Stanley River Wolves re-enter Sunshine Coast rugby league A-grade competition
Following a two-year hiatus the Stanley River Wolves are knocking down the door for their return to the Sunshine Coast rugby league top flight division. Read what their head coach had to say.
Sunshine Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sunshine Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The past few years of senior footy has been a rollercoaster for the Stanley River Wolves and that’s putting things lightly.
In 2017 the club made its return to the senior fold through the C-grade competition, winning the premiership and entering a reserve grade side the next season.
In 2019, following a 17-year absence of A-grade footy, the Wolves completed their fairytale division one return with a 28-16 grand final victory over Caboolture.
Like the rest of the competition, Covid-19 put an instant hold on the Wolves’ 2020 premiership chances as the men in red and black lost plenty of momentum and a number of key players.
Once the 2021 season rolled around the Woodford-based outfit hobbled across the finish line before making the tough decision to remove themselves from A-grade for the following year.
Now for the 2024 season, the Stanley River Wolves are back in the top division and head coach Ethan Szendrey has outlined the keys for his side’s assault.
“It’s a big task to be an A-grade club but we started having those conversations back in April last year on whether or not we thought it would be possible,” Szendrey said.
“Once we had that support and buy-in we did a lot of groundwork of gathering sponsors, player interest, recruiting as well as added outside back up.”
Szendrey said he was thankful for the community’s support and was eager to see what the club’s new recruits could do.
“We have retained a really good amount of players from last season and there’s a few club juniors that have come through the ranks having played C-grade or reserve grade footy in recent years,” he said.
“Those guys were also a big driving force behind it all, wanting to compete and test themselves in A-grade without having to find a new club.
“There’s been a few guys return to the club after previously departing because we couldn’t offer them division one footy.
“We’ve also recruited quite a few new names which was always going to be the reality behind what we’re trying to achieve.”
Szendrey has tasted two-straight reserve grade grand final defeats as he was the Beerwah Bulldogs head coach in 2022 before returning to his boyhood club in 2023.
“It’s another challenge for me stepping into A-grade but it’s something I’m very excited about,” he said.
“It’s obviously a different calibre of players that you’re dealing with plus so many other factors but for me personally I’m super keen and just really looking forward to kick-off.
“We’re there to give the competition a shake up as we build a sustainable and powerful club for the future.”
The Wolves will also field a reserve grade side in 2024 with aims of entering an under-19s team next season.
Sunshine Coast sale and auction results, week ending October 13
Sunshine Coast recorded 36 property sales over a million dollars last week, the latest auction and sales results reveal.
‘Do you think Queenslanders are idiots?’ Karl slams Premier’s free lunches
Steven Miles has faced off with Karl Stefanovic over his $1.4bn “mandate” to provide free lunches for all primary school children, despite Labor previously shooting the idea down.