2021 Club Captains confirmed

One returning and two new faces will be at the forefront of the Eagles’ 2021 ACTRU campaign.

Club President Eoghan O’Byrne announced at the season launch on Saturday night that Sione Taufui, Braden Kenny and Shaneqwa Lee-Edwards will be the captains of the club for season 2021.

The role of the Club Captains is to set and uphold the values and behaviours expected of all Eagles. They are responsible for the representation of the playing group in all club events and duties, ranging from media commitments to special events.

The announcement comes after the retirement of Stuart Crew, who now joins the Eagles coaching roster with the U20s academy and Women’s side. Jamie Kotz made the decision to step down from the role, to focus on his rugby and personal matters. The club holds Stu and Kotzy in extremely high regard, and they’ll always be considered remarkable leaders and tremendous clubmen.

Sione Taufui is a natural leader and has been since playing junior rugby with the Eagles. He has played more than 100 games for the senior club, with almost of them being in the Premier Divisions. This is a testament to his ability and his commitment to the club and the game.

When he found out about being selected for the role, Taufui was humbled.

“When I heard the news, I felt really honoured that the club
recognised me as a leader to take us forward. I’m just really happy and privileged to be recognised by the club.” Taufui said.

Sione has a lot of ideas for what he wants the club to be in 2021, saying that it is all about the image of the club and trying to build for another shot at a 1st grade title.

“Of course our main goal is to win the John I Dent Cup, and we’re more determined than ever after last year”

“We’re also going to look inwards and ensure we’re a respected club. We want our opponents and officials to feel welcome when they arrive at the Nest on game day – it’s up to us as players to achieve that.” he added.

Braden Kenny is rapidly becoming a stalwart of the Eagles. He’s been dominant in the scrum and a valued leader of an impressive 3rd grade outfit for a number of years, with 3 premierships under its belt.

“I am really looking forward to going back-to-back-to-back in 2s and 3s and get a club championship for the third time in a row.”

“I’m a big believer in what happens in the club translates into success on-field. So I’ll be trying to promote the RESPECT campaign and ensure we’re always working to show and earn respect as a club.”

Rounding out the trio of club-captains in 2021 is the new mum and fierce competitor Shaneqwa.

She began in her role of Eagles club captain in 2020 and is looking forward to continuing this year. She has been a tremendous advocate of our women’s rugby program and will continue to do that this year.

She lives and breathes rugby union and aims to take the Eagles Women’s side to greater heights this season.

When asked about what she wants to bring from season 2020 into this year,
Shaneqwa talked about player retention and promoting Women’s rugby.

“I want to focus on building on the women’s team itself, this year it’s all about developing the awesome group we currently have”

“The women’s game is growing rapidly, all of the Eagles women will working to promote the game and grow awareness for our team”

Shaneqwa is also determined for victory and knows that they have what it takes to win the 10s competition this year.

“We definitely have the talent and girls with lots of different skills, so winning it all this year is definitely our aim.”

Our new coaches Phildo and Stu will help a lot, they will definitely be able to make the girls talent’s shine in different spots. It will be good to see the new girls this year play for them and go out for the first time in Eagles colours”.

Catch the Eagles in their first hit-outs of the season this weekend at the Nest!

Written by Josh Dunstall

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