East Wagga-Kooringal coach, Matt Hard, isn’t one for bold public statements.
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In the pre-season, there were no expectations about what they were capable of.
Six games in, he’s willing to allow that they have the potential to mix it with the best.
The Hawks return from the bye in fourth, just a couple of percentage points below Temora. Their two losses were after fourth-quarter fades against last year’s grand finalists, Temora and Marrar. And the scalps have included second-placed North Wagga.
“They’re all very good sides – very well structured and drilled,” Hard said.
“In all three games we had ourselves in winning positions and that’s a positive from our perspective.
“All three on their day are going to be very hard to beat, there’s no doubt about that. If we can keep doing what we’re doing and rub shoulders with them at the end of the year, we’ll be happy. And hopefully we can get a few of them looking over their shoulders come finals-time, should we get that far.”
After a decade coaching at Coolamon – where he was part of the furniture, and knew most of the Riverina League opposition inside out – heading to a new club was a bold challenge.
“It’s been good. It’s been very refreshing. I’ve enjoyed the start of the year,” Hard said.
“It felt very different, and it probably still does to an extent. At Coolamon, I’d played 150-odd games there and coached there for 10 years so it’s a big part of your life. But I can't thank the East Wagga footy club enough.
“They’ve welcomed me with open arms, the players have been fantastic and I’m really enjoying it.”
It’s almost a return to pure coaching, with no pre-conceptions about players.
“The only footage I’d seen of these guys is on youtube and so forth, not seeing them play live, so really, it was coming in really broad-minded, with an open mind and saying, what can these guys do? We had a pretty good pre-season and I’ve got to learn about them. So that’s helped,” Hard said.
He’s been happy to change players’ roles, like playing Jacob Tiernan forward and Ben Absolum off a half-back-flank. But, a third of the way into the season, their best line-up remains a work in progress.
“I’m always looking at ways you can improve things, I guess, and that’ll be there right until the final siren – you’re always looking at ways you can change things around,” he said.
“The boys have been very receptive to date in doing the roles they’re doing and it’s worked quite well from a team perspective. But we’re still looking for improvement from a team perspective and we’ll keep shuffling magnets until we think we’re getting it right.”
Working out their best forward line is one of the questions to be answered but Brocke Argus and Nick Hull are both in the top four goalkickers in the league, while James Hodges returned in reserve grade last round, along with Chris Jackson. And good numbers in the under 17s Hard said is also a promising sign for the club.
Consistency and work-rate are the areas he wants to see his side improve in, beginning this weekend against Charles Sturt University who sit just one win below them in fifth spot after three straight wins.
“It is a big game. They’ve strung a few together now and are a pretty dangerous side I think. They’ve got some new names in and (CSU coach) Patty Noonan is putting everything into it. Patty’s a very good operator and very passionate so they’re definitely a danger game out there for us this week,” he said.
“Our season is on a knife’s edge. We can sort of go back to the pack or we can stay in front of it.”
Hard is a premiership winning coach in both the Farrer League (Northern Jets, 2007) and the Riverina League (Coolamon, 2013).
“I think it’s a completely different style,” he said when asked to compare the competitions.
“It’s more contested here and more free-flowing and probably quicker in the RFL. It’s probably adapting the way you play. We’re trying to open things up a little bit and play to the strengths we’ve got in our squad. I think that’s going okay at the minute but we’re only six weeks into a long season.”
Riverina’s win over Farrer in the recent representative game didn’t surprise Hard but the margin did.
“The Riverina League I think bats a bit deeper as far as their skill level and their talent goes,” the former Riverina League rep coach said.
“Was the 80-point margin a true reflection? I’m probably not 100 percent convinced about that. I think that’s a concept to be looked at. And the player availability has to be looked at as well.
“It probably didn’t surprise me that the Farrer League did get beaten. The RFL are a superior league, I’ve got no qualms in saying that. But I think it’s a lot closer than what that game was magnified at.”