By Jon Geddes

THE Shute Shield coaching carousel has taken another turn with Billy Melrose to step down from his role with Gordon at the end of the season.

The competition’s longest serving coach told the Highlanders’ players of his decision in the dressing room following Saturday’s 31-26 win over Warringah at Rat Park.

He is the second high-profile and experienced premiership coach in the past week to announce he will moving on after Ben Batger revealed he is departing Eastwood at the end of the 2023 campaign.

And the merry-go-round will continue – Gordon and Eastwood certainly won’t be the last Shute Shield clubs with new men in charge next year.

“I said to the boys this will be my last rodeo,” Melrose told Rugby News after the game.

“At the end of the day I’ve loved my time at Gordon, we’ve done well and I think I’ve had some good success here.                   

“I’ve decided my time as a Shute Shield head coach has come to an end and I’ll look to do something else.

“I didn’t say I’ve retired as a coach.

“I’ve had a great period and would like to see if there is an opportunity back in the pro level potentially.

“I haven’t been able to do that for a number of years, so we’ll see what happens.”  

It is a credit to Melrose that he has survived and thrived in the competition for as long as he has when his contemporaries have generally come and gone quickly.     

“The challenges in Shute Shield are many and varied, believe me,” he said.

And Melrose had an ominous message for Shute Shield rivals as the finals approach.

“If we get our people on the field, we are one of the teams that can do damage – and the other teams know it,” he said.      

LOOK WHO’S BACK

GORDON’S title hopes have received a big boost following the surprise return of the classy former Brumbies and Force five-eighth Rodney Iona against the Rats.

He arrived back to Australia last Monday after playing with New Orleans in the Major League Rugby competition and was staying with his parents in Melbourne when the old maestro Melrose got in touch.

“I was looking forward to coming home just chilling with mum and dad,” Iona said.  

“I got the call on Tuesday, drove up from Melbourne and got here on Wednesday night.”

Iona used his time on the trip up Sydney learning Gordon’s plays before having one training run with the team on Thursday night.

“Luckily Billy is a good coach and he simplified everything for me, sending me a couple of key points in  the playbook,” Iona said.

With such limited preparation, Iona was always going to be a bit rusty at times, but the seasoned back will only get better in the run-up to the finals.

Melrose said Iona’s arrival was a timely bonus for Gordon who have been without a number of key personnel in recent weeks.

And Iona has a point to prove when he missed selection in the initial Samoan World Cup squad after playing in tournament qualifiers and the Pacific Nations Cup.

“It’s obviously unfortunate, but the World Cup hasn’t started yet and if anyone is injured I will be ready to go,” he said.

In what would be huge news for Gordon, the club expects dynamic Waratahs’ hooker Mahe Vailanu will be back for Saturday’s game with West Harbour at Chatswood Oval.                 

THE BIG W

SATURDAY’S win gave Gordon a much-needed lift in confidence following consecutive losses to Manly, Randwick, Norths and Eastwood.

But they had to stave off a very spirited second half comeback by Warringah – sparked by super sub replacement  backrower “Slammin” Sam Ward and livewire hooker Wes Thomas – after trailing 31-7 at halftime.

“The competition is so tight, we started to play a bit nervous and the Rats loosened up and played some good footy – at the end they were hitting like steam trains,” Melrose said.

“But we get to breathe again for another week.”