George Miller has some unfinished business to take care of with his club and representative side.
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Miller and the Shoalhaven team he captains are firm favourites to win their second straight Illawarra District Rugby Union premiership.
Shoals have won all seven games they've played this season heading into their round nine clash at home against Shamrocks this Saturday.
The reigning premiers are runaway favourites to lift the trophy once again on the first Saturday in September.
Miller said he was happy with how Shoalhaven were playing but stressed the league leaders weren't looking too far ahead and were concentrating on playing their best week in week out.
He did however concede he had some unfinished business to take care of with the Illawarriors, after captaining Illawarra rugby's representative side at last weekend's NSW Country Championships.
The Illawarriors dug deep to finish a credible third but Miller wants to return next season and hopefully help the representative side improve on that result in 2024.
"It was a great experience. I'd love to do it again next year," he said.
"I think I'd like to build on top of what we did this year. It was a little bit disappointing to only come third, but we came up against a very good Central Coast team. It would be nice to go a step further and make the final, and give ourselves a chance of winning it.
'I'd like to do it again, for sure."
Miller said playing with guys he usually battles against on a regular basis, was one of his highlights of representing Illawarriors at the Country Championships.
"It was interesting to play alongside all the boys compared to versing them all the time.
"It was great to meet them and become friends with them all. They're all very good fellas. I look forward to hopefully catching up with them again next year with the Illawarriors."
But Miller's immediate focus was on ensuring Shoalhaven maintained their high standards heading into the second half of the season.
"We are able to do this because we just enjoy playing with each other. For us it's not so much about winning, but enjoying what we're doing as a group," he said.
"I think that just creates hunger. This is evident throughout second grade as well. We are more competing for positions throughout the whole club.
"That means everyone needs to perform individually so that they can keep a spot in the team and that transfers into winning games I think."
Should Shoals beat Shamrocks on Saturday and then down Campbelltown in round 10, they would be undefeated at the halfway mark of the 2023 season.
But Miller said his team refused to entertain thoughts of going through the season undefeated.
"That's something we're not speaking about. It's more about just week by week, we take it one step at a time and just see what happens at the end of the year. That can take care of itself then," he said.
"I think you always want to win but I think you have to be mindful of the future. At the moment with Shoals we are trying to get a good junior base going, which is a struggle in itself, but we're trying to build from the young up so that we're always strong, not just have a couple of good years, like a flash in the pan."
We're trying to build from the young up so that we're always strong, not just have a couple of good years, like a flash in the pan.
- George Miller
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
