As round 1 of the 2021 NHRU season commences this Saturday, Merewether Carlton are preparing to take on the Lake Macquarie Rugby Club (‘The Roo’s’) at Disneyland (Walter’s Park).

The Greens who began training in November last year, bolstered by a new-look coaching staff, headed by 2x premiership-winning player Jamie Lind and ex- Merewether, Newcastle and country representative player Blake Creighton. This lethal combination produces the perfect balance of brains and brawn, with the differing coaching styles complimenting one another, proving beneficial to the development of the structures and standards that lay the foundations for the season ahead. Jamie and Blake are aided by the wealth of knowledge and passion, provided by assistants Ben Bowen, Michael Dan, Jay Strachan, Steve Gaul and Stephen Barretto. The club is well and truly, in good hands.

With the cancellation of the 2020 season, due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the large majority of players have not played a game since 2019. We have seen a large majority of our top squad from 2019, retire or move on from the Greens, allowing for the younger boys of this squad to step up and take the reins. The losses of Jay Strachan, Jerome Wilson, Cam Turner, Keegan Stafford, Dylan Smouha and Eddie Clifton have allowed for the likes of Bill Dunn (club captain and 200 game veteran), Sam Bright and Will Frost to take over the leadership of the playing group. The younger boys such as Sam Rouse, Eli McCulloch, Lachlan Miller, Kade Robinson and Lachlan Milton must step up, take responsibility and reinforce the standards of the Greens.

The comradery between the players this early in the season has been second to none. The boys have had plenty of opportunities to bond and develop relationships with teammates due to the vast array of social activities that have been provided for them. The ‘Bathurst Bulldogs’ trial allowed for a great weekend of socializing, followed by the season launch at the ‘Green Room’ where the upcoming season was officially set underway, with many laughs and a few too many beers! Oliver Ryan, Sam Rouse and Lachlan Miller have been hard at work developing a strong alliance with the club’s major sponsor, ‘The Burwood Inn’. The boys have organized for a weekly schnitzel night and a Friday meat raffle, that allows for players, new and old, to connect outside of training and bolster their relationships with one another, which we hope will prove beneficial on the paddock!

The trial games win over the ‘Bathurst Bulldogs’ and ‘The University of Newcastle Seahorses’ and the five months of pre-season training, will all mean nothing if the boys can’t produce a win this coming weekend. It is a tough assignment the first week but an opportunity to see where we are really at against tough opposition. However, there is every reason for the men in green to come out victors!

Yours in Rugby,

Ollie Ryan