Hunter Wildfires coach Scott Coleman believes his side were just about to hit their straps last season when the competition was cancelled after 10 rounds. 

In their first season in the competition, the Wildfires won three of 10 matches before Covid ended the season, but finished their 2021 campaign with back to back wins over Western Sydney and Manly. 

“I think we learnt pretty quickly that there are no easy games in the Shute Shield,” Coleman told Rugby News. 

“The ruck speed and the overall speed of play is really quick and we’ve been working hard to improve those parts of our game. 

“Physically, I thought we were up for it last year but we didn’t have the fitness or the speed of play that is required.

“We might not set the world on fire right away this year but I do think we’ll get better week after week and we want to be in the top four come finals time. Anything can happen from there.”

The Wildfires were given just three months to recruit and prepare a squad for the 2021 Shute Shield season. This year, they’ve had an extra long preseason to get ready and have enticed a number of local juniors to return home for their second crack at the competition. 

Ben Wood, Issac Ulberg and Jack Young have all returned after spending recent seasons at Manly and Jayden Duffy returns from Gordon. 

Rob Puli’uvea has also returned home after spending the best part of the last decade playing in Brisbane and France, as has former Scarlets prop Dylan Evans.

“That’s what this whole program is about. We want to give local kids in Newcastle a pathway to play without leaving for Sydney. 

“We don’t want to stop kids from moving away, but we want to give them a choice and show that they don’t have to leave to pursue their rugby.”

Off the field, the club has also formed a partnership with University of Newcastle and train on campus three nights a week. 

“They’ve got two and a half playing fields, a high performance gym and a 50 metre indoor swimming pool. The facilities are first class.”

Coleman has planned an extra long preseason this year with as many trial games planned as possible in the hope of building continuity within the squad. 

“We had a trial against Manly last week washed out and that wasn’t ideal, but we’ve already had a hit out against the Waratahs, Two Blues and West Harbour and we’ve got a few more trials to come. 

“We’ve got to start the season well because we won’t have six or seven Super Rugby players returning halfway through the season. 

“That also breeds confidence and competitiveness within the squad and makes the club a better place to be around so we want to be winning games in those first five rounds. 

Hunter start the year with clashes against Gordon, Western Sydney, Eastwood, Sydney Uni and West Harbour.