By MARK CASHMAN

West Harbour coach Mark Gudmunson had time to reflect on the year ahead for the Pirates at the Shute Shield’s annual coming together and early season muscle flexing at the Kiama Sevens last weekend.

“Six of my first graders from last year were there – two playing for the Two Blues, two for Norths and another two for Manly,” Gudmunson told Rugby News this week.

“They have all gone for what they see as better opportunities at other clubs so it’s been a bit of strange off-season.

“We obviously talked through the situation with each of these guys but at the end of the day we didn’t want people at the club with one foot in and another looking for the exit door.

“So as I talk to you I’m happy with the group that is coming together and preparing for the start of the Shute Shield.

“It’s a different landscape out there for this generation of players and they are always looking for opportunities to better themselves and their footy.

“Back in the day players would stick around through the hard times and try and build something better, but the playing life of your average Shute Shielder is short and they want to position themselves for best effect.”

The major loss in Gudmunson’s mind is James Turner who has headed over to Northern Suburbs.

“Turner was the leading try scorer in the Shute Shield last year (he scored 12 in a team that finished 10th) and that will be hard to replace,” Gudmunson added.

“But we have hung on to our forward pack and that it must be said was one of our strengths last year.”

The big in for the Pirates though is on their coaching staff with Stephen James coming on board again as a skills coach.

“He will do a couple of sessions a week with us and I am sure that his coaching and up beat attitude will make a hell of difference,” Gudmunson said.

“We were hoping that he would have the time to work with us a bit last year but his commitments elsewhere made that hard, so it’s good that he can come back to his club and help out.

“Steve’s the best skills coach going around in any code at the moment and I am sure that his presence will be a good pipeline to any talent that is about looking for an opportunity.”

James, who played six Test between 1987 and 1989, has worked with the West Tigers and the Bulldogs (where he was tasked with overhauling their attacking structure) in recent times and in the early part of this year has been doing skills drills with the North Queensland Cowboys.

He’s a big stickler for breaking down the most simple skills and making sure that players don’t move on without mastering them.

Other new faces on board include Justin Masters, an outside back from the Melbourne Rebels, Taylor Atkinson, a fullback who had time with the Hunter Wildfires last year and Max Ma’a from Norths.

One of the more interesting new faces is Isaiah Leota, the son of Manu Samoa hooker Trevor, and he gets first crack at filling Dion Spice’s No.9 jersey.

Looking further up the tree Gudmunson isn’t surprised that young Carlo Tizzano has got his chance with the Waratahs in Super Rugby AU.

“Not in the least bit surprised that he has made an impact with Michael Hooper away in Japan,” he said.

“He’s a real player of the future and once he finds his feet at that level he will be something special.

“Last year he got injured in our game against Eastwood early in the season and we didn’t really get the benefit of his presence.

“So if he comes back at some stage he will have an impact as will Sam Wykes when he gets his body right.”

Like many of his coaching colleagues Gudmunson believes the Shute Shield will really ramp up at the end of May.

“It’s not getting any easier and there will a lot of great talent filtering back into the clubs at that time of the year,” he said.

“We see our set piece as a strength and playing for field position will be important throughout the competition.

“That said we are going to bring something new to each game and each club. Looking forward to it.”

IMAGE: JB PHOTOGRAPHY