Newly appointed Randwick coach Shaun Berne said he’s excited about the challenge of picking up where premiership winning coach Steve Hoiles left off at Coogee Oval.

Berne played alongside Hoiles in Randwick’s 2004 Shute Shield premiership winning side and watched on proudly as the Galloping Greens broke a 19-year premiership drought to claim the Shute Shield title last year.

The former flyhalf/centre has signed on for the next two seasons at Coogee and said he’s excited about the challenge ahead.

“I don't know if I would have come back into rugby coaching for just any club but Randwick sort of pulls at the heartstrings a little bit,” Berne told Rugby News.

“I've got a long history here, my family live in the area, my Dad played at the club and lots of my mates played at Randwick as well.

“I've spent a lot of years down here so it's good to be able to come back and get involved.”

After playing 142 professional matches for the Waratahs, Bath and Italian club Calvisano, Berne has spent the best part of the last decade coaching professional rugby and said he’s enjoying the transition back into grassroots rugby.

“The culture at the club is amazing,” the coach said.

"I spoke to one of our guys the other day who said he’d moved here from overseas and has been at the club for 10 years now

“He said Randwick was now like his family away from home.

"When rugby can have an effect like that on someone, I think that's awesome and lots of people have done a lot of good things to put the club in the position it’s in today.”

Berne said he was impressed with Randwick’s 2024 campaign, which was ended by a red hot Northern Suburbs' side in the preliminary final, and said he didn’t need to reinvent the wheel at Coogee.