WITH six weeks to the 2025 season kickoff, new Rosewood Roosters head coach Sam Collins couldn’t be happier.
Sam is enjoying working with assistant Josh Hassett in the pre-season as the pair strive to build a competitive Roosters team for this year’s Rugby League Ipswich Volunteers Cup (C-Grade) competition.
“Me and Josh are really pleased with the team,” Sam said, having a squad 20 players signed on.
Many of the footballers attending Tuesday and Thursday night training at Anzac Park are aged 20-21 and are new to the club.
That includes a group of mates from Brothers who went to Bundamba State High School and played club footy, collectively being previously coached by Sam.
“They have got a great combination together,” Sam said.
Sam said that mateship was a huge positive as the Roosters worked on strengthening unity this season.
While the coaches were yet to appoint a captain for the upcoming season, Sam said they were excited to have players still arriving in the pre-season.
Sam said he was comfortable helping Josh focus on re-establishing a strong C-Grade line-up for the months ahead.
“It’s excellent,” Sam said.
“Me and Josh are on the same page. We always have been, so it’s been really good.
“He brings a lot of talent to it as well.”
Sam said having the season kick off in late April gave the Roosters extra lead-up time after last year’s challenges.
The Roosters started with teams in Reserve and C-Grade before being forced to withdraw the higher division side due to injuries.
Last week’s cyclone threat aside, Sam said recent training sessions had been beneficial with few distractions since the Christmas break.
“It’s great,” Sam said. “Numbers at training have been phenomenal.
“We’re going really good.”
Sam joined with last year’s C-Grade mentor Josh late last year, eager to oversee a major club rebuild.
Sam was excited to receive his Roosters coaching opportunity as he has strong country connections and played for the club last season alongside his son Zac.
Sam previously coached junior teams up to under-18 level at Brothers and Norths, gaining valuable experience.
After growing up in Lowood and living at Marburg for a number of years, Sam has been based at Fernvale for the past four years.
Sam’s country link extends to his work running cattle trucks at Marburg.
After battling through finger and shoulder injuries last year, he plans to focus on coaching in 2025.
“I’m a very structured coach,” Sam said, having learnt at successful clubs like Brothers and Norths.
He said the focus in recent weeks was on skill development having spent the earlier weeks improving fitness levels.
“We’ve got a fairly good young fit squad that have been nailing the drills in defence and attack, so it’s been really good,” Sam said.
The head coach said the Roosters were hoping to have trials, including against Browns Plains, in the next few weeks.
