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As the players take a well deserved break over the June long weekend, we spoke to all 12 Shute Shield coaches and asked them what they would grade their side’s start to the season.

Plus we asked them what part of their game they are looking to improve in the remaining rounds and what needs to happen before finals to consider the regular season a success.

Next up, Hunter, Manly & Warringah.

Hunter – Scott Coleman (1st – 7 wins, 3 losses)

From A to E, how would you grade your opening 10 rounds and why?

I’d say it’s been good but not perfect. We still have a lot of work-ons to get right. Obviously we’re happy with where we are sitting on the table but now the second half of the season starts which will change a lot. 

All we can do is control what we can control and that’s us. we need to keep working on us and aiming for perfection. We all know how hard that is. All we can do is keep working hard on our game and improving. 

We also want to make sure we’re having FUN and ENJOYING ourselves. 

What is the main area where you’d like to see improvement?

We’d like to improve our game control and handle the momentum swings in matches a little better. I’d also like to see us add a bit more variation in our game and win the contact area more consistently. 

What do you need to do between now and the end of the regular season to consider the regular season a success?

We just want to keep winning and keep enjoying ourselves and what we are doing. 

We want to have fun and we know that winning is fun so we want to do more of it. 

Manly – Chris DeLooze (2nd – 7 wins, 3 losses)

From A to E, how would you grade your opening 10 rounds and why?

I’d give us a B. 

Taking our position on the ladder out of the equation, we are happy with where the club is across all grades. We’ve had our depth challenged and shown some positive and healthy signs that we are going to compete.

There is a long way to go but we have given ourselves a great opportunity with a solid start.

What is the main area where you’d like to see improvement?

Across all teams we have shown that we are willing and capable to play some good footy with ball in hand, however as I’m sure most teams and coaches are aware defence wins comps. 

So without sitting on the fence on this one, we would like improvement in our accuracy across the game and we would like to see our numbers in defence start to drop.

What do you need to do between now and the end of the regular season to consider the regular season a success?

For this season to be a success we need to keep growing as a club, as a team and as individuals. If we get this balance right all the coaches and players believe that we will be there in the end.

The “how” is going to be the interesting part and that’s on us to get it right. It’s going to be exciting as I feel there are many twists still to come. 

Warringah – Mike Ruthven (12th – 1 win, 9 losses) 

From A to E, how would you grade your opening 10 rounds and why?

We’re not proud of our current season to date. Warringah is a proud club with high expectations. We are aware that we have not met those expectations of our supporters but more importantly our own internal expectations.

This is a very competitive group and we are determined to make sure the second half of the season is significantly better.

What is the main area where you’d like to see improvement?

We need to stop conceding as many points as we have been. We have been scoring enough points to win games but we are just giving the opposition too many easy head starts. 

What do you need to do between now and the end of the regular season to consider the regular season a success?

Success is defined in many different ways. This is a strong group of players who understand what we need to do in order to get our performances back to what we expect of ourselves. Once we achieve that, results will swing our way, the enjoyment will be back on the players faces, our supporters will be proud of what they supporting and we can reflect on the second half of the season in a really positive manner.