New coach Cam Treloar looking to ride wave of optimism at West Harbour
After winning two Shute Shield titles on either side of a successful professional rugby career, rookie West Harbour coach Cam Treloar arrived at Concord late last year riding a wave of optimism.
As the final touches were put on West Harbour’s new state of the art facility at Concord towards the end of last season, the Pirates also found form on the field, losing just one of their final five matches in 2022.
“It’s a really exciting time at West Harbour now that we are back at Concord, the facilities are unbelievable,” Treloar told Rugby News.
“I also think we’ve got an exciting playing group that finished last season really well and hopefully we can pick up where they left off this year.”
Treloar, a two metre tall red headed lock, spent 10 seasons playing professional rugby in Australia, Italy and France and was lured back to Rat Park after retiring to add experience to Warringah’s 2017 Shute Shield winning side.
He transitioned into coaching in 2018 and worked as forwards coach at the Rats for the past four seasons before jumping at the chance to take charge at West Harbour.
“I sort of fell into coaching to be honest. I probably selfishly got into it at the start because I missed being around rugby after I retired but I quickly realised that I really enjoy it.
“I think I get just as competitive coaching a match as I used to when I was playing, but fortunately I’m no where near as sore in the days after it.”
Treloar tasted Shute Shield success at Warringah in 2005 as a young aspiring lock, then again in 2017 as an experienced veteran.
He said there were obvious similarities in the two premiership sides.
“The common denominator in both of those premierships at Warringah is that they both came on the back of really successful colts programs, with good colts transitioning into grade and having experience playing with one another.
“Strengthening the colts pathway is a big focus for us at West Harbour.
“Our colts coach, Josh Brae, has done a great job. Where before we were struggling to get one colts side on the park, last year we had three sides training and playing every week. Our first grade colts also made the finals last season and we’ve kept most of that group together.
“Building that pathway is really important because we can’t just rely on a new group of players every season and expect results straight away.
“It also helps build the culture at a club. There are the X’s and O’s of rugby and everyone is more or less on the same page across the competition.
“But what differentiates the teams is the buy in between the playing and coaching groups. You’ve got to find an identity as a group and make sure everyone is on the same page.
“I met with 40-50 West Harbour players before preseason started and almost every single answer was different when I asked them who is West Harbour and what do we stand for?
“We’re working really hard on changing that at the moment and I think we’ll all hopefully be on the same page by round one.”
While Treloar admitted there is still a lot of work to do, he said he felt fortunate to arrive at the club at some a promising time.
“I’m amazed by the commitment of the volunteer group at the club. A few years ago, the club was on its knees and they’ve brought it back to be in a really good place, highlighted by the new facilities.
“When you’re building from that base, there’s a really good opportunity to create something special and I think we’ve got the opportunity now to do that at West Harbour.
“We’ve more or less kept the entire playing group from last year. Kuku Ma’afu, has retired but I’m hoping he gets the itch and wants to come back at some stage. Our entire recruitment strategy has been built around adding depth.
“We haven’t look to poach first graders from other teams or fly in superstars from overseas, we want to build depth because there’s always been a reasonably strong core XV at the club, but when injuries hit there wasn’t the same quality coming in so we’ve tried to rectify that.
“I think there will be genuine competition for spots this season.”
West Harbour have long been considered one of the sleeping giants of Sydney club rugby and successes on the field have been few and far between.
But Treloar seems confident that the tide may be turning halfway up the Parramatta River, an area that boasts strong junior rugby clubs and schools within its catchment and sits solidly on fertile sponsorship soil.
“We’ve been losing local players to stronger clubs for years now and we’ve probably carried a bit of a chip on our shoulder by thinking we’re a small club.
“But that’s not the reality.
“We’re actually a really strong club with plenty of resources and a lot of good local clubs and schools to draw players from.
“We need to give young players or players that have left the club something to look at so that they realise that the grass isn’t actually greener at other clubs. In the long run, we want to reverse the trend and have young players wanting to come to us.”
As for this season, Treloar said there’s still a long way to go before the Pirates host Western Sydney at Concord in round one on the first weekend in April.
“I’ve probably set some goals for the season internally in my own head. But genuinely, I couldn’t tell you one player that is a lock to start in first grade in round one just yet.
“I have no idea at this point and I think that’s exciting for the players because I come in with no preconceived ideas on anybody.
“What they put between January 16 and April 1 will determine what grade they play in round one.”