The Cobar Roosters Senior Rugby League Club will be hoping their new coaching staff, which includes some new and old faces, can shower the club in glory this year as the club celebrates its 100th anniversary.
Newly appointed First Grade coach Dean ‘Bogga’ McLeod has taken charge of the Roosters for their 2021 assault on the Castlereagh Rugby League competition, Nick de Bruin will be running the Under 18s squad this year while Roosterettes Ladies League Tag team co-coaches, Jay Egan and Bianka Jacobson, are back coaching again this season to build on the team’s success of last year.
McLeod comes into the First Grade coaching role having a long history with the club.
He’s played with the Roosters throughout his junior and senior years and has won four senior premierships, including playing with the 1998 Clayton Cup winning team.
He’s also had coaching success leading his Under 18s team to a Castlereagh Youth League premiership win in 2019.
McLeod said he’d like to see that success replicated by the senior team.
“My goals are to build a positive culture within the club and community, to form a successful group of players that work for each other as a team and, ultimately, make the grand final,” McLeod said.
He describes his coaching style as a bit like Wayne Bennet, “casual but strong”.
McLeod however does set the expectation bar fairly high for his players.
“I expect them to do their best, be committed to each other, the team, the club and the town.
“I am hoping the 100 year anniversary will be a huge motivation not only for our players, but for ex-players and our community to support the club,” McLeod said.
“I am confident that our senior side will perform well this year, with commitment, dedication and support. Our ultimate goal is to win the grand final.”
Former Manly and Bulldogs Under 21 player, Nick de Bruin said he was pleased to take up the Under 18s coaching role after he was approached by the club to come on board.
The dual-code player began his playing career in 1983 at the age of 15 playing First Grade with the Cobar Camels.
“I was getting a bit hammered and Dad suggested I should give Rugby League a go,” de Bruin told The Cobar Weekly.
After moving to junior rugby league de Bruin won a premiership with the Under 16s and two years later another with the Under 18s.
He then went straight to First Grade playing under Coach Paddy Smith.
In 1988 he went to Manly.
“Then mid-season I went across to the Bulldogs, and finished with the bulldogs in ‘89 and then came back here.
“I was homesick,” de Bruin admitted.
He played with the Roosters for a few more years before moving to Broken Hill where he won a premiership with Broken Hill United.
In 1990 he was back playing with the Roosters under Coach Terry Regan and that year they made the grand final but sadly lost to Wellington on the final bell.
De Bruin, who’s previously coached in Parkes and last season started out as the Cobar Camels rugby union coach before COVID hit, describes his coaching style as “old school”.
His first month of training will be focused on fitness which he says will lay the platform for success for the season ahead.
“When I was coming through the 18’s Tommy Good was the coach and he made us go up Fort Bourke Hill every week. I’ll try and see how we go with that!”
Co-coaches Jay Egan and Bianka Jacobson have returned to coach the Ladies League Tag side again this season.
The pair worked well together last year and are keen to continue to build on what the team, which had a number of debutantes, had achieved in the 2020 season.
“We work well together, we have different strengths and bring different ideas to the table,” Jacobson said.
“With Jay’s football experience and his knowledge of the game, it helps with our on- field performance.
“Having Jay on the sideline and myself playing on the field, we can provide different perspectives and feedback to make improvements for the team.”
Cobar Roosters Senior Rugby League Club president Chris Deighton is thrilled with their new coaching staff.
Deighton said he was pleased to see Jacobson and Egan back coaching the ladies; thinks de Bruin will be a “great fit” as the Under 18s coach; and believes that moving away from a captain/coach role in First Grade to having someone with McLeod’s experience on the sideline, just could be the right formula for three wins for the club this season.
