What a great season we enjoyed with J8 White, with 2 returning J8 players the balance of our 14 man squad was made up of 12 first-year players including 4 girls & 5 players under the age of 5!! The team bonded quickly which made coaching them a lot easier than it sounds.

We enjoyed close on 100% attendance to all training and games, a great credit to the parents who play a vital part in the development of these budding young sportspeople. We enjoyed many victories, 2 draws and a handful of defeats.

Most pleasing as a coach was that I was only asked once during the season if we had won the game? Our kids were really playing for the joy of the game. For such a large group of players, what was most satisfying was the way they listened, learned and then played the game; the kids were able to consistently line up & spread out on re-starts, pass as soon as they had been ripped & “always” hand the rips back to the opposition.

Couple those core skills with a great ability to both run the ball & call when in support really made for a great season. A special mention to our 2 leading try scorers, Adison & Luca with 29 tries apiece; and our leading ripper Izayais with 45 rips for the season.

Big thanks to Trudy for her efforts managing the team, Bruce for doing a fantastic job refereeing, the parents & supporters for getting right in behind the team; but most importantly the kids themselves who were a pleasure coach. I look forward to seeing the team back together next year to continue their development through the J7 grade.