Incoming CSU Bathurst mentor Luke Kelly is confident any disruption caused by an 11th hour coaching change won’t have a negative impact on the students’ preparation for the 2018 New Holland Agriculture Cup season, which kicks off on April 7.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The former Mitchell Man and Central West Colts skipper takes over the head coaching role from Scott Hatch, who stepped down last week in a bid to focus on representative commitments and had no hesitation nominating Kelly, who was set to coach CSU’s second XV, for a promotion.
“Hatchy will take on another role within the club too and he’s got an incredible rugby brain, he did good things while he was coach and a lot of the ideas he put in place we’ll keep. He thinks I’m the right man for the job and I’m really excited to take on the challenge,” Kelly said.
“Being an ex-Mitchell Man, I played at the club for five years, I understand the culture here and I’m confident I can bring plenty to the club, the biggest thing I want to do is continue to build a really positive environment where people naturally gravitate towards the club.
”We’ve had a big influx of players over the last couple of weeks and there’s a good vibe around so I think that’s already starting to happen, and we’ve still got a good couple of weeks until the season starts so I don’t think there’ll be any disruption at all.”
In terms of structures and plans of attack, Kelly didn’t give too much away outside saying he’ll keep plenty of what Hatch instilled in the group in place but will also put his own spin on things.
“The best thing we can do, any team can do, is play to their strengths all the time. For CSU that’s always been playing running rugby, and backing ourselves. I’m not saying we’ll play exactly the same way as previous CSU sides have by any means, but we’ll certainly stick to what we’re good at,” Kelly explained.
Kelly’s students face Blayney in the opening round of the New Holland Agriculture Cup – Central West’s newly-named second tier – after the Rams opted for promotion following last year’s GrainCorp Cup Southern Division win.
“It’s a good move from Blayney to come up from the GrainCorp Cup, and we’re expecting a really tough start to the season against them. We’re expecting them to be big boys and we won’t take them lightly, which I think a few teams might,” Kelly said, adding that winning silverware is the students’ end goal.
“Picking up a first-up win would be the perfect way for us to start this season, which we’re definitely viewing as a potential premiership year. I think every club should be.
“That’s definitely the end goal, winning the first and second grade premierships. We’re one club and we want to strive for the best results we can in every grade we play.
“I’m really excited to see what the season brings, Mitchell rugby’s back.”
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
