‘Flicker in my brain’: Sense of homecoming driving Ourimbah in first grade return

After a six-year absence, there is a real sense of homecoming as the Ourimbah Magpies return to top-flight footy on the Central Coast.

A host of local juniors have come back to Ourimbah as it returns to the Central Coast first grade competition in 2025. Picture: supplied

When Ben Bell was asked to help coach the Ourimbah Magpies this season, it felt like a matter of now or never.

Ever since he finished his playing days, the local junior and former first grader had had a gnawing desire to coach the Magpies, and was given the chance when the club asked him to assist captain-coach Josh Moffitt in a co-coaching role as the club returned to the Rugby League Central Coast first grade competition.

“I always had this little flicker in my brain to coach them in seniors and give it a crack in first grade,” he said.

“They asked me about coming on board. Again, I had that little flicker and thought there might not be another chance if I said no. Then I had a chat to my wife and she said, ‘Well you’ve always wanted to do it, you can’t say no now.’”

Bell’s return to co-coach the Magpies is symbolic of a broader sense of homecoming at Ourimbah as the team prepares to snap a six-year hiatus by playing in the first grade for the first time since 2019.

“I was looking through our squad within our top 30, which has players in firsts and ressies, and about 23 or 24 are local juniors,” said Bell.

Indeed, after agreeing to take on the coaching job, Bell went through his connections to reach out to a host of former Magpies.

“As soon as I said yes I got on the phone to all the guys I’ve known from coaching juniors and rep footy on the Coast,” he said. “There were a few local juniors who’d had the same little flicker in their brain.”

They included his son Daniel Bell, a former Magpie and Central Coast rep player, as well as the likes of fellow local juniors Mitch Casson, Ben Olson, Darcy Cox and Jackson Pennell.

They have built on the strong collection of locals already at the club, headlined by captain-coach Moffitt, who returned to the Magpies last year to play reserve grade and help the club prepare for the jump up into firsts.

And while all of these signings have been key in building a competitive squad, they have in a sense been overshadowed by the news that two-time NRL premiership winner, Origin star and Ourimbah junior James Maloney will make a surprise return to the club.

“I couldn’t have even wished to have Jimmy come play with us, I thought it was so far out of the realms of possibility. He was 17 at Ourimbah when I was playing first grade and I’ve known him since he was a kid,” said Bell.

“He’s played a lot of State of Origin, you can’t put a value on that,” he added. “To have that and to have him come back, be a local junior, a member of the local community, it’s hard to put into words. His value is on about 10 different levels.”

James Maloney’s return to his junior club is a huge boost for the Magpies. Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images

Having played with the likes of 38-year-old Maloney when he was coming through the ranks and having coached a slew of the younger Magpies as juniors, Bell is in many ways a key link between the generations, who all carry a sense of wanting to be part of something special this season.

“Those 23 or 24 local juniors we’ve got, as kids they played on Sohier Park. And us seniors used to invite the juniors to come to Sohier Park when we were playing home games, some would come into the sheds and each team would have a different turn each week.

“They’ve high-fived senior players as they’ve run out onto the field. Now they’re 23, 24 or in some cases 28 and have got their own kids. My grandson is going to be ball boy, which is what my son used to do when I used to play. All they wanna do is play for Ourimbah at Sohier Park.”

The Magpies are placing a big focus on bringing their juniors through the ranks. AAP Image/Sue Graham

And while the return of local juniors certainly brings a feel-good factor to the club for its step up into first grade, Bell is adamant that cultivating the Magpies’ junior base is also central to its future.

“This is not a one-year thing. What happens with some smaller clubs like ours is they get an injection of cash from sponsors and they go big really quick. Then for two or three years they’re successful because they buy players from Sydney or Newcastle,” he said.

“We want to make sure we’ve got something coming through. We’ve got the James Maloney Academy, it starts at under-13s.

“It’s not a talent ID program, that’s been done and the rep teams do that. This is a development program, from 13s to 17s, to develop their core skills so as the seniors we get kids coming through who can play footy. Then we don’t have to go looking for players and have local juniors who are zero-pointers,” he added.

“Realistically, we need numbers coming through, which we’ve got in the juniors, and quality coming through with the program. That’s phase two. What we’re doing now is the easy bit: buy in, get some players and win some footy games.”