GARRY Reilly created some wonderful moments for St Pat’s in recent years and now he’s ready to make some more.
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The half has linked back up with the club he claimed a Group 10 premier league title with in 2014, signing on as the new first division captain-coach.
Due to work reasons Reilly was looking to join forces with a Bathurst club and was welcomed back with open arms to the Saints’ ranks after leaving midway through 2018 to join the Mudgee Dragons.
He inherits a Saints side who enter the new season as defending premiers.
Reilly is happy to be back wearing the blue and white colours.
"I hit up Pat's and I signed to just to play firsts but then they called me back a few days later and asked if I wanted to captain-coach reserve grade," he said.
"My partner plays for Pat's and my son plays for Pat's. I love everyone at Pat's and I really enjoyed my time there."
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Reilly is the latest of the Saints’ coaching announcements after the club signed Oberon Tigers key man Luke Branighan to lead premier league and Kevin Grimshaw and Dane Fisher took on under 18s duty.
Having Branighan at the club played a big part in Reilly making his decision to rejoin Pat’s.
"It's great, especially with Branno taking over the reins there. There's exciting times ahead for us," he said.
"Branno's got a lot of experience and I'm keen to learn from him. That's how this all came about, really."
Reilly’s main aims are keeping the fun factor high among the Saints camp and ensuring a smooth pathway for those ready to make the premier league jump.
"I'm just hoping that a lot of boys from last season stick around and are keen to play," he said.
"I want to focus on morale, keeping that high and making sure everyone's having fun, being reserve grade.
"At the same time it's about making sure those blokes who want to play first grade are set and have the right skills to play there."
Reilly will be hopeful of continuing the Saints’ strong record in recent years across first division.
St Pat’s won this year’s Group 10 first division title with a 27-14 win over local rivals Bathurst Panthers.
The Saints went on a six-game winning streak to wrap up the title.
Saints have qualified for the past three first division finals series.
It’s expected to be a new-look first division team for St Pat’s who won’t see the return of several experienced personnel such as outgoing captain-coach Chris Osborne and lock Brent Dennis.