Warringah coach Mike Ruthven wants his side to become the most competitive team in the competition in 2023. 

The Rats were one of the form teams of the competition through the early stages of last year’s regular season but ran out of puff midway through 2022 and won just two of their last seven matches. 

“We’ve been working hard on our capacity to compete and to compete for long periods,” Ruthven told Rugby News. 

“Tactically, there are a few little things that we’ve tweaked that we think will give us a bit of a point of difference and that will make out style of play a little different to what most people would expect from a Warringah side. 

“I don’t particularly want to elaborate on that but what I can say is that we’ve been really lucky with the continuity that we’ve maintained in our playing and coaching group and everyone has a thorough understanding of who we are and how we want to play. 

“Because of that, we’re in a position where we can tinker with a few things and that’s exciting.”

Warringah lost to West Harbour in the final round of the regular season to drop out of the top four, then were beaten by Gordon in the opening week of the playoffs in an elimination semi final. 

Despite that, Ruthven said the focus on competition was not a reaction to last year’s disappointing finish. 

“It’s something that we already do and we already do it well but for this team to take the next step, we think we need to be the most competitive team in the competition and that’s what we’re working towards.”

The Rats farewelled backs Ben Marr and Ben Woollett to the Australian Sevens program and the English Championship respectively last year, but Ruthven said there were plenty of young players ready to fill the shoes of his former stars. 

“I’ve been really impressed with the colts that have come into grade over summer,” the coach said. 

“They’ve all taken on the opportunity and have been working really hard which is credit to the culture our colts coaches have built over recent years. They were ready to go on day one and have put themselves in a really strong position at this time of the year. 

“Witika Rees-Hatu at flyhalf got a few opportunities with first grade last year. He’s a really talented kid but I think I’ve been most impressed with his work ethic off the field. He’s worked really hard in the gym, he watches a lot of footy and he’s really keen to learn and improve. 

“He’s developing a really good rugby IQ which is so important in the flyhalf position. 

“Oskar Enasio, Hilton Ovenden, Unga Latu have all impressed. 

“We’ve also got two young front rowers, Joey La Torraca and Lachie Hetherington, who unfortunately have been injured during preseason. 

“They haven’t been able to do a lot but we’re hopeful that they’ll both be back in full training as soon as possible because we think they’ll both play an important role at the club now and in the years to come.”

Warringah open their 2023 campaign at home against Randwick before back to back clashes against last year’s grand finalists Sydney Uni and Gordon in a tricky start to the season. 

“I haven’t heard a lot from the other clubs to be honest but I’m expecting it to be a really tight competition just as it was last year,” Ruthven said. 

“As a young coach, I’m excited to see so many other young head coaches in the Shute Shield and I think they’ll all add something different. 

“We’ll all be super hungry and eager to do well and that should make for an exciting season.”