In 2021, J8 Maroon introduced 10 new players to rugby and the great club of Northcote. Our eager five and six-year-olds didn’t get off to a great start when a torrential downpour began within five minutes of the first training session of the year. Anyone would have thought the kids hadn’t seen rain before as they all legged it for dry ground and staged a training protest for the rest of the evening. Notwithstanding the rough start, the team continued to show up to training and games week after week and hone in on the basics of rugby.

The team grew in confidence with every week and more importantly started to form team bonds which I’m sure will be carried through their rugby careers.

Training was always well attended and fun, especially with the highly anticipated game of ‘monsters bullrush’ to look forward to each week.

Whilst there were plenty of highlights throughout the season, a come from behind win under lights at Onewa Domain was a proud moment for the coaches and parents. The team also took after match honours as they put away over 8 pizzas between them.

These guys and girls were an absolute pleasure to coach and I’d like to thank the parents who were always happy to help with training, games, half-time oranges and running the subs. See you all next year!