Even before he has stages his first selection trial for the Central West colts side he will take to the 2018 NSW Country Rugby Union Championship, Scott Hatch is an excited coach.
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Hatch takes over from Dubbo’s Dean Matthews and is returning to the role after last holding it in 2016, he can’t hide his excitement about the talent pool on offer too.
“I love going to place and having a bunch of really elite, good players and going ‘right, this is what we have and this is how we’re going to take it to the next level’. With them getting exciting about it, hopefully that’s where that next level is,” Hatch said.
Having mentored NSW Country’s under 18s last year, as well as coaching CSU Bathurst in the Blowes Clothing Cup, Hatch already has an idea of some of the players who he will be working with.
He is confident that they will help Central West better their 2017 performance when falling 13-5 to Central Coast in the semi-finals of the top tier competition.
“If that (Country 18s) side I think there were about six or seven Central West boys, who I think could potentially step up to colts,” Hatch said.
“So I already know a lot of boys and they know the style which I like to coach and obviously the culture is already there, so hopefully that’s going to take us in a good direction.
“When I [coached] two years ago and we actually won, I think I had about 12 players from the first trial and at this stage I’ve got 28 already on the books and barely any sides have seen applications or started training.
“It looks like we are going to have a lot to pick from and obviously that increases the likelihood of quality and like I said, a number of those boys already come from an elite playing background, NSW Country or better.”
As much as the prospect of finding success is something Hatch enjoys, he said working with such a talented group of colts is where the real enjoyment lies for him.
That the colts will get to work alongside the senior Blue Bulls squad, along with the women’s group, as part of their preparation is something Hatch is excited about as well.
“I’d love to win it, but being with a bunch of young men who want to play rugby, who want to succeed, who want to get better at rugby, that’s the better thing for me,” he said.
“This year Dean Oxley, the opens coach, has a bit of an idea to coach Central West like a club. We are actually all going to be training at the same venue at the same time, so us colts and the women with the opens.
“That’s going to add a whole extra dimension to it – running shadow, running with, learning from these older guys who hopefully they look up to and hopefully who they want to take on their role in a couple of years.
“We want to show them it’s a great environment to start with and a really good place to develop your rugby.”
The first trial will be conducted on February 4 at Molong from 9.30am-11.30am. Hatch said interested players can contact him via the Central West Colts 2018 Facebook group or on 0427 227 565.