Warringah’s 2023 season was capped by a breakthrough colts premiership, but the grade program had a much tougher season.

Departing coach Mike Ruthven was clearly disappointed but remained optimistic for his side in the future.

Overview with Mike Ruthven: 

“From a grade perspective and looking at the areas where I was accountable, obviously it was a bitterly disappointing season,” Ruthven told Rugby News. 

“We underachieved and certainly didn’t meet the expectations that we had on ourselves. We worked really hard during the preseason to put ourselves in a position to compete and win this year and we weren’t able to do that, which was really disappointing. 

“It’s never just one thing that goes wrong. It’s always a number of things that need to go right for you to achieve success but ultimately, the buck stops with me. 

“Despite the injuries and some of the challenges we had, I thought we still had a group who were good enough to do better than what we did and I couldn’t get the best out of them. 

“It was fantastic to see our colts program perform so well 

“They were able to recruit some talented players and it will be important for the club to hold on to those players and transition them into grade.

“Then there were some really good local kids like Lachie Cruickshank, Jake Barnabas, Joel Cards. There’s a really good bunch of local juniors who have come through the system and hopefully they will progress on and form the nucleus of a really strong grade program. 

“The challenge for the club now will be to find a way to sustain that success in colts.”

Which of your players do you think will progress in the years to come? 

“I’ll be really excited to watch Conor Hickey’s development over the coming years. He had an unfortunate injury at a time when he was in and around the Aussie 7s squad, so I’m hopeful he can get back into that mix,” Ruthven continued. 

“Wes Thomas wouldn’t look out of place at hooker in any Super Rugby program. It’s exciting to think of what we could produce if he got in the right environment. 

“Witikia Rees-Hatu probably didn’t play as much first grade as he would have liked this year but he’s a really talented kid and I think he’ll be better for the experience he gained in 2023. 

“He’s a good footballer, he’s got a great work ethic and he’s a really talented kid so hopefully he can have a big preseason and take a step forward next year.”

What can we expect in 2024? 

“It will be another really competitive season. The gap has really narrowed between the best and worst sides in the competition and any side is capable of winning on any given day. 

“I can’t see any reason why it won’t be another highly competitive season and I’m confident that Warringah will bounce back.”