HELLO everyone and a very Merry Christmas. To celebrate the festive season Rats Tales is back with a special edition as your mild-mannered correspondent Jonathan B Geddes fills your stocking with the latest news from the Warringah club.
RUGBY NEW FACES
HEAD coach Michael Ruthven has been working hard on recruitment ahead of the 2023 season with a couple of likely looking players already confirmed as coming to the club.
An interesting newcomer will be Scottish Sevens representative Harvey Elms.
He is an outside back hailing from the strong Glasgow club, who Ruthven got on board during his productive career development trip to Scotland at the end of last season.
“I’ve seen a lot of his footage and he is a good athlete,” Ruthven said.
Elms will arrive at Narrabeen in the New Year along with fellow Scot Roan Frostwick, the halfback who is returning to the Rats for his second season.
Another one to watch is young utility back Lucas Niedzwecki from Queensland who played for the Easts club in Brisbane. “He is a 10 or 15 and is looking pretty sharp,” Ruthven said. “He was looking for a challenge down in Sydney.” The club is also negotiating with two props – one from Canberra and the other from the UK. Watch this space. “Outside of that, my focus was always around retention,” Ruthven said. Good news is that the 2022 first grade squad will be back for the upcoming season.
FAREWELL TO THE GENERAL
OUTGOING Rats’ general manager Greg Marr has reflected on his successful stint in the demanding role after his decision to quietly step down from the position.
“It’s a great club, I had a really good time - the sponsors, the supporters are fantastic people,” he said. “I don’t regret anything of the last 14 months, it was a great ride and I’m sorry it has to come to an end. “But I’m getting old and tired and I’m moving on man,” he quipped. Marr won’t be lost to the club and will coach second grade next year.
COACH’S THANK YOU
RUTHVEN, who developed a strong relationship with Marr, has paid tribute to the job GM did as GM. “Working with Marssy over the past 12 months has been really enjoyable,” Ruthven said. “Obviously we knew we were getting someone with a wealth of experience in that space with his time at the Western Force and then his deep understanding of Shute Shield footy with his long association with Warringah as a coach – and then his associations with Manly and Sydney Uni.” Ruthven said Marr has done some fantastic things around sponsorship and the game day experience. “We topped the Shute Shield in terms of home game attendance,” he said. “And I thoroughly appreciated his input from a coaching perspective and it’s going to be very difficult to fill those shoes.”
FILLING THE RATS’ NEST
SOME of Warringah’s finest have received early Christmas gifts and added to the Warringah family. The former champion fullback Dave Feltscheer and his wife Kathleen Piper have welcomed their son Xander into the world. Retired star back Ed Doyle and his wife Sarah are celebrating the arrival of their daughter Daisy. And one of the greatest-ever Ratettes Sarah Laman and her partner Sam Van Dyke are now proud parents of daughter Elle. Congratulations to the new mums and dads. Can’t wait to see you running up and down the sidelines with the Rats’ juniors in five years.
DIARY DATE
AFTER December 25 celebrations, the next big event takes place on the weekend of February 17-18 with the Col Crawford BMW Warringah 7s tournament being held at Rat Park. It is a great way to get back into rugby with competitions for seniors,
schools and under 20s.
REMINDERS AND UPDATES
Warringah School Holiday Clinics are back in January 2023!!
Please click here to register or on the flyer below.
RATS Tales is your newsletter and we always welcome contributions of stories, gossip and scuttlebutt. Feel free to contact the news desk on 0422 007148 or at jgeddes@ihug.com.au
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CLOSURES
The club will be closed for the holiday period from 24 December 2022 until 8 January 2023.
On behalf of Warringah Rugby Club, have a Safe and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!
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