Hawkesbury Agricultural College Rugby Club’s [HAC] season kicks off this week with preseason training for all grades, but their Colts [under 21’s] have been eager to train since before the new year.
HAC has only had a Colts team the last two years when they reformed in 2017.
They had a rough start their first year as the club moved into division two of the NSW Suburban Rugby Competition and for a lot of the season struggled to maintain strong numbers on a weekly basis.
The team were unable to notch up a win during the season but had a good group of players to build from.
2018 saw the club back in division three with new players coming to HAC from the recently cut Penrith Emus.
The Colts won the first game of that season, but inconsistent numbers at each game saw the year get away from them early on.
Halfway through the season the Colts had only managed two wins.
“By mid-season there were a large number of players showing up and we had some new coaches trying to work out the best combinations with some great emerging talent,” said Colts coordinator Roy Onley.
“We ended up coming sixth on the season winning four games, and coming close in a few losses.”
“It was a massive improvement from the year prior.”
HAC Colts will have a lot of returning players this season as only three members will be ageing out, one of which, Evander Filemu, will be attempting to achieve Shute Shield selection in 2019.
“Our boys were eager to get training started before Christmas … which is great to see,” said Onley.
“It’s going to be a big year for us as we are confident that we can win this year ... and we will also be having a major end of year tour of North America.”
The club will be sending an under 21’s team to play numerous colleges and teams in North America to finish off the 2019 season.
“We will get to play some good games over there… We’re all really looking forward to it. It should be a good way to finish off the year,” said Onley.
HAC Colts and the rest of the club will begin preseason training from 6:30pm on Thursday, February 7 at the College Oval, WSU Richmond.