SADDLEWORTH RANGERS are building for the future insists their chairman after the club narrowly avoided relegation from the National Conference League, division one.
Three victories in their final four games of the season – against Ince Rose Bridge, York Acorn and Milford Marlins – secured eighth position and their spot for next year’s campaign.
It was a season disrupted by absences and injuries to key players, including Ryan Moore, Michael Coates, Dale Lowe and Ian Sinfield.
But club chairman Shane Wilson said he was proud of the way the club’s rising stars stepped up to help out and avoid back-to-back demotions.
He said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and just shows what this young team could do. They competed in all of those important final games and did enough to stay up.
“We didn’t want to lose our league position because it’s really tough to get back up, and we can now build from here.”
Mr Wilson also paid tribute to the hard work of coach Shane Tupaea, who has stepped down after two-and-a-half seasons in charge of the first team.
He said: “Shane’s got us back on track and steadied the ship and his ethos tiered down through the club.
“He is genuine, honest and I have the utmost respect for him.”
Tupaea’s resignation means former Swinton and Oldham player Craig Farrimond steps up from assistant to coach, with help from Dave Newton.
WATERHEAD has also promoted from within after coach Chris Hough stood down following their relegation to National Conference League, division three.
Paul Geener, Chris McAndrew and Paul Bennett, who all have lengthy connections with Waterhead, will be the coaching team with the three also receiving support from club captain Kieran Brennan, the player who is known as ‘Scrapper’ and who is revered within the club.
Geener, who also coaches the under-18’s, will be the lead coach as he previously worked with the first team when they won promotion to the first division in 2011.
Those were heady days, but back-to-back relegations since then have left the club at a low ebb.
Simon Holland, vice-chairman and rugby secretary, believes better times are ahead after conceding the last two seasons have been massively disappointing.
He explained: “When we won promotion to the first division, a lot of the lads saw it as their swansong and too many retired and we also didn’t have enough players coming through.
“Most sides we play are a mix of youth and experience, but for us it has just been youth, though they have benefited greatly from the experience of playing in the first team.”
Mr Holland says next season, and for the first time in many years, the club will have a team in every junior age group. This ought to provide a conveyer belt of players to the first team in the future.
He added that the under-18’s will also train with the first team next season which will help them make a natural progression to the senior side.
Mr Holland says Waterhead is also hoping to lure back some of the senior players who have left to join rival clubs in the last couple of seasons.
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