Wests Bulldogs have announced their coaching staff for the 2017 BLK Queensland Premier Rugby season with a host of new faces to join head coach Pat Byron, as the Bulldogs look to turn the page on a disappointing 2016.
Byron, who will enter his fifth year as head coach of the Premier Grade side, will again be joined by Evan Willis and Tony Cross.
Michael Broad will join the team as skills coach and Fletcher Dyson as set-piece coach, providing a balance of old and new faces that has Byron excited for the pre-season.
“I’m excited about working with a good group of coaches. It’s great having Evan back, we’ve been coaching together for a long time and Tony Cross and Michael Broad will bring enormous coaching experience,” he said.
Former St.George Queensland Reds and Wallaby front rower Dyson will add a wealth of experience and Byron is thrilled to work with him around the set piece.
“We’ve got some young front rowers that will get that first-hand experience from Fletcher. The other thing that he will bring is confidence. He’s a great guy to have around the club, a really good personality that will bring teaching and confidence to the playing group,” he said.
Wests experienced a disrupted 2016 as their clubhouse and home ground at Toowong underwent a complete re-development.
The club hosted their home matches at Kenmore’s juniors fields, a venue that provided the Bulldogs little home-ground advantage.
However, with construction is set for completion in December, Wests will soon boast some of the best facilities in the competition, an improvement that Byron believes will be massive for the club.
"People underestimate how hard it is to play without a home ground, a clubhouse or without dressing rooms. We literally didn’t have four walls last year, we had nowhere to meet and we trained on a junior playing field,” he said.
“To go from that to possibly having the best facilities in the competition will be enormous for the club. It will bring a lot of positivity not just for the premier grade side but for the whole club and hopefully from that we can start to turn things around.”
Despite a tough year, one of the shining lights at the club was lock forward Jeremiah Lynch who earned selection for McInnes Wilson Brisbane City in the Buildcorp National Rugby Championship (NRC).
Byron was pleased to finally see Lynch recognised for his hard work.
“The NRC experience will be great for Jerry. He’s good player and his form over the last few years justified his selection in the NRC. I’m glad he got that experience and he’s thankful that he got the opportunity to work with good coaches and players.”
Full list of Wests 2017 Premier coaching staff:
Premier Head Coach: Pat Byron
Assistant Premier Coach – Forwards: Evan Willis
Assistant Premier Coach – Backs: Tony Cross
Director of Rugby: Tim Geary
Skill Acquisition and Development Coach: Michael Broad
Premier Squad Scrum Coach: Fletcher Dyson
Skills Coach: Brenden Jones
Premier Squad Strength & Conditioning: Dan Ryan
Premier Squad Strength & Conditioning: Owen Flynn
Premier Grade Manager: Clark Montague
Premier Reserve Head Coach: Lewis Torkington
Premier Reserve Assistant Coach – Backs: Dave Hall
Club Physiotherapist: Kylie Baldwin
Club Doctor: Stacy Compton
