Harden Red Devils 2019 Coach Jack O’Connor is looking forward to the season ahead, which commences this Saturday at Robert’s Park against West Wyalong.
The Harden Red Devils will hit the ground running this Saturday when they take on West Wyalong. The She Devils will line up at 2:15pm and will be taking on the highly fancied Wyalong side. Coach Brent Loader and his assistant Kace Leitner have been training the troops and getting them ready for the upcoming season. Devils First Grade Coach Jack O’Connor said, “Brent and Kace have been doing a great job and we hope the She Devils will go really well this year.”
Jack has taken on the First grade role and will be assisted in the forwards by Aaron Seamon. Jack takes the over the reins from Adam Walsh who will still be available for a number of matches throughout the year for the men in red. Jack has coached plenty of junior sides and been under the coaching of a number of very good practitioners during his playing days. He said, “I hope to be able to draw upon the experience of the coaches who coached me, I have been able to play under some great coaches and I look forward to the challenge.”
Jack said, “We have had a lot of support and a lot of people put their hand up to assist. Josh Mann Rea from the Brumbies will be helping out with some sessions this year.” Part of last years Premiership side, Jack, 26 starred for the Devils in 2018 and teamed up with new club President Ben Lenehan who he partnered in the Centres. Jack said, “It’s hard to believe that back in August we won the Grand Final and in February that year, we only had 11 players.”
The side will welcome a couple of new players to the team who are Harden born and bred and will be coming back from Canberra. Local support from businesses has been overwhelming. The Jugiong Motel, Sir George and Jackson’s Bakery have come on board in 2019 with Delta and Yarrawaonga Merino Stud continuing to support the Devils Club. A number of local derbies will be played this year with the addition of Boorowa and Young to the competition.
Jack said “West Wyalong are going to be really strong on Saturday, we have had a couple of trial games and we still need to blow a few cobwebs out, we want to be the fittest and the most physical side in the comp. We want to have a bit of fun with it and we have instinctive players. A good team effort would be great to see on Saturday. 80 minutes of consistent footy and no injuries. We just want to play our style of game. The boys coming back from New Zealand will also help. Aaron, Ben and Shahid all started for the top squad and will really add to the side. It’s good for south west rugby to stake their claim as the centre of rugby in the area. We encourage players to come down to have a look on Saturday or attend training on Wednesdays at 6:30pm.”
Training is at Roberts Park. First Grade kicks-off at 3:15pm at Robert’s Park on Saturday.
