From last to first inside a single Shute Shield season. Can’t be done, can it?
You won’t catch newly appointed Gordon coach Darren Coleman using the c-word.
“We’ll see - some say you can’t but you never know,” Coleman said.
"Momentum and positive energy is a powerful thing. If we stay injury-free and the boys click as a group, anything can happen in footy.”
Coleman will have a decent challenge on his hands to get Gordon playing for silverware inside a year but given his experience and track record of success, it’s probably a when - not if - question after that.
That’s certainly what the Gordon faithful are hoping after recruiting Coleman, who coached Warringah to the last two Shute Shield Grand Finals.
In a mass merry-go-round of Shute Shield coaching moves ahead of the 2019 season, Coleman is one of eight new head coaches in the eleven Shute Shield clubs, with only Brian Melrose (Manly), Pauli Taumoepeau (Eastern Suburbs) and Robert Taylor (Sydney Uni) returning from last year.
Coleman, who coached the Rats to a title in 2017 and another Grand Final in 2018, reportedly left the northern beaches to coach a team in Twiggy Forrest’s Global Rapid Rugby but when that didn’t pan out, Gordon came knocking.
"I had a great time at the Rats. The Rats were an awesome club for a couple of years. I was heading to another team outside of Shute Shield and then that fell over and that sort of fell over at the last minute. Gordon were looking for a coach and their really proactive and positive president convinced me that’s the place to be,” Coleman said.
Gordon were once a powerhouse of the Shute Shield and won three titles in the 1990s, but have since fallen off the pace. They only won a single game in 2018, against the now defunct Penrith Emus.
Gordon president Matt Glascott was forced to deny claims by Alan Jones last year that the club was on the brink of oblivion and said while they were struggling, they were building for the future with a strong colts program.
"It’s a really proud and historic club,” Coleman said.
"They last won a premiership in '98, so 20 years. It’s a great catchment area for rugby, the whole northern belt up to Hornsby. Lots of school rugby and lots of people who support rugby. It’s an affluent area and their colts program is in great shape, they made three Grand Finals last year.
"There is a little bit of work to be done and we haven’t won any footy games yet but I wouldn’t have gone there if I didn’t think we could do something productive and do it quickly.
"We want to be in the finals this year, we’ll have a crack at that. Whether you can go from last to first on one year, we’ll see.”
Coleman, who has also coached with the Waratahs and Brumbies, the NSW Country Eagles, at Easts and in Japan and Italy, said he was looking forward to the challenge.
"I love doing that,” he said.
"One of my best experiences was coaching Penrith in 2005 and they hadn’t won a game in three years. I remember the day we won our first game. I really like those challenges, I love going to teams that are battling and seeing if we can swing it around.”
The man who has stepped into Coleman’s vacant office at Warringah is former Wallabies fullback Mark Gerrard, who finished playing last year after 20 seasons at the club.
He said he’d never really considered coaching before the opportunity arose.
"It’s been a little bit of a challenge up til now but overall it’s been pretty exciting,” Gerrard said.
"It’s something I thought I’d never really get into to be honest. But having done the last five months, I have actually enjoyed the process of it and looking at what we want to achieve as a group.
"I must admit I have been pretty blessed in what DC had created in the last couple of years with the professionalism in the group and the club itself, so all I am doing is putting my own twists and turns on it.
"I am different to DC in the way I like to think but same end product and same end goal, just taking a different direction.”
The other new coaches taking up the reins are Ben Batger (Eastwood), Nick Hensley (Northern Suburbs), Hadley Jackson (Randwick), Don Mackinnon (Southern Districts), Mark Gudmunson (West Harbour) and Joel Rivers (Western Sydney Two Blues).
The Shute Shield kicks off on Saturday with Manly taking on the Two Blues at home, Randwick host Eastwood, Souths play West Harbour, defending champions Sydney Uni take on Easts and Warringah play Norths at home.
Gordon have the bye.
The match of the round - Sydney Uni v Easts - will be broadcast live on Seven Two at 3pm.
