Experienced duo to lead 2025 campaign
IT’S a job most people shy away from.
Not having the luxury of first pick of the playing roster each Saturday and selecting a side from a mixture of new blood, thrown in with a few old heads, is far from ideal.
Coaching second grade rugby has its downfalls, but for Robert Hall and Brennon Lavery, it was destined to happen.
Both experienced and passionate about their rugby, Hall and Lavery are just the tonic needed to lead the Grafton Redmen Reggies into finals contention in 2025.
For Hall, coaching a senior side for the first time is an exciting proposition.
“The main reason I decided to put my hand up since second grade was reinstated two years ago is that as captain, I’ve been heavily involved with the building of the team,” Hall said during the week.
“With Gervase (Bertus) leaving the coaching role at the end of last season he strongly encouraged Bam (Brennon Lavery) and myself to put our hands up, and I felt it was a natural progression.
“I’ve been coaching junior sides for the past six-years and coaching a senior side has always appealed to me.”
Hall is well aware of the challenges involved with coaching second grade rugby in the bush, particularly dealing with player availability.
“Probably the biggest challenge will be organising a team each week,” Hall admitted.
“First grade naturally gets first pick of the players and as the season progresses players will move up and down the two grades. Also, there are always players who sustain injuries and are unavailable some weeks.”
Lavery is no stranger to rugby, playing well over 100-games for the blood and bandages. And for Hall, having his teammate as co-coach is the perfect fit.
“I’m really excited to share this role with Bam. We have always worked well together on and off the field and both share the same passion to help people around us reach their full potential and succeed,” Hall said.
Hall admitted bowing out of last season’s final series was a learning curve for the players.
“Winning the minor-premiership and then missing out on the grand final was disappointing,” he said.
“I think we can go better next season. The boys learnt a lot about finals footy and I believe that experience will help us towards the back end of the season.
“In saying that, it’s a long season and we need to put in a lot of hard work if we want to achieve our goals.”
In 2024, the Redmen second grade side were dubbed the “entertainers” due to their natural flair and ad-lib playing style in the backline.
However, at times it came as a cost, with far too many pushed passes and unforced errors in their own half.
“Yeah, we were not lacking flair in the backline which made for some exciting rugby,” Hall said
“Unfortunately, it came with a few errors which put the team under pressure. The best way, in my opinion, is to find the balance between all- out attack and control of the footy.
“It comes down to working on those situations at training to help players to make the right decisions while under pressure.”
Nico