FOR a season that may not even go ahead 2020 has already posed unique challenges for coaching staff, yet Scott Hatch also sees opportunity in the current environment.
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In Hatch's view, now is the time for the CSU women who hope to contest a Central West Rugby Union premiership in 2020 to improve their technical skills and knowledge.
After coaching the CSU women to the Ferguson Cup finals for two consecutive seasons, Dom Huggett has now departed.
So Hatch, an experienced coach, stepped in to help. He is mentoring both Dave Grayche and Lizzie Butt to take over from Huggett and working with the current squad of CSU women.
"Basically with the coach moving on from last year, it left a bit of a hole. I work at the university and I was working with the girls to try and get a suitable coach. My plans kind of changed in terms of what I was doing with my coaching, which allowed me to take on this mentor position," Hatch said.
"We want to get people keen and the players connected ... if I can do that then I am helping to improve the club the best way I can."
While small group training sessions are now permitted as the social distancing measures put in place due to COVID-19 ease and the state government has given senior sport approval to resume on July 1, it is still far from normal operations.
There is still a question mark over the season, with Central West Rugby Union to make its final decision on on June 26.
But Hatch, Butt and Grayche do have a group of players who are keen to learn.
"Numbers have been okay, moving forward we'd like a few more, but things are only very new in terms of being allowed to come back to training," Hatch said.
"The girls who are coming to training are working hard and I'm just trying to develop their skill sets and trying and get some fitness on board in line with what we can do with the COVID return to play policy.
"Honestly they are just keen after a big break to be involved with sport, they are happy to be training. They are a pretty positive bunch we've got a the moment, they're keen to learn and develop.
"I'm hopeful the green light is given, but we'll work with whatever happens ... there's still a fair bit of water to go under the bridge so to speak before we can make some more informed decisions."
Passing on rugby knowledge to young talents is something Hatch is well-versed in. He previously coached the CSU men's side in the Blowes Clothing Cup while he's also guided the Central West colts.
He's sees the current situation as a chance to give the CSU squad a rugby education they may not have gotten if they were playing.
"This time is a real opportunity to learn," he said. "It's the knowledge of the girls we are really trying to build on, that ability to know how and why and where.
"It's a cool time where we can work on things you don't usually get to work on. So like we are looking at doing some uptake on technical skills like line-out skills. How to throw correctly and jumping techniques, actually getting down to the nitty-gritty and teaching the girls how to launch.
"Even how that ball comes off the line-out and how then you connect with the back line or what happens after that."
