While he hasn’t got to experience the sunny Eastern Suburbs’ summer that he was promised, new Easts coach Simon Kneebone hasn’t had too much else to complain about since arriving at Woollahra Oval in November last year.

“It’s a really impressive club and the facilities at Woollahra are fantastic,” he told Rugby News.

“Our first training session was on a Thursday night and I remember looking back towards the club as training finished and there were 100-150 people having a meal with their kids, all having a good time.

“There was a really good energy to the place and that was pretty inspiring to arrive to.”

The former Crusaders Academy coach, who also led Seattle to a Major League Rugby title in 2019, has inherited a different looking Beasties group in 2022.