Last season was marked by RK Rad, although they suffered a defeat against Partizan in the spring part of the season, they played all the scheduled games and entered the competition ready to continue the competition. In the end, the team from Banjica won everything that can be won in Serbia, and completed a fantastic season. We can safely say that last season was one of the most successful in history. And there were very successful seasons.
To recall, RK Pobednik was founded in 1996, and in 2014 changed its name to RK Rad. The Građevinari have eleven Serbian championships in their showcases. They were also the winners of the Serbian Cup eight times. In 26 years of existence, a total of 19 titles were won, which is not a bad balance at all. In the younger categories, you were many times bigger, there is not a year without a selection in the club becoming the champion of Serbia.
Continuity
Since its establishment, Pobednik, or now Rad, has always been at the very top of Serbian rugby. The huge continuity of games at the highest level must always be realized in some way in the future. Apart from the first team, the club has been working continuously for almost 20 years with younger categories. That is the most important thing, because always have a constant influx of young people in the senior team. When we talk about continuity, Rad was the Serbian champion from 2006/2007 until the 2012/2013 season. From then until now, he won two more titles, where in the seasons when other clubs won the Championships, Rad was at the very top. Whether you like it or not, it’s a huge continuity of games and results that have brought players valuable experience.
Junior categories as a pledge for the future
As we already said in the previous article. You can invest huge resources and have one or two players come out to the first team in a generation, it can happen that no one comes out, and it can also happen that you have a large number of players in training. Such things are impossible to calculate and depend on many things. We can even look at each generation differently and it is very difficult to create a mathematical model by which we calculate concrete results. But one fact is constant, every player who comes out of the youth facility is an educated and quality player.
What will Rad's team look like in the next season?
Forwards
Rad’s scrum was very dominant last season. A large number of players are already standard in the national team of Serbia. There are players who have been playing for the national team since 2006, like Предрага Вранеша. By the way, Predrag is already in his good rugby years and can play in the pillar position at a high level. A standard prop of the National Team that will certainly be active for another season. Vladimir Đukić, who has no less experience, also plays in the pole position. This duet is exceptional both at club and representative level. Whenever they are together on the field, they make a huge difference, attacking the opposition’s scrum and stabilizing their own. They are great in open play. Đukić can also play very well in the position of counter forward.
Another prop of Rad is standard in the Serbian national team, and that is Stevan Nikolić. Steva will not be available at the very beginning of the season, he is expected to join the team a little later. He is a player who can make a difference on the field and stabilize scrum play when needed. Every team would love to have such a player. Among the youngsters who have yet to show how much they know and can do is Boris Milojković, a product of the class of 2004 who has yet to show his quality in the best competition in Serbia. He showed how deadly he is in statics and setup in an open game against the Croatian U18 national team. We will watch him especially during the season, because he is one of the biggest talents in the post position.
On the counter, Rad has two very good options in the form of Uroš Jončić and Milan Trujkić. Both are extremely mobile and coaches can use them in several positions both in the scrum and in the line. Both players made appearances for the national team in the era of Mišel Milović. They have tremendous quality in both static and open play, where they are excellent in hand and contact play.
In the second line, Rad has several options that he used during the season. The standard member of the first lineup is Vojin Karanović, who has become one of the most consistent players in the lineup. Extremely physically strong and fast, a player who is not a classic second line and who is characterized by incredible mobility and play without the ball. Mirko Ranković is expected to play this year as well, and he will definitely have plenty of minutes. That would be a huge boost for Rad’s scrum, which would be quite strong if we consider the fierce competition that will be fought for every position in the team. Branimir Petrović went into a well-deserved retirement, and he will probably be replaced by young forces. From the class of 2004, there is Uroš Jevđenijević, who has already played one season in his legs. In the championship season, he was very standard. From the class of 2005 there is Noah Gruetzmacher, a player who rose in the younger categories, otherwise an American citizen. Exceptional physical strength and a very strong defensive player.
The third line of Work will be extremely strong this year. Perhaps the biggest weapons of the defending champions. Alen Ćosović definitely marked the last season. Although he was a scrum player in the second half of last year, he played excellently at first center, where he was unstoppable. Let’s just remember his edition in the last game against Partizan when he scored four tries. We assume that there will be options both at center and in the third line, depending on the need. Although the third line will be loaded with talent this year. Marko Ristic is an experienced player who has an enviable rugby experience and has been at a high level for many years. A great option that works best on cork. Stanislav Ljubičić is slowly entering his best rugby years. Stanilav is originally a scrum player, but he can cover several positions in the line as well, which allows him great mobility and good hand play.
And what can we say about young people. Relja Pećanac is a player who emerged in the class of 2001 and who is already a standard member of the Serbian national team. The player who, in our opinion, has improved the most in the last two years. He can also cover positions in the second line, but he is very mobile for his size, so he does very well on the wing in the third line. He plays defense at a high level, very aggressive in putting pressure on the opponent as well as in taking down. And what can we say about Danijel Stojanović, who perhaps even marked the last season, where he was one of the physically strongest players at the age of 17. A generational talent from the class of 2004, from whom we expect a lot in the new season. He is excellent in defense, extremely penetrating in attack, especially in contact. Add to all that the fact that he is extremely mobile and you get a big force on the field.
And what can we say about the youngsters from the class of 2005 who will be looking for their minutes this season. Dusan Jovanović’s primary position is the pillar, but we believe he will spend some time in the third line until he gathers enough experience for the first line. He will be accompanied by Igor Švraka, who is originally a third-line player, but can also play well in the second-line position. All of the players from the class of 2005 are very young and should get more and more minutes as the season progresses.
Backs
The reigning champions will have quite a strong lineup this season. The undisputed Srđan Božić is in the position of demi, who will control the tempo and be one of the main creators of the Rad game. He will be accompanied by Miladin Živanov and Nikola Stanković, who are the team’s main playmakers. Both players can play very well in several positions in the line. Živanov is at the end of his career and his experience and leadership means a lot to the team. Stanković is for us the TOP 3 best players in Serbia, without any doubt. He has everything, physical strength, rugby intelligence, exceptionally strong in defence, active in the game without the ball, excellent tactical shooting, he is simply a player who makes a difference on the pitch.
It will be especially interesting to see what the center line will look like. Towards the end of last season, Alen Ćosović was in the first center and Nemanja Stošić in the second. And that tandem worked great. They were quite efficient in attack and excellent in defence. So we believe that the Rastovac-Kapor coaching tandem will still decide on this combination. Nemanja Stošić is one of the best players from the class of 2002 who reached the status of the Serbian national team. He is definitely a player for the future and we can’t wait to see his games. During the winter, Rad also organized preparations in which Ivan Pirković, the former great talent of Serbian rugby, took part. But it is not realistic to expect him to perform in the Serbian Championship, it is hard work and rather unsafe for a player who is already in his good years. We would like the magic of the New Year’s touch to be transferred to real rugby, but we are aware that this is in the realm of fiction.
It will be very interesting to see how the wings look. Rad will have three very physically strong players covering that position this season. There is Nikola Stašić, who performed well last season and was one of the better players at the very end of the competition. Together with him, the product of the Kruševac rugby school, Stefan Ivković, stood out and reached the status of the Serbian national team. The two of them were excellent, especially with high balls where their height came to the fore. And now he will have company in the form of Lazar Tatomir, who returned from the Netherlands. Tatomir is an extremely fast player who will use even a little space if you leave it to him. Among the younger players, Rad has at its disposal Mihajlo Samardžić, a representative of the class of 2004 who had notable performances in several matches last season. There is also Matija Pevla, one of the best players in the class of 2005. It is unlikely that Matija will get more minutes in the first part of the season, but we believe that as time goes by, he will find his place in the team.
Perhaps the Građevinari will have the most challenges in the position of defenders. Uroš Babić will certainly not recover for some time. Rad has several options that can play very well in this position. Here, above all, we are thinking of Nikola Stanković, whomever you put in the team, he will be the one who will make a difference. On the other hand, any winger can fill the position at the back with great quality. So we don’t believe there will be too many problems.
The golden generation yet to come
For us, the class of 2006, which is growing up in the younger categories of Rad, is the golden generation. They will turn 17 this year and gain the right to play in the senior competition. However, the Građevinari will use all possible time to develop young talents before they start playing for the seniors. We can’t wait because a large number of players from the class of 2006 will go to the seniors. There are currently 12-13 of them and they all play at a very high level. That is why it is not surprising that special attention is paid to them and their development is monitored. This is exactly what we talked about in the previous texts, sometimes one or two players can come to the seniors, and sometimes 12-13 players come, so the coaches are in a difficult situation.
What can we expect from Rad in the new season?
Nothing less is expected from last year’s Serbian Champion in the new season. A team that is a combination of youth and experience will certainly aim for the highest ranking. During the winter period, they had quite a lot of activities, among other things they organized preparations in Bajna Bašta. We expect a high tempo of the game, we expect to see the progress of young players who take on more and more responsibility in the game. We can’t wait for the start of the season, where Rad will host Dinamo Pancevo next weekend in the first round of the Serbian Championship.
