Richie Roberts has always let his footy do the talking.
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But in 2019, in his homecoming to the Macleay Valley Mustangs, the 2017 Group Three Player of the Year will be more vocal as he takes on the captaincy for the season ahead.
Roberts is excited to return to his hometown club, after spending the past four seasons with the Port City Breakers, and he plans to have a strong influence on the younger players in the side.
"I learned a lot when I was at the Breakers and I plan to take the young forwards here under my wing a bit and pass the knowledge onto them," Roberts told the Argus.
"To name just a couple, Isiah Barker and Jesse Douglas are two really good forwards and if they put their heads down and learn they will have a bright future ahead of them."
The Kempsey Dragons junior decided to make the return to the Mustangs after recently entering fatherhood and he didn't want a repeat of last season for his junior club.
"I became a father four months ago so I wanted to play and train closer to home to spend more time with my baby," Roberts said.
"I also saw what happened to the club last year, it was pretty sad to see it happen in such a strong footy community so I wanted to come back to help the rebuild."
Roberts, who won a Group Three premiership with the Mustangs in 2014, has been impressed with the side's performances in the pre-season.
Macleay Valley didn't leak a point in their victories over last season's grand finalists, the Port Macquarie Sharks and Breakers, but the 27-year-old claims there is still room for improvement.
"Our defence has been the main focus this pre-season and that paid off in our first two games," Roberts said.
"But we still need to get stronger around the ruck and that's something I am trying to help the side with, I am showing everyone a few different techniques on how to be more dominant in the tackles."
Success on the rugby league field has followed Roberts, the 80-minute front-row forward has reached the Group Three grand final in each of the last five seasons and claimed three premierships.
Roberts plans to bring the same success to the Macleay Valley.
"We are going to be competitive this year and the goal is to reach the finals," Roberts said.
"We will be there at the business end of the season."
The Mustangs open their 2019 campaign on the road against the Old Bar Pirates on Saturday April 6.
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