Daniel Martin is returning to first grade coaching duties for the Gunnedah Red Devils, who have announced changes to their coaching staff for the 2025 Central Northern Rugby Union (CNRU) season.
Martin joins James Perrett and Nimo Navatu in coaching, with Navatu also coming on board after Perrett spent last season as a non-playing coach while injury prevented him from playing.
With Perrett hoping to return to the playing arena in 2025, Martin said Perrett would effectively be a co-coach which was also the case in 2021 and 2022 when Martin was head coach.
With coaching experience in the CNRU and New England competitions, Andrew Jack has been named as Gunnedah’s reserve grade coach while last season’s coach Angus Frend becomes an assistant coach.
In the Women’s 10s competition, club stalwart Matt Hannay is poised to return as Gunnedah’s coach after Derek Henning coached the team last season.
While the Red Devils women are ‘hoping to go one better’ after being competition runners-up in the past two years, the men’s teams are seeking to return to finals after missing the cut in first and reserve grades last season.
Having been a first grade assistant coach for the Red Devils for a couple of years before taking on the head coaching position, Martin guided the Red Devils to the 2019 finals before COVID hampered the CNRU in the next two years.
The Red Devils were minor premiers under Martin’s coaching in 2021 when COVID intervened, and then Martin steered the Red Devils to the 2022 grand final and 2023 finals while premiership success was elusive.
Martin said he felt he needed to step back last season, before the situation changed for the upcoming season due to Perrett’s plan to lace on the boots again.
“I thought I’d better put my hat back in the ring and help him where he needs to be, and where the club needs to be,” Martin said.
The returning coach said the Red Devils had had a mass exodus of players which meant the club lost a lot of depth, although he still thought “the nucleus of the playing squad had the ability to make the finals”.
Martin said the situation “needs to be rectified” and “sorted out”.
“The main thing for our club is getting up to the fitness level required to compete for the full 80 minutes,” he said.
“We’ve got to get the percentages right and do the little things right.
“If you do that, you’ll win more games than you’ll lose.
“If we don’t make the top-four, I’d think we’ve had a pretty average year.”
The club is likely to have many continuing players and familiar names including Lachlan McArthur, Tim Wilson, Ben Hamparsum, Tim McDermott, Nick Lyons, Jack Inder, Lachie Straney, Cameron Mitchell, Tom Witts, John McKay, Lincoln Stewart, Hamish Hockings, Patrick Grant, Bill Whitney and Tom McGowan.
Martin said he thought the “belief is there” and that the players knew how to get the job done, but that the question was whether they wanted it enough.
Pre-season training is expected to start soon after Australia Day, before the Red Devils plan to have a couple of trial matches.
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