It may seem like a far cry from his heady days at the helm of the Maitland Pickers 2010 first grade premiership, but Noel Dent insists his return to coaching with C Grade side the Woodberry Warriors suits him “down to the ground”.
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It’ll be the first time the Thornton-based mentor will return to the coaching ranks after standing down from the Pickers top job in 2015 due to work commitments.
“I’ve got some time on my hands now because I’ve taken some time off work,” Dent, a mental health worker, explained.
“I haven’t coached for a few years because I haven’t been able to with the shift work hours.
“Now I’ve got some time off, I’ve been looking to get back into it.”
Dent coached at Woodberry 14 years ago, ahead of successful stints in the Newcastle Rugby League with Macquarie and Maitland.
The former St George Dragons player said he had lined up a role assisting Kurri Bulldogs coach Ron Griffiths for the 2017 season, but when the Woodberry opportunity came up, Griffiths let him pursue it.
“Much to Ron’s credit, he let me go,” Dent said.
He said it was an easy decision to join the C Grade side.
“It’s got me really excited. It’s closer to home, we’ve got a great committee and a good community.
“It suits me down to the ground.”
Dent said he wouldn’t look to “reinvent” the club after a strong 2017 season in which the Warriors made the preliminary finals.
“I’m not trying to flood the place with changes, I want to build on the history and culture that is already there,” he said.
Dent said he expected there to be marked differences between coaching in the grade competition compared with Newcastle’s premier league.
“The challenges will be with training, it’s a bit different to the Newcastle competition in that respect,” he said.
“You haven’t got blokes on big contracts here.
“We’ll try mould them and build the club so they really want to train.
“We’ve got a good committee and the focus will be on local players and getting the community to want to come and watch us.”
Warriors president Dennis Taylor said Dent was a “major signing” for the little club.
“For a small club like us to come to an agreement with a coach the calibre of Noel, it fills the players with hope about the future,” he said.
Taylor also paid tribute to former coach Larry Taufua, who has stepped down after several years in charge of the club.
“He was instrumental in pulling the boys together,” Taylor said.
He’s confident that Dent will help take the club “to the next level”.
“Everyone at the club is very excited,” he said.
