injuries after several weeks of tough matches, so would take advantage of their bye this weekend before taking on the Toowoomba Rangers at Gatton in the last May round.
“We have a few reserves, so we’ve been taking precautions to sit (players) out as we need,” he said.
“ It’s a long season, so we don’t want to be pushing people too hard and have them out with injuries long-term.”
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Originally published as Warwick Water Rats transform rocky start into winning streak, stringing together four back-to-back victories
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