ABSENCE has made the heart grow fonder for Phil Newton and Brian Roberson, who will take the reins as Bathurst Bulldogs first grade coaches for the upcoming Central West Rugby Union season.
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Both coaches are coming back into the top grade after long breaks from the role – Newton last had the position in 1997 and Roberson in 2005 – but are filled with the same desire to help the Bulldogs make another finals campaign.
The duo will take the spots vacated by Shane Cantrill and Scott Johnston, who will be focusing on junior coaching and playing first grade respectively.
Last year, Newton and Roberson were at the helm of the second grade outfit that finished as minor premiers and came up just one win shy of a grand final appearance.
Having attained the major prize from his one previous season coaching first grade, Newton was more than happy to jump up and put his “100 per cent” record on the line.
“I coached the team back in ’97 and, like Brian, I have a premiership to my name,” he said.
“I coached second grade last year with Brian. We were reasonably successful. We didn’t quite get the goal, but with Shane and Scotty moving on we put our hand up.”
Roberson has relished the partnership with Newton and said they will continue keeping the close link established between the Bulldogs’ top two grades.
“Coaching with Phil is an absolute pleasure. Last year was great fun and he’s got a lot of experience. I manage the team more than coach and Phil is a very good technical coach,” he said.
“We’re going to have a first and second grade senior squad together again. We’ve got two good coaches [Nathan Pearce and Al Fryer] in second grade as well to help us as a coaching panel. We’ve got specialist coaches to come into the system as well.
“As well as that we’ve had offers from the likes of Matt Waterford, Matt McRobert, Dean Oxley and Shane Cantrill to assist during the year.”
Bulldogs first grade have been bundled out of the finals at the elimination semi-final mark over the past two seasons.
Newton said catching the benchmark Orange clubs will be a tough assignment but, with training starting last week, the team and the coaching staff are raring to work towards that goal.
“There’s no doubt that Orange City and Emus have set the bar. There’s a few things that we want to work on – you don’t want to give much away early – where we’re lacking just a little bit,” he said.
“No doubt they’ve got some smart coaches too and they’ll probably bring something different to the table. Brian and I will have to do exactly the same, try to counteract that and get us to where we need to be.
“The foundation’s there. Shane and Scott have done such a great job over the last two years and we’ve just got to build on that.”
The Bulldogs’ opening pre-season match, and first game for Newton and Roberson, will be against Barker Old Boys on March 12.