Beau Robinson insists there's signs of progress within the system he's introduced at the Dubbo Kangaroos despite the first grade side missing finals for the second successive season.
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The former Super Rugby title winner and one-time Wallaby arrived back in Dubbo to much fanfare in the lead-up to the 2018 season and took on the role of director of coaching at the Roos.
The Roos' loss at Forbes on Saturday saw them slip out of the four and finish fifth for the second straight season, but Robinson is gauging each season by much more than the results.
"This time last year we were struggling to have two grades opposing each other (at training) and now we've got three teams opposing each other so we're on the right track there," he said.
"It's about cohesion. When we had a good run this season it was because we had a blokes turn up to training every week.
The training program has been a big focus for Robinson since his return to Dubbo, not only due to the creation of a structured plan across all grades but also because the way it can help develop the off-field culture.
That is something he wants to keep on building, while also improving that cohesion.
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Injuries ruined the Roos' 2018 campaign and played a major part again this, but there was also other reasons the side struggled to field the same lineup two weeks in a row.
The likes of captain Shaun McHugh, former Shute Shield star Mark Baldwin, and winger Tim Beach missed plenty of rugby due to representative commitments, while other players were unavailable at times for various other reasons.
As well as that, first grade coach Simon Petelo wasn't able to regularly attend games and wasn't on the sideline for the final round at Forbes.
Robinson pointed to the Platypi's strong group as a major reason they got the job done on Saturday, but he's hopeful the Roos' young first grade players are able to develop into that kind of core in the years to come.
Hamish Gordon, Luke Ryan, and Ben Knaggs all played major roles for the Roos this season and were among the best week in, week out, while Jack Davis all featured regularly in the starting lineup and the likes of Jack Jones and Hamish Smith also played first grade.
Knaggs captained the Roos' colts side to the minor premiership and grand final last season, they lost the decider to Orange, while the club's current batch of colts finished the regular season in second spot.
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"We've got focus more on nurturing our colts and get them staying around, which is exciting," Robinson said.
"We had good colts last year and that core group has stuck around while some went away for rep.
"The same will happen this year, there's a very good colts team but hopefully we can retain them for the next three or four years.
"That will take time but if you look there's a few of the colts who have been playing together for a good few years. If you can hold on to that, the nucleus of the team has to be Dubbo juniors and colts, I think.
"It's just too hard to get that cohesion otherwise."
Robinson confirmed Chris O'Shea and Angus Howard, two who featured regularly in first grade, are likely to depart the Roos after this season as they are set to move away from Dubbo but stated it is far too soon to discuss any other movement.