After a changing of the guard at the end of 2024, Eastwood missed the Shute Shield finals for the first time since 2008 last season.

But rookie coach Dave Telfer got plenty out of his first season in charge and seems confident Eastwood will move back into premiership contention this year in their final season at spiritual home TG Millner.

Overview with Dave Telfer: 

“I’m definitely a lot more confident in terms of where we’re at heading into this year,” Telfer told Rugby News. 

“Last year, there were a lot of unknowns in my first year as head coach, whereas this year we’re a lot more confident in what we’re doing and we’ve lifted the intensity in our training. I’d say the club as a whole seems a lot more settled and everyone is really looking forward to the year ahead. 

“When I look at the difference between coaching grade and colts, there is obviously a big lift in the physicality and also in the consistency in how players are able to execute and perform. 

“We lost three or four games by one point last year and they pretty much all came down to a little moment where we lacked consistency. 

“The ability to train at a high intensity and then perform at a high level is probably the biggest difference between grade and colts and when you look at our Eastwood group, that’s one of the main things we’re trying to change from last year to this year. 

“We’ve got a new look group with some colts pushing through and some good recruits. It always takes a bit of time to gel, but I’m confident in the group we’ve got together. 

“I think we’ve got a good balance this year where the majority of our grade playing group is aged 20 to 24 and most of them have come through our colts program in the last three or four years. 

“Then we’ve identified the need to recruit some more experienced players to show these guys what it takes to succeed at a high level. 

“We won the Kiama Sevens a few weeks ago and that was a great boost to the group. I was a bit nervous heading down there with only one forward in the squad, but we had enough pace to make up for it.”

2024: 9th (6 wins, 12 losses)

Ins: Lachie Albert (Southland – NPC), Jayden Henderson (NZ), Max Stewart (Sabbatical), Jhy Legg (Western Force), Nick Henderson (NZ), Bradley Roderick-Evans (Wales), Dylan Nelson (Ireland), Cole Spinks (NZ), Isaac Crowe (Gungahlin), Jackson Clarke (UQ), Ronan Kelly (UK), Lleyten Tautua (West Harbour), Liam Rogerson (Melbourne), Brian Tuilagi (UK), Xavier Degei (Southern Districts), Sean Corrigan (NZ), Elliot McPhun (UK)

Outs: Ben Dalton (Manly), Phil Talaileva (Hunter), Matt Minogue (Norths), Jimmy Hokafonu (MLR), Tim Anstee (MLR), Lachlan Frean (Southern Districts)

What sort of footy will we see from Eastwood this season? 

“I’ve always been a coach that wants players to play with freedom and with the ability to play and express themselves in attack,” Telfer said. 

“So one thing I keep drilling in to the players is that we want them to have the confidence to make a call. The last thing you want someone to do is to freeze up in a key moment. 

“We’re going to play some attractive footy. I think we’re going to be a side that will have a very quick, fast and skilful backline, similar to last year, but we’ll also have a bit more experience in our forwards. 

“We’ve put a big emphasis on getting Eastwood’s identity back around the set piece.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“In the forwards, Daniel Stovold has had some injury worries over the last few years but he’s also been in and around the Aussie 7s program where he picked up plenty of explosiveness. 

“He’s had the best off season he’s had since he finished colts so I’m excited to see what he can do off the back of that.

“In the backs, we’re also hoping to get Jimmy McGregor and Hadley Tonga back once the Aussie 7s season finishes up and I think they’ll make a real impact at Shute Shield level.

“JL Bacon is another player to watch. He has had his best off-season since he finished colts at the end of 2022. He went straight from colts to debuting for the Aussie 7s side a couple of months later. But this off-season he has put on some bulk and has all the attributes and work ethic to progress to the next level.”

Which two teams will play in this year’s grand final and why? 

“I’d love it to be us and Easts,” Telfer said. 

“In our last season at TG Millner, that has a nice feel for it for both clubs and the personnel at them.”