The off-season doesn’t last long these days, with the Wanneroo Rugby Club’s 2018 campaign well and truly taking shape. Newly appointed Director of Rugby Brenden Loag and Premier Grade Head Coach Stephen “Festa” Cavanagh have been grafting away behind the scenes to lay the foundations to take on the recently restructured RugbyWA competition. Club legend Michael Johnson has also joined the team as the Premier Grade Manager for 2018, offering a wealth of first-hand experience and leadership.
Cavanagh has already been working hard on the next generation of Roo Dogs by conducting Academy sessions for the young up and coming players of the club. “While we’re striving for success in the coming seasons, we have to also invest in the future generations. We need to maintain any momentum that we create,” Cavanagh states about the recent off-season training. The improvements demonstrated by the young players over recent weeks are all great signs for the future of the club.
The Rugby Management Team, comprising of Loag, Cavanagh, Johnson and designated board members, have built on the Academies start, by announcing today the blue print for the club’s 2018 preparations. Official pre-season training will commence on the 30th January 2018 for the Premier Grade squad. The members of this group will be invited early in the new year. Pre-season training will comprise of Tuesday and Thursday sessions with optional Saturday morning beach activities included.
Prior to the official commencement of training, discipline specific training sessions will be offered during the weeks of January. These short sessions will cover aspects such as passing, kicking, scrummaging, tackling, lineout jumping and attack/agility. The time table for these will be announced in the coming weeks as direct communication lines with the players are formulated.
Mirroring the player preparation will also be the coach development program. These education and mentoring sessions will help the majority of the club’s coaches broaden their skills and better understand the direction that the rugby will be taking at the club. Not only will the program guide coaches in the technical aspect rugby, but it will also offer assistance in the areas of teaching skills, group management, planning and team progression. This program will run alongside the club’s player preparations, providing the opportunity for first hand demonstrations of content. Coaches will be individually approached about this opportunity as roles and club teams are finalised in the coming weeks.
Further announcements are close on the horizon such as trial matches, pre-season tournaments and the commencement of training for the broader club, including the resurrection of the old Brew Dogs playing group who specialise in lower grade domination. This group will have their own individually designed pre-season program.
Stay tuned for more information on the great new things happening around the club. Enjoy the Christmas break with friends and family and we look forward to 2018.