By MARK CASHMAN

Keeping the game viable in western Sydney is a vexed question at the best of times and Penrith head coach John Muggleton just feels that the Emus are heading into the fight for their survival with not one but two hands tied behind their backs.

The Emus are a month away from the start of the Shute Shield and the realist that Muggleton has always been says that the up tick that everyone one is looking for is still some time away.

“It’s a tough slog that’s for sure,” Muggleton told Rugby News.

“We had good numbers at training last week but the reality is that many of the good players that we brought through last year have been poached by other clubs.

“Four have taken up offers at Warringah (headed by handy flyhalf Dean Blore) and there are another couple who have moved to the Two Blues and there is no guarantee that we will lose others during the season.

“On top of all that we are working without a general manager at the moment and while the board and the coaching staff are trying to cover all the bases that attention to detail and urgency of getting stuff done at this time of the year cannot always be there.

“We are basically just doing everything ourselves and we need some help.

“If that sort of help is something like helping to fund a GM and development officer based at Penrith then what we are able to offer here is going to a lot more effective.

“It doesn’t matter where it comes from – NSW Rugby or Sydney Rugby Union or a private benefactor – we just need that sort of help.

“And if we don’t get that sort of support I can’t see a viable future of us.”

Muggleton does see some light at the end of the tunnel with the club’s outstanding Under 17 side transitioning up into the colts this year.

“But they aren’t going to be ready to play senior footy straight away so we probably need two maybe three years before they make an impact in grade,” he said.

“There is some serious talent in that group but they just need time together.”

There have been additions to the playing group and Muggleton has been able to lure Emmanuel Maliko from the Two Blues.

Maliko was in the wider squad for the Australian Under 20s in 2019 and also played in the Combined States side at the end of high school in 2018.

The next month though will be critical for their season.

That involves a trial against Wests in Canberra and also a hit out against Southern Districts and lots of skill and fitness work during the week.

At this stage Muggleton is unsure whether the Emus will be able to field the required three senior grades and two colts grades.

“We’ll just have to see how we land with that but the next few weeks will be crucial for the manner in which we start the season,” he said.

IMAGE: AJF PHOTOGRAPHY