The NHRU season kick-off has been delayed until at least May 2. The majority of clubs have finalised their squads. The competition will again feature nine teams but the finals series has been cut to a top-four. The Herald is taking a look at each of the clubs. Here is Southern Beaches.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
SOUTHERN BEACHES
Coach: Ben Kinkade
Last year: 11th (1 win, 15 losses, 207 points for, 955 against)
Arrivals: Glen Stone (Merewether), Dane Le Rougetel (University), Lucas Rosewell (NZ), Isaac Tipene (Townsville), Jacob Tatupu (St George RL), Adrian Delore (Uni), Jackson McLean (returning)
Departures: Ryan Jackson (returned to England)
Q&A - Coach Ben Kinkade
This time last season, you had eight registered players. How far are you advanced from that season?
We have 55 registered with a shadow of guys who have indicated they are going to play but are yet to turn up. We have had a few players return including Glen Stone and Dane Le Rougetel. Adrian Delore is back doing a bit of coaching and should be recovered from his knee reconstruction mid-season. Lucas Rosewell has come across from New Zealand. He is lock, who has been brought up through the Canterbury system and his rugby IQ is high. He can play a number of roles. He can be a ball runner, he can hit rucks and he controls a good lineout. He is certainly something we didn't have last year. Jacob Tatupu played under-20s and State Cup with St George and will give us something a bit different in the back-row. Throw in the likes of Peter Betham and Leroy Tuivaa, who really came on in the final stages of last season, and it's the makings of a strong pack. We are still working on a front-rower from overseas but that might be difficult in the current climate. The other asset has been Cam Murphy who is helping me coach. He has experience in the Shute Shield at Manly and will mainly look after the forwards and work on our defensive structure.
You improved as the season went on last year, highlighted by the 29-22 triumph over Singleton in the final round. Where can you make the biggest strides this campaign?
Obviously, defensively we can improve. We are far more settled this season and have structures in place. We ran a proper pre-season and have had guys buy into what we want to achieve.
It looks like you will have a tough forward pack, which is led by Mitch Gibson.
Mitch is the best number seven in the competition. That was evident by his efforts with the Newcastle team. With the new faces, he can just concentrate on his job. He is so strong on the ball and is a ferocious defender. We also have big plans for Leroy Tuivaii. We switched him from blindside to hooker late last year and he smashed it. He has earned himself a new position. We have Dane Le Rougetel as well, but that is the type of competition for spots we want.
Given the encouraging finish to 2019, how high do you believe you can climb up the ladder this season?
The goal has to be the semis. Our aim is to constantly keep improving. There are kids who came across from uni just to have a run in third grade last year, who have come back and will be quite handy. I think the comp is quite open this year, more so than last year. The top two, Hamilton and Wanderers, haven't changed much. The Hawks may have come back a little bit. Isolate the top two and there is not much between the rest. Singleton will improve. Who knows what will happen with Uni? The point to that is the comp is open and if we can get off to a good start, the semis is a realistic goal.
SUMMARY
Beaches were happy simply to get through 2019. It certainly wasn't how they had planned to celebrate their 30th year. Twelve months on, the situation is much bright. The band is back together in essence. Glen Stone and Dane Le Rougetel are competitors and bring smarts as well as experience. If Michael, Andrew, Marty and Adrian Delore get fit and interested, it's game on. On the surface, they appear slim in the outside backs. A solid start is key for confidence and momentum. It's hard to see them winning a competition but there shouldn't be a repeat of the 955 points they leaked last season.