After playing finals footy in 2023 for the first time since returning to the Shute Shield, Hunter lost a handful of star players to professional contracts overseas and struggled to rediscover their form from the previous season.

The Newcastle club has signed former Waratahs coach Darren Coleman as Director of Rugby to work alongside his brother, Scott, and appear eager to take another big step forward in 2025.

Overview with Scott Coleman:

“It was a really disappointing season on all fronts,” Coleman told Rugby News.

“We had a bit of momentum after playing finals in 2023 and thought we’d turned the corner to an extent, but it didn’t pan out as we had planned.

“We were cruelled by a few injuries, but every club has injuries so that can’t be an excuse. We need to build out depth and our connection with the local clubs to help with injury hurdles moving forward.

“It’s hard to pinpoint anything that was drastically different between 2023 and 2024. Maybe a few guys were a bit stale and I probably need to have a look within myself at what I could have done differently to avoid that happening again.

“We’ll freshen up the program and make a few changes. We’ve also got Darren (Coleman) joining us and that’s been a breath of fresh air.

“He obviously brings a lot of professionalism with him after spending three years coaching at the next level and he’s already been working with a lot of our players.

“If our guys want to get to the next level, well we’ve got a coach here now that knows exactly what it takes and can help them get there.

“From there, it’s up to the individual to put in the work if they really want to do it.

“We’ve formed a partnership with the University of Newcastle and utilise some great facilities there.

“We’ve also been working out of (Newcastle Knights NRL ground) McDonald Jones Stadium and doing our reviews and recovery in the Knights facilities every Monday, which has been great as well.

“Our off field stuff is really starting to step ahead and we’re putting together a strong platform here to create a pathway for country kids to develop into professional rugby players without having to move to Sydney.

“They can do it from Newcastle where things are a little more budget friendly and closer to a country environment.”

What is the focus at Hunter between now and round one next year? 

 “We currently in an 11 week ‘off season’ block where the guys are recovering and working on our programs in their own space,” Coleman explained.

“We’ll come back together again on the 16th of November and do a four week block before Christmas on skill development.

“Then we’ll be back into it again on the 13th of January and will start working on the team stuff from there and try to reshape our game a little bit and add some new elements.

“We’ve retained the majority of players that we wanted to keep and then we’ll look to recruit to fill a few holes in certain areas.”

Which of your players do you expect to push on next year? 

“Bo Abra has a lot of potential and had a solid year this year,” the coach said.

“Tommy Watson has picked up a deal in England with Chinnor in the Championship. They’ve been promoted after winning the division below last year so we’re really excited to see Tommy get an opportunity.

“He’s only signed a one-year deal but I think once they get a closer look at him, they’ll lock him up pretty quickly.

“It’s a bummer to lose him, but it’s great to see him push on to play professionally from the Wildfires.”

What can we expect in 2025? 

“I think the competition will get tighter again, if that’s even possible,” Coleman said.

“The last three years have been fairly incredible. Anyone can beat anyone on their day and I think this year’s grand final was probably one of the best I’ve seen.

“We want to be challenging again. We’ve got a hunger to get back into the semis and push to win a premiership.

“But we also want to show much greater club depth and be more competitive in second grade and colts. I’m expecting big improvement out of our colts program next year.”