After taking over as head coach midway through last season, Ben Rutherford has had a full summer to work with his troops ahead of the 2026 season.

The Pirates have also welcomed back Cameron Orr on a full-time basis who has already had an impact at Concord on and off the field.

Overview with Ben Rutherford:

“I’ve been happy with our trial form, we’ve been kicking along nicely and slowly building,” Rutherford told Rugby News.

“We’re not going to turn things around overnight, but we’re chipping away at it.”

“Last year I ended up taking on the head coach role halfway through the season. From my point of view, getting the opportunity to see the group up close while running the show is completely different.

“It’s very difficult to change things on the go mid-season. I tried to adjust a few things without reinventing the wheel, but it didn’t necessarily feel like my team at that stage.

“Now, after a full preseason, looking at retention and recruitment and bringing a group together that you want, working towards a goal, it feels very different.

“I’d coached first grade before as an assistant, but being a head coach is a different job altogether.

“Last year wasn’t easy, we were unlucky at times, but I thought the group showed a lot of ticker.

“It would’ve been very easy for them to put the cue in the rack, especially when we weren’t playing for finals, but they fronted up every week, had a crack and never really dropped off.”

2025: 12th

Ins: Afa Moleli, Kaden Duguid (Canada), Sione Taufui (Wildfires), Orly Hatton-Ward (Randwick), Cam Orr, Isaiah Kolopeaua, Eamon McCoola (Melbourne), Pete Samu (Waratahs), Jack Debreczeni (Waratahs).

Outs: Taine Rush (Rugby League), Jack Sheridan (Rugby League), Sau Ofahengaue (Manly), Ale Aho (Moana Pasifika), Trent Luka (NZ), Duane Aholelei (Easts – Brisbane), Santana Marshall-Baker (Easts), Ambrose Curtis, Morris Clementson, James Faiva (Manly), Brad Burton (NZ), Cooper Hansen, Liam Lord (Two Blues).

What sort of rugby will we see from West Harbour this year? 

“There’s no real secret around set piece, we’re pretty strong there,” the coach said.

“We want to have a dominant scrum and our lineout was the best in the competition last year, so the expectation is that we drive that again.

We’ve also done some work on our maul to make that more effective.

“But in all honesty, the biggest focus for us in the off-season has been fitness and defence.

“It’s no secret we leaked points last year and that killed us, so we’ve put a big emphasis on communication and organisation in defence.

“And then fitness, but not just running for the sake of it, we’ve been trying to get properly rugby fit.

“We want to stay in the fight longer. Teams know West Harbour are physical, but we’re trying to change that perception that after 50 minutes we fall away.

“If we’ve got more in the tank and can stay in the contest, that puts pressure back on other teams to come up with something different instead of just waiting us out.”

Player(s) to watch: 

“Cam Orr is our captain and one of the most impressive young blokes I’ve worked with. He leads by example and sets really high standards,” Rutherford said of his returning forward.

“I’m also excited to see Onehunga Havili Kaufusi, our No.8, from last year. I think he had the most runs in the Shute Shield and probably had to do a lot of it on his own at times.

“That shouldn’t be the case this year, so he looks a bit more reinvigorated with a few guys around him.

“In the centres, Eamon McCoola and Sioni Taufui have built a nice combination pretty quickly, which has been good to watch.

“Hunter Hannaford is another one, he missed last year through injury but has come back fresh and ready to go.”

Who will West Harbour play in this year’s grand final? 

“In an ideal world, we’d be playing one of the teams that finished down the bottom with us last year and really shake things up,” Rutherford said.

“It’d be nice to see a genuine underdog win a Shute Shield premiership vs similar teams every year – highlighting a genuine spread of talent across the competition.”

“Who that is, I’m not sure. For us it’s just about week-to-week improvement and focusing on what we can control.

“The more we focus on our own game and how we prepare, the better position we’ll be in.”