Newly appointed Gordon first grade coach Harry Fehily said he’ll look to simplify the Highlanders game plan in 2024 in an attempt to push deeper into the Shute Shield playoffs.  

Fehily has been an assistant coach at Gordon since 2021 under veteran mentor Billy Melrose and admitted he looks back on the 2023 season with mixed feelings. 

Gordon fell just short against eventual premiers Randwick in the opening week of this year’s finals series, but had several players sign professional rugby contracts on the back of strong seasons with the Stags. 

“Ultimately, it was a frustrating end to the season,” Fehily told Rugby News. 

“We probably lacked a bit of depth throughout the year and we were found out a little when we had a few injuries back to back that impacted our ability to pick a consistent team.

“While we didn’t achieve the team success we wanted, we were thrilled to see Thomas Maka and Ola Tauelangi sign with Moana Pasifika. That’s proof that some of what we’re doing at Gordon is working.  

“It’s a real selling point for the club now. If you look at the last few years we’ve had Thomas and Ola this year, last year we had Reece MacDonald push on to higher levels. 

“It’s great for the club because it helps retain and attract other ambitious players which ultimately improves the quality of your playing roster.” 

While Maka and Tauelangi’s absence in 2024 will be difficult to overcome, the rookie coach said he’s looking forward to what he described as an “interesting challenge” at Chatswood next year.

“Your job is to help develop players to go on and play professional footy, then at the same time you’ve got to assemble a competitive and successful side to play in a really strong competition.  

“It’s a delicate balance but an exciting one none the less.”

Fehily said his immediate focus was on building depth in both the coaching and playing ranks at Gordon. 

After a number of lean years at Chatswood, the club recruited heavily in 2019 and 2020, which led to multiple premierships across the grades.  

Since the club’s first grade premiership in 2020 though, the majority of first grade debutants at Gordon have come through the club’s colts or lower grade programs and Fehily said he was keen to see that continue in the years to come.  

“We’re really keen on having coaches right throughout the club that are on the same page and are able to help players in all grades, right through to fourth grade and colts, develop into better players so that they can push up the grades and on to bigger and better things. 

“Ultimately, you can’t keep recruiting at the top. You can patch things up and fill some holes, but to be successful you need to be developing players through colts and up through the grades. 

“I’m working closely with Josh Mitchell in colts to build a long term and sustainable pipeline of talented players.”

Fehily spent seven seasons coaching under Billy Melrose at several Shute Shield clubs and said he was thankful for everything he picked up from the veteran coach. 

Despite that, he said he was keen to do things a little differently at Gordon ahead of the 2024 season.

“Billy had an incredibly close relationship with his players and he really understood them emotionally. 

“That allowed him to manage their emotional threshold throughout the year and he always knew when to push a message or when to lay off.  

“He showed the players he cared about them and that helped him to get the players to buy in to a cause greater than themselves.  

“He’s also a forward thinker when it comes to the attacking side of the game and he was always trying to think outside of the box. 

“I think I’ll take some of his attacking methodologies but I think I’m simplify things a little. 

“I’ll keep an open mind when it comes to how we play with the ball but I think this younger group will benefit if I can simplify our game plan a little heading into next year.”