NRC is well and truely underway. Two weeks into the season, I got to catch up with Queensland Country captain Duncan Paia’aua. His team beat the Canberra Vikings in round one and came through to beat the Melbourne Rising in a close game last weekend.
The team has been travelling a fair amount. They are playing in Mackay this weekend and I am looking forward to their next game close to home at Bond Uni, next Saturday (22nd Septemeber). To check out where all of this seasons games are for Brisbane City and Queensland Country, check out the drawer here and see if there's a game near you.
2 wins in 2 weeks. As Captain, you must be happy with how the NRC season has kicked off.
Yeah. Obviously, we’ve had two wins in a row, against two tough teams. Canberra was a good outfit and Melbourne really tested us, but the boys really showed some fight in the first two weeks and got two wins. So very happy.
Anyone that knows me knows I love the NRC. What do you love most about this competition?
What I like is getting out to communities that we don’t really get to go to with Super Rugby. Last week we're heading to Townsville and this week we get to go to Mackay and take the game to towns that don’t really get to see footy. That’s what I really love about the NRC at the moment.
I know it’s a long way off, but how do you feel things are building towards the next Reds season?
Yeah, good. The NRC is a good way to keep playing some footy. There’s a lot of us in both squads, in City and Country. It’s a chance for us to build some connections and partnerships. Hopefully that builds into the pre-season coming up and a really good 2019 season.
What’s been your career highlight since our last (official) interview?
Probably winning the NRC last year. We had a really fun season, we had a really good team and to finish it off with a premiership was really up there in my career highlights I think.
What do you think your team will need to do to defend the championship?
Obviously, just do our basics right I guess. We have really good attacking players, players that can score points. But I think the things that’s gonna win the NRC is defence. That’s the big key, especially against teams like Fiji and those types of teams that like to throw it around. Defence is gonna win those games. We know we’ve got it within us, but defence is key.
Thanks for your time Duncan. All the best this weekend up in Mackay.
Thank you very much!
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