AFL ANZAC Round Preview

Following an exceptional round 1 performance, the Bull Sharks are gearing up for round 2 of the QFA and QAFLW seasons. 

The senior men will be matching up against the Tweed Coast Tigers on Saturday in Bogangar, followed up by the senior women who will face Coorparoo on Tuesday, Anzac Day at The Canal. 

Director of AFL Andy Lovell says the women feel honoured to be playing on Anzac Day and to be able to pay their respects with their teammates. 

“Anzac round is an opportunity for the club to pay our respects to the people that have served in the defence force past and present, but I think it’s also an acknowledgement of the women in the defence force and the job that they’ve done,” Lovell said. 

Here’s what you need to know. 

Last time we met:

The senior men faced the Tigers twice in the 2022 season, with the Bull Sharks dominating both times. 

In round 2 of last year’s season, Bond took a commanding win against Tweed 116-29 and backed it up in round 10 with a 155-25 victory. 

In 2022 the senior women also enjoyed a clean sweep against Coorparoo with a 41-12 win in round 2, followed by 47-13 result in round 10. 

Lovell expects to lose a few of his players to the Suns academy this week as their academy series kicks off over the coming weeks. 

A familiar face:

Expect the Tigers to have refined their tactical approach following the off-season appointment of AFL great Dean Solomon. However, the Essendon premiership player’s coaching philosophies will be no secret to the Bull Sharks as Lovell and his specialist assistants Max Kennedy and Shaun Hart were all colleagues of the Tigers mentor at the Gold Coast Suns. 

And some new faces:

The Bull Sharks are a renowned football nursery and it comes as no surprise that the Gold Coast Suns Academy squad named this week included 17 players to have come through our program.

They have also lost round 1 stars Havana Harris, Ella Calleja and Sienna McMullen for this week after the trio were selected to play for the Suns in the AFLW autumn series. 

As a result of this, Lovell will be forced to make a tough selection out of Bond’s skilled and eager reserves players who are all showing great potential to step up into the senior team. 

“The great thing about our reserves is that there is a handful of really promising players who all play the same style of game that we do in the seniors, so it looks like our replacement players will mesh in with the team really well,” Lovell said.  

Where it will be won: 

Lovell said the Bull Sharks were looking forward to the challenge of facing Coorparoo and predicted his side’s ability to defend the Blues’ rebound from defence and also the midfield battle as the key battlegrounds.   

“We’re feeling confident after our round 1 performance last weekend, but not overconfident,” he said. 

Coorparoo also played a strong game in their season opener, so Lovell said the girls were looking forward to the challenge. 

“We’re really pleased with how we executed our game plan last week, but we still need to work on a few areas,” he said. 

“The focus at training this week will definitely be finding our players when the opposition are kicking in, and we always focus pretty heavily on our centre bounce and stoppage work.” 

Points of difference: 

Coming off a preseason win in the McNab ‘Cooly Cup’, the senior women team have already proven their potential as one to look out for in 2023. 

Andy Lovell said all of his players were in strong form and he was pleased to see them taking on coaches’ directions and putting that into action. 

“The girls have been really receptive to all of our coaches’ messaging and how we want to play, and I think if we bring the same effort that we’ve brought all preseason, that will give us our best chance.”