A tough first season in charge of the Kempsey Cannonballs first grade side has fueled the fire for Carl Thurgood to return for a second year.
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The Cannonballs had their fair share of injuries and struggled to field a consistent side week-to-week last season.
It showed in their results, as they won three of their 12 games and finished in fifth position.
However, despite a large injury list and a lack of time to develop combinations, Kempsey remained competitive in all of their games and showed plenty of positive signs when they closed out the season with two wins from their final three matches.
The strong finish to the year has given Thurgood a lot of confidence ahead of the 2019 season.
“We showed signs that we could compete with the best teams but we lacked the consistency to come away with the wins,” Thurgood told the Argus.
“If we get a bit of luck in the injury department and have time to build the combinations then I think we will have a good season.”
Thurgood claims the team has plenty of potential and is ambitious when discussing the side’s goals.
“We want to make it to the finals and then I think we can give the competition a real good shake,” Thurgood said.
The Cannonballs will field a similar side next year and Thurgood is hopeful a few of his players can take the next step.
“We will have a similar group, not many guys are leaving the area which is a huge positive,” Thurgood said.
“A few of the younger guys had their first season in the senior grades last season and hopefully they can develop and be better for it next year.
“We are expecting to have Kini Dauvucu back again and we are looking at a few other options but nothing is set in stone yet.”
Dauvucu was arguably the Cannonballs’ best player last season and the Fijian flyer makes his presence felt in attack and defence.
The Cannonballs club is in a great position and will also field a reserve grade, women’s and junior sides in 2019.
Matt Scott was announced as the reserve grade coach for a second year, after he led the Cannonballs to one-game short of a grand final appearance.
Ben Hough will coach the Under-12s, the trio of Jason Mainey, Mark Saunders and Matt Shannon will coach the Under-16s while the club is still taking expressions of interest for the Women’s, Under-14s and Under-10s coaching jobs.
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