Todd Lowrie has experienced an "interesting" debut season as Wests' first-grade coach but he remains "proud" of his squad's efforts despite falling just short of a Newcastle Rugby League grand final appearance.
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Lowrie, who enters the second year of his contract at Harker Oval in 2021, helped steer the Rosellas' ship throughout the global coronavirus pandemic.
"It ended up really disappointing for us in the end to go down like that, but I think we were all pretty thankful just to be playing.
"That's probably what I was most proud of, being able to help provide an opportunity to play at a club when there was so much other rubbish going on in the world."
Wests were eliminated by Cessnock following a 38-14 loss in Saturday's semi-final at Maitland Sportsground. They had led 8-0 at half-time.
"It certainly was a game of two halves," he said.
Lowrie said Wests have re-signed the majority of this year's playing group.
However, players linked with the Knights' lower grades remain unsure about their futures next year, awaiting announcements from governing bodies about roster sizes, competitions and training commitments.
Rosellas playmaker Ryan Walker, who returned on the weekend after an extended injury lay-off, has yet to ink a deal for 2021. Jade Porter was on loan from Kurri.
Luke Walsh, who didn't play this year, has joined Central.
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