In his first season coaching first grade at Rat Park, coach Josh Holmes took Warringah from 11th to a preliminary final.

This year, the 2017 premiership winner wants his side to push even further and bring the Shute Shield back to Warringah for the first time since he did it as a player, almost a decade ago.

Overview with Josh Holmes: 

“We have tried to put last season behind us,” Holmes told Rugby News ahead of his second year in charge of Warringah’s first grade side. 

“You’ve got to reflect on it and we did. We had a good season but not quite a great season and although we were in a position to go on with it, we fell short and that really hurt everyone at the club. 

“We’ve learnt a lot from last season though and we’ve trained hard throughout the pre-season to get us ready for the season ahead. 

“You can definitely see a change in the mindset from the players from 12 months ago to now. This time last year, there were a lot of unknowns but now we’ve definitely got the belief as a team and as a club that we aren’t just looking to compete, we want to win. 

“The boys have plenty of belief and the club is tracking in the right direction. We’ve also got our colts program running really well which is setting us up for the future as well. 

“The players are driving a lot of our standards at the moment and that is led by Marrsy (captain Ben Marr). He’s probably the most competitive guy I’ve met and he wants to win in everything he does. 

“He also bleeds green and white and his commitment is a great example to the younger players at the club. 

“It makes my life a lot easier when you’ve got a guy like that leading the charge.”

2024: Preliminary finalists (lost to Eastern Suburbs 38-34)

Ins: Haitoni Hafoka (West Harbour), Jaiden Christian (Brothers – QLD), Teki Latu (Moana Pasifika), Phil Potgieter (Southern Districts), Malachi Ti’a (Wellington), Jock Hansson (Noosa Dolphins), Keelan Whitman (Wellington), Kemara Hauiti- Parapara (New Zealand), LeBron Naea (Wests – QLD), Charlie Tupu (Wests – QLD), Jackson Ropata (Southern Districts), Xavier Beks (Canterbury), Tom Wheen (Sydney Uni).

Outs: Tonga Tangitau (West Harbour), Conor Hickey (Gordon), Dane Terekia (Wests – QLD), Max Girdler (retired), Komiti Tuilagi (retired). 

What sort of rugby will we see from Warringah this year? 

“Last year we brought in a system right across the club and we wanted every team playing the same way. It took a fair bit of time for everyone to get it, but it meant players knew what they were doing regardless of what team they were playing in. 

“This year, we’ve been looking to evolve and improve those systems. 

“We are working hard on our skills and on being more connected and we want to play with even more skill, so that we can throw punches at teams in a bunch of different ways.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“I think our No.9 Ben Fuhiniu had a really good season last year in his first year at the club. 

“He’s 23 now and has plenty of X-factor and I think he’s a player who is ready to go to the next level. 

“He was probably one of our best defenders last year, he is really dangerous around the ruck and he’s been really impressive throughout pre-season. 

“He’s also got an Australian passport, so hopefully he can get on the radar of a few teams over here.”

Which two teams are going to play in this year’s grand final? 

“I think every coach is expecting another super strong and tight competition,” Holmes said. 

“But when you look at the depth and the quality that Easts have, they’re the team to beat. When you add in the young pool of talent that they can pick from coming out of their colts system, they are well set up and it’s up to us to match them and get to their level so that we can compete.”