The Kempsey Cannonballs are ready to fire ahead of the 2024 Mid North Coast Rugby Union season following a series of promising trial games.
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Kempsey showed their strength and depth in a three-way trial involving the Walcha Rams and Wauchope Thunder, securing a convincing victory over Wauchope while facing a tough challenge against Walcha, who proved to be formidable opponents.
Despite missing key player Tommy Justice, who has returned to England, co-coach Jared Fuller said the team showed promising signs.
"There were lots of positives to take away from the trial games and lots of things that I think the team did really well," he said.
"We sort of weren't interested in much from the trial games other than trying to get a bit of match fitness under the belt and start developing some combinations."
Fuller said Tyler Allan proved to be the standout performer at 5/8.
"He was just brilliant," he said. "He directed traffic really well, and he creates space really well for those around him."
Kempsey stepped it up a notch last year to make the finals before bowing out of the competition.
Looking ahead to the upcoming season, Fuller emphasised the importance of consistency and improvement, particularly among the team's younger players.
"I think towards the back end of last year's season, we dipped a little bit in terms of our consistency and effort," Fuller said. "I thought, maybe, that was because of our inexperience.
"Hopefully, the guys will be better from that exposure of finals footy and they now understand what level they need to maintain throughout the competition."
Fuller said he was confident in the team's ability to rise to the challenge this season.
"The young guys have got to step up now," he said.
"We have a really good core group who have come through the junior ranks, and the opportunity is there for them to really step up this year and hopefully go to another level."
With three weeks remaining before the start of the season, Fuller said the team was focused on fine-tuning their game and building on the positives from the trial matches.
"We were happy with the effort from all of the players, and we've now got three weeks to fine-tune a few bits and pieces before the season kicks off."
