SIRU
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NEW Griffith coach Lee Kimball has pride on his agenda this Southern Inland Rugby Union season.
As an influx of fresh talent descends on the city, Kimball has his mind set firmly on restoring the Blacks to their former competition glory.
Kimball, who has taken the reins from coach of two years Clint Robertson, has reprised the role he held at the Blacks five years ago in a desperate attempt to keep the winning reputation alive.
Wasting no time, Kimball has hit the ground running with pre-season training and locked in the spine of Blacks' attacking unit with highly praised recruits Tom Russell (utility back) and Andre Boon (five-eighth).
"From what I've heard they're quality players, we've got a couple of good ones," he said.
"What I want to focus on though is getting the local boys in town to play.
"There's enough quality in town here already to be successful. We had a good foundation last year but we have the players to form a great team."
With complete faith in the local talent, Kimball believes the Blacks have been under performing for the past three years and is eager to turn things around.
The former SIRU coach last led the Blacks in 2007 and said he was disappointed the club hadn't made the semi-finals over the past few years.
"We were top of the comp and we always made the semi-finals it's only been in the past three years or so that it's been declining," he said.
"It's hard sitting on the sidelines and the club isn't performing as well as you would expect. I thought I would try and do something instead of complaining.
"Not being involved, it's hard to say what went wrong, but I really want to get everyone on the same page and working on the same wavelength.
"There's no reason why we can't be successful again."
Kimball said the main goal was to elevate Griffith into the SIRU top-tier competition and eventually begin playing finals football again.
"I'd be really disappointed if we didn't make the top tier this year," he said.
"We'll take it from there but I've had a look at the draw and we've got the top five teams at home in the first half of the season, hopefully that sets us up for a good start."