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Kent Brown (above left) and Aaron Kaluzniak will help lead the Barbarians again.
The pressure is on the Brandon Barbarians as they try to extend a streak of impressive seasons.
The Barbarians Division 1 men’s team opens its season today in Winnipeg, in pursuit of an elusive Rugby Manitoba championship.
For the second straight year, the Barbarians brought home a Rugby Manitoba title, with the Brandon women winning their first championship.
The men’s Division 1 Barbarians lost in the provincial final for the third straight year, while the Division 2 men advanced to the semifinals.
"Oddly enough, with the success we’ve had, we’ve actually lost a few players so we’re doing some rebuilding as well, doing some reorganization, but the plan pre-season wise is that we should continue with our success," said Barbarians club president Jon Fitzpatrick, who also coaches both men’s teams. "We’ve taken the second division, brought them down to Brandon (from Minnedosa), so we’re all training together and playing together with the men’s (first-division team). The women’s side; they’ve lost a handful of their key players with travelling and work commitments, so they’re a little more so in rebuilding than the rest of us. But, as a club, we’re looking to continue our success."
The Division 1 men have lost some experience and skill with the departures of Paul Grosskopf, Scott Fowell and Jim Ritchie, who are all now living in Winnipeg, but Fitzpatrick believes that an influx of new talent will help the club quickly build back toward contention again.
"We’ve got such a good group returning," said Fitzpatrick, whose Division 1 team visits the Winnipeg Wasps today. "We’ve lost a few (but) we can’t take anything away from our veterans coming back (motivated from) the disappointment they’ve had over the last thee seasons. We’ve added Sean Common; he played for us a couple years ago. He came back this year as well and he’s going to be our captain and he’s a huge asset to this team. He’s going to make a difference and with young guys coming in, they’re going to fit in nicely. So our goal is definitely to get back there and win the championship finally."
While the Division 1 and 2 squads share players when short-handed, Fitzpatrick said they try to keep the clubs as separate as possible and he said a key to the season will be surviving the stretches when both teams are busy.
"We’ve got a really busy schedule between both men’s sides and it’s really going to be how we manage our bodies and our injuries coming through the mid part of the season," he said. "July is really busy, so if we can make it through those months relatively unscathed, with nothing major, that’s the first thing (but) obviously it’s not under our control. And the other thing is really just bringing the new guys in and gelling as team. … If we start winning some games early and get the guys’ confidence up, I’m pretty sure it will snowball through the year."
The Division 2 and women’s teams both open on June 3 with home games at John Reilly Field against the Winnipeg Saracens.
» rhenders@brandonsun.com
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition May 26, 2012
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The pressure is on the Brandon Barbarians as they try to extend a streak of impressive seasons.
The Barbarians Division 1 men’s team opens its season today in Winnipeg, in pursuit of an elusive Rugby Manitoba championship.
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The pressure is on the Brandon Barbarians as they try to extend a streak of impressive seasons.
The Barbarians Division 1 men’s team opens its season today in Winnipeg, in pursuit of an elusive Rugby Manitoba championship.
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