NEW Tumbarumba coach Robbie Byatt has brought back reinforcements from England he prepares to guide the Greens up the Group Nine ladder in 2016.
Byatt and his younger brother Matthew have returned from English club Shaw Cross and two former teammates will join them next month.
Halfback Jordan Anderson and lock Casey Johnson have committed to the Greens as Byatt looks to rebuild the club.
“They are both good players and will bring something different to the club,” Byatt said.
Anderson has had to overcome two broken bones in his neck after suffering a late hit in August.
The 20-year-old has fully recovered and Byatt expects him to make an impact in Group Nine.
“He’s back playing now,” Byatt said.
“He finished off the end of the season.
“He’s a good young player and it never changed the way he played.”
Byatt returns to his hometown club after three seasons away from the club and is looking to change the club’s culture.
Stepping into the controversial Aaron Sweeney’s boots, the 26-year-old is out to restore some pride at the mountain club.
Labelling it another rebuilding year for the Greens, who failed to win a game in 2015, Byatt’s first goal is trying to get the club to be more competitive.
“The last few years we’ve struggled a bit so I’m hoping to come back, rebuild and get some new players in,” he said.
“Hopefully we can get the club off the bottom for starters and work our up from there.”
After two seasons with Queanbeyan Kangaroos, Byatt has spent his last 11 months with the National Conference League - Division 1 club.
Based in Dewsbury in the north of England, the Sharks were beaten in the preliminary final before Byatt returned to Australia this month.
He’s hoping to secure the services of a couple of other players before the season starts but Tumbarumba is still working to finalise their deals.
Byatt said he learnt plenty about the sport while in the English environment, particularly from a coaching perspective.
“It was fantastic experience,” he said.
“I got to play a lot of football over there and a real good learning curve for us with a different style of rugby.
“Culturally they do things different there and the style of rugby is very tough, not as fast as it is over here, but definitely a lot tougher.”
