Ahead of Round One of the SLE Andrew Johns Cup and SLE Laurie Daley Cup kicking off this weekend, NSWRL.com.au spoke to the coaches of last year's premiership-winning teams to see how they are shaping up for the 2025 season.
SLE Andrew Johns Cup – Under 16s
The Central Coast Roosters have the opportunity for a three-peat this year and while head coach Ryan Southam realises what a prize that would be, he has other goals in mind.
“It is a fair bit of expectation for three in a row and I mean winning is a great achievement, a great feeling,” Southam said.
“But our main focus is to develop these boys to the best or our ability and put them on the right path of their Rugby League journey.
“Obviously part of that development is building a winning culture too. So let’s see how we go in that this year.”
The Roosters have done well recently in that regard. An 18-10 win over Newcastle Knights in 2023 was followed with a 20-12 win over Macarthur Wests Tigers last year.
Southam won the 2021 Laurie Daley Cup (Under 18s) with Central Coast Roosters already but has moved to the younger age group for 2025.
The nature of the Regional Representative competition is that the majority of players move on as they get older.
“All new players this year but we’ve been going since November and have tried to mix things up with a few beach sessions as well as in the classroom and on the field,” he said.
“Obviously it’s more about development of the boys, being so young, and educating them in what we want them to bring to the table.
“My staff and I are committed to growing these boys on and off the field.
“Skills and fundamentals are huge at this age. Basically we concentrate on that - combinations and shape come off that back of that later in our pre-season.
“And I particularly focus on our middle. You never want to lose the middle in this type of competition where you have players from a number of different clubs that you must get communicating together.”
The Roosters play the Northern Tigers in Tamworth on Saturday 8 February and have been dealing with last-minute injuries to throw a little adversity the team’s way before a ball is kicked.
“But I back our depth and development so we’re still in a good spot,” Southam said.
He has named a three-person leadership group of lock/five-eighth Samuel Michie, back-rower Manni Campbell and hooker Nate Ross. Campbell will be captain.
SLE Laurie Daley Cup – Under 18s
The Monaro Colts fight the tyranny of distance, where players live a fair way apart from each other, with a steely determination to make each session a quality one.
Returning coach Brendan Bradley, from the Colts’ 28-18 win over Northern Tigers in the 2024 Grand Final, is proud of how his players have applied themselves.
“A lot of the boys from down the south coast have a lot of travel, some of them are three to three-and-a-half hours and that’s only one way,” he said.
“So it’s a big commitment on them and their parents’ behalf. But then again, it’s a big thing for them to be in this rep team.
“We concentrate on a lot of skills and shape elements in our training by putting players in their positions. Then they come together as a group and it usually works well.
“We’re a completely new group this year and we’ve selected players from 10 different clubs.
“But we set a pretty high standard down here and we’ve got some really good people to make sure we reach those standards.
“The Monaro Colts is a powerful name and we’ve had a few Australian Schoolboys come out of this group over the past couple of years.”
Round One will be against the Northern Rivers Titans on Sunday 9 February at NSWRL’s headquarters at Bruce, Canberra.
“The message ahead of this weekend is simple - we remind them that we expect them to reach the high standards the team is built on, and they’ve already been doing that in training,” Bradley said.
“If we keep to those standards I think we’ll have a good season again, hopefully.”
