'We are good enough': Beattie expects Wagga United to make finals next year

Heading into his second year in the role, Beattie said he's hoping consistency will help the side reach finals in the new year.

"We went through a period where each year I felt like we had a very different coaching structure and set up," Beattie said.

"We had a lot of different players come and go, we had a different committee come and go, so when I took the role on, I didn't want it to be a one-year thing, I don't think anyone gets too much out of that and you can't win premierships overnight.

"I always think you've got to build your way to finals and then onto premiership, so it was always going to be a kind of long-term thing for me."

Wagga United won six games this season, including a late run of three wins in their last four games.

Beattie said he was impressed with what he saw his team put on the field, but felt they were hard done by with injuries.

"I don't think we had a lot of luck in terms of injuries, there was one week there where we only had 16 players for the two grades and that theme ran on for a few weeks, so it made it really tough through the middle of the season but we were finding ways to just keep chipping away," he said.

"None of our results, come off the back of lack of effort or lack of commitment, I'll say to anyone I think we've got probably the hardest working playing group out of the whole competition.

"We train on public holidays, we get everyone to training twice a week, there's no excuses in terms of effort, I think it's more just making sure that our best 11 is on the field every week."

Beattie said he believes this was the first season in a while where the group really showed how strong they are as a team.

In 2024, he said it is an expectation they'll be in finals, not a hope.

"We were only two results away from playing finals, in years gone by we haven't been good enough," he said.

"I think this year we proved that we can be good enough, and 2024 is about showing that we are good enough and that we can get those extra couple results we need to play finals."

Beattie anticipates a similar looking side will take the field next year, though admits they'll lose some players to relocation.

"It looks very similar, we do lose a couple who move away for work, which is a shame for us, but it's fantastic for those people," he said.

"Most players have indicated that they'll be coming back and there's been strong interest from some other people that we've been speaking with to get on board, so at this stage it looks good but we won't really have a full idea until pre-season gets well underway and people start to commit.

"it can change every couple of weeks especially in preseason, so we're trying not to count our chickens before they hatch, but at this stage it looks good."