Lower Clarence Magpies bouncing back under captain-coach Luke Douglas

Last year they had to pull out of the comp. But with a former NRL star on board and local juniors coming home, the Lower Clarence Magpies are surprising plenty of people in the NRRRL.

Luke Douglas playing for the Lower Clarence Magpies against the Kyogle Turkeys in round two of the 2023 Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) season. Photo: Lower Clarence Magpies RLFC

As the NRRRL edges towards the halfway mark, players, coaches and fans alike are starting to take stock of how their teams are shaping up in 2023.

And while most of the headlines have been on frontrunners Ballina, Bilambil and Northern United, the Lower Clarence Magpies are looming as one of the competition’s biggest improvers so far.

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This was probably best exemplified last weekend, when the Magpies travelled to Murwillumbah and defeated the Mustangs 28-22.

And while the result against last year’s minor premiers was impressive enough on its own, a look back at the same game 12 months ago shows just how far Lower have come.

In the corresponding fixture last year, match officials had to invoke the mercy rule after the Mustangs piled on more than 55 points to the Magpies’ zero.

“Last year we went to Mur’bah and I think we got mercy ruled,” says captain-coach Luke Douglas, who has returned to his junior club after a highly successful 350-game professional career in the NRL and UK Super League.

Former NRL forward Luke Douglas is back playing with the Magpies this season. Photo: Lower Clarence Magpies RLFC

“But on the weekend we finally hung onto the ball and just played simple. We didn’t get them with all these fancy plays but got in the grind. I was really pleased, because they came back at us in the second half but we held on,” Douglas added, noting that the team is starting to earn some respect across the competition.

“Hopefully teams start realising that they’ve got to play well to take us down. That’s the goal this year: to get a good feel and be competitive, and hopefully we’re doing that.”

The Magpies have certainly been competitive, winning three of their six games so far this year.

That is quite a significant return considering that their 28-18 victory over Kyogle in round two was the club’s first A-grade victory in nearly two years, something emphasised by the fact that the Magpies pulled out of the first grade competition halfway through last season due to a lack of numbers.

While the team is currently sitting in eighth place in the 13-team competition, the logjam of teams in the middle means that they’re only one point away from the finals spot in fifth.

Furthermore, given that the Magpies haven’t yet had the bye, there are only three teams in the competition who have won more games – the competition leaders Ballina, Bilambil and Northern United.

“We’re definitely exceeding my expectations and hopefully we can just keep improving,” says Douglas.

“I knew there were footy players here. There were a lot of young kids who’d never really been coached that much, and I’m not necessarily saying they’re being coached but over the past few weeks we’ve realised what it takes to compete each week: that’s defending as a team and not solving it on your own.

The Magpies have won three from six so far this season. Photo: Lower Clarence Magpies RLFC

“That’s where we’re starting to realise that the opposition has only got 13 out on the field, exactly the same as us. And if we’re playing as a team and getting the hang of what it takes to compete – stay in games, hang onto the ball, kick long and defend – and win all those little battles, then we’ll go alright.”

As positive as the season has been, the situation could even been better, with Lower pipped at the post by defending premiers Bilambil a fortnight ago, losing 24-22.

“We had our chances and probably could have snuck away with that one,” says Douglas. “We hit the lead and then I knocked it on second tackle from the kick-off and they scored.

“We went in again and hit the lead with a couple of minutes to go and then one of their blokes did a one-on-one strip and they scored in the corner on the buzzer, so it was a bit heartbreaking but it sort of shows that we’ve got a bit of credibility amongst the competition.”

Keeping it local

Without the finances of some of its NRRRL rivals, the Magpies were forced to look locally when putting their 2023 squad together.

“With recruitment, we couldn’t afford to offer the big dough, so we had to keep it local and get a few blokes who live around town to come back and have a go,” says Douglas.

Along with a host of young locals like exciting outside back Brian Quinlan-Randall, the Magpies have been bolstered by the return of experienced campaigners Vincent Williams, Grant Brown and Dalton Shaw, who’ve come back to their junior club after a stint in the Group 2 competition.

In addition, the likes of hooker Lachlan Barnes, backrower Cooper Many and brothers Ethan and Liam Foster, have been excellent in the black and white since moving back to the area.

Douglas is one of many local juniors to return to the club in the last couple of seasons. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

Another one of the standouts so far this season has been centre Tyler Essex, with whom Douglas has his own family connection.

“I played with his old man. He was a fullback/centre when I was coming through and made my first grade debut for Lower as a 17-year-old.”

However perhaps the biggest recruit in recent years has been Douglas himself, who moved back to the Clarence Coast from the Gold Coast last year.

After spending a couple of seasons at Ballina, the 37-year-old wanted to help try and build up the club, not only taking on the captain-coach role but also joining the Magpies’ executive.

“Early on I was still a bit sceptical about how it was all gonna go in terms of numbers and things, because it hasn’t been that good an environment for a little bit now,” he said.

“There’s been lots of people working hard to try and get it done, but they just haven’t been able to find that combination to get the locals keen and involved, and get that good feeling back in the club that a lot of us old guys enjoyed as teenagers and kids growing up. All we wanted to do was play for the Maggies. Once we sort of got a few young local guys keen, it snowballed a bit.”

The Lower Clarence women's tackle team is looming as the team to beat in 2023. Photo: supplied

And snowballed it certainly did. For a club that was forced to pull out of the first competition last season due to a lack of numbers, the turnaround in interest has been nothing short of amazing.

“We’ve had record numbers of registrations,” said Douglas. “With senior players in just first grade and reserve grade, we’ve got 72 registered. That’s unheard of for us. We’ve got a few blokes who live away with work and different things, but you can always do with players.”

Strangely enough, Douglas says the situation has even created some problems for the club that they would never have expected in recent years.

“It becomes a bit of a headache to try and choose a team when you’ve got 17 in the A-Grade and you can play 20 in reserve grade, so you can only play 37 out of that 70. But there are always little injuries and things.”

The healthy situation in the senior grades is replicated throughout the whole club, with the Magpies fielding five senior teams this year across firsts, reserves, under-18s, ladies league tag and women’s tackle.

In fact, the women’s tackle side has established itself the team to beat, winning all four games so far, scoring a whopping 178 points and conceding just 12.

Big crowds, raffles and ice baths

But it’s not just on the pitch where things are heading in the right direction, with the enthusiasm for playing also filtering into off-field activities.

“The boys are posting things on social media about doing stuff around the club, whether it’s ice baths, whether it’s raffles, and it’s sort of snowballing off that with people wanting to be involved and help out,” says Douglas, who notes that the keenness of some of the players has well and truly surprised him.

“The last few weeks the boys have been getting me to do ice baths for them on a Monday and there was probably close to 15 blokes there – that’s unheard of,” he laughs.

“We’re just trying to create something that people want to be involved in.”

While the players are buying in, the improved performances on the park have also made an impression in the community.

“If you’re winning games you’re going to get the crowds,” he said. “There are people interested in getting involved in the community. It’s a pretty big rugby league community here.”

The Magpies are hoping to draw on plenty of community support from both Maclean and Yamba. Photo: Lower Clarence Magpies RLFC

Indeed, while Lower Clarence was originally a Maclean-based club, the Magpies now play out of excellent facilities at Yamba, with Douglas hoping to attract the support from both towns.

“We need both communities to come together, but I’ve certainly noticed a few of the Maclean crowd, who never used to come to games,” he said.

“If we’re providing a good day’s worth of footy in all grades – particularly in the A-grade – then we’ll get more interest. We’re starting to see some good crowds come through the gates and decent earnings in the canteen.”

As for a good day’s footy, attention is turning to the weekend, with the Magpies hoping to keep their good run of form going against the Byron Bay Red Devils at home.

Followed by key fixtures against fellow mid-table team Tweed Coast and fourth-placed Cudgen, it is part of a run of games that Douglas says will be key to their season.

“We’ll see how we go with those teams before we get a real indication of how we’re going in the comp.”