The Bull Sharks have identified their contested work and unforced error rate as areas to focus on after falling to premiership favourites Burleigh at the weekend.
The Bombers defeated the Bull Sharks in last year's QFA grand final and after three games so far this season, the boys from Bond have not found a way to beat them.
The men's reserves have claimed the minor premiership after their victory over Burleigh and will go into the post season as premiership favourites.
It was the pre-finals bye in the QAFLW.
![AFL team running](https://static.bond.edu.au/sites/default/files/styles/wide_l/public/2023-09/team%20running.jpg?h=790be497&itok=tcmDbTZO)
QFA
Bull Sharks v Burleigh
Bull Sharks lost 15.10 (100) to 8.6 (54).
Best Players Liam Viney, Tom Ferguson, Will King, Ryan Cook, Ryan Dienjes
Where it was lost:
As expected, Burleigh came to play and were super from the start of the game. We matched them for close to 3 quarters, but ran out of steam in the last quarter and ended up well beaten in the end. They are the team to beat this year and displayed this on Saturday with winners across the ground. We fell away at times turning the ball over giving the opposition a look at the goals and an most occasions they made us pay.
The highlight:
It was game where there weren’t too many individual or team highlights given the nature of the game being so contested. The continued form of Liam Viney and Felix Packer continues to impress. They have been shining lights all season and played the same way on the weekend.
What made you happy:
The team showed great fight for much of the game and showed signs that we can mix it with the best teams in the competition. We let ourselves down with unforced errors at times which always hurts us in games.
The work to do:
As always, we need to work on the areas that let us down. Our contest work is an area we need to get some improvement in. Burleigh have a dominant midfield who walked it out of the middle on occasions. This is as much an attitude thing as anything given the talent we have in there. The other area we need to focus on is taking care with our kicks and hitting out targets. These are areas all teams consistently work on, so we are no different we just let ourselves down in these areas on Saturday several times.
Bull Sharks Footy:
As mentioned, we played the way we wanted to for a fair chunk of the game and matched it with the best team in the competition. There was a 15-minute lapse where we let the opposition gain absolute dominance and we were chasing our tail from that point on with Burleigh running on top of us to a plus 40-point win.
Trademark player:
The way Felix Packer continues to play gives the group real belief and a massive presence up forward. He has had a terrific year and again on the weekend proved a real handful for the opposition. Most weeks he gets double teamed given his dominance and work rate.
Reserves
Bull Sharks won 5.6 (36) to 2.3 (15)
Best: Ethan Shovelton, Joshua Clark, Alex Crow, Jack Mitchell, Private player, Adam Forward