2023, and the Gnomes were back! After a year out of the competition, Northcote once again had a team in the restricted grade for 2023.

Despite some hard work in recruiting players over the Christmas period, numbers were down at the start of the year, but as the season progressed, old players came back, new players joined the team, and we started to get the basis of a solid group for the season.

The first year was always going to be about the journey as players and coaches got acquainted – and starting
the year facing last year’s finalists in the first three weeks was always going to be a tough ask. Despite that, the team stayed strong and continued to improve practice by practice, game by game.

The final two games of the season saw some fantastic rugby being played and reflected the hard work that the team had done over the last four months and laid a great platform for the team moving into 2024.

Thanks must go to the coaching team that came together to get the Gnomes back on the field. Thank you to Chattie, Serious, Stapes, Fickles and Darrin for giving up your time and energy this year to keep the momentum going.

Thanks also to the 21’s and reserves players who helped us out during the year when we were short on numbers and ensured we were always able to field a team. Lastly, thank you to the players of 2023. The easy thing to do when the going got tough would have been to give up. You kept on turning up to training and the games and worked hard all year. We will see you all at preseason in 2024.