‘Wealth of experience’: The former NRL stars coaching in the NRRRL

There are premiership winners, Origin stars and Dally M medallists. Check out the former NRL stars turning their hand to coaching in the NRRRL.

Former NRL figures (top row, from left) Luke Douglas, Michael Gordon, Brent Kite (bottom row, from left) Chris Anderson, Brian Smith and Todd Carney are all involved with local clubs in the 2024 Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) season. Picture: supplied

It’s certainly not an unusual sight to see former NRL players running around in local footy competitions after the end of their careers.

But this year fans in the Northern Rivers might well recognise a few extra faces on the sidelines as an increasing number of former professionals turn their hand to coaching in the local competition, the NRRRL.

From premiership winners to international representatives and a Dally M medallist, an impressive list of former NRL stars can be seen on the coach’s bench this season.

Arguably the biggest coup can be found in Mullumbimby, with former premiership-winning player and coach Chris Anderson leading local side the Giants in 2024.

After helping out last year’s captain-coach, former Parramatta and Eels forward Cody Nelson, as an assistant in 2023, the 72-year-old – who also holds the rare honour of having played for and coached Australia – took over the reins this season.

Chris Anderson (back row, far right) is coaching the Mullumbimby Giants in 2024. Picture: supplied

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long for the former Bulldogs, Storm, Sharks and Roosters mentor to make his presence felt.

“He just brings a wealth of experience. He doesn’t have to say much or do much, it’s more just having him around that gives people an air a confidence that we’re in good hands and good stead,” said Mullum skipper Nelson.

In addition to his knowledge and experience as a coach, Anderson’s appointment has also proven to be a big boon for the club in terms of attracting talent.

“With Chris being back it’s certainly given us more reach to recruit some players,” said Nelson. “He’s also got a lot of backing from the club, which has been really helpful.”

Indeed, following a couple of difficult seasons for the club where numbers have at times been thin, there is a sense that things are well and truly on the up for the Giants, with Anderson’s appointment certainly a contributing factor in bringing the good vibes back to Mullum.

“After a few tough years with Covid and the floods it’s sort of been one of those building phases but it feels like it’s back to being all about football now and we’ve got a really strong squad with heaps of depth,” said Nelson.

“We’ve done really well on the recruitment front, obviously thanks to Chris and the backing of the club, which has been good to see.”

Cody Nelson, who played NRL for Parramatta and the Gold Coast, has returned home in recent years to help junior club Mullumbimby. Photo: Elise Derwin

Anderson isn’t the only big name to thank for the Giants’ revival.

After hearing a couple of years ago that his hometown club was struggling for numbers, Nelson - who played 11 NRL games between 2014 and 2017 - flew in from work commitments in Sydney and Melbourne just to play on weekends, before eventually taking on the captain-coach role when he moved back to the area.

“I wanted to do something, and what else do you do other than put your name down and get some kids to come back and play footy?” he said.

When it comes to former NRL players having an impact on local footy clubs, it’s hard to go past Luke Douglas and his efforts at Lower Clarence.

After finishing up his 14-year professional career in 2019 and spending a couple of seasons at Ballina, the former Cronulla, Gold Coast and St Helens prop returned to his junior club in 2022 after moving back to Yamba.

At the time the club was seriously struggling for players and was forced to pull out of the 2022 A-grade season after just seven rounds.

“When I got asked to do it (captain-coach) there were just no numbers,” Douglas said in an interview last year.

“There were times … when pretty much the same team that played reserve grade also played A-grade, so we’d just change our jerseys and go again.”

Using Douglas’ star power and some good old fashioned work from the committee, the club did a remarkable job to convince many of the local footballers who were playing elsewhere to come back to the Magpies.

Luke Douglas has led a remarkable revival at the Lower Clarence Magpies. Picture Danielle Smith

Less than 12 months after pulling out of the A-grade competition due to a lack of players, Lower had an incredible 72 players to choose from for just the first and reserve grade sides alone.

“We just wanted to 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,” said Douglas. “Once we sort of got a few young local guys keen, it snowballed a bit.”

In one of the fairytale stories of last year, the Magpies finished in sixth place in the 13-team competition to qualify for the NRRRL finals. In doing so, the team helped to draw crowds back to home games and restored plenty of pride back into the jersey.

“When I grew up there was only two Channel 9 games and we didn’t have Fox, so our heroes were local Magpies,” said Douglas. “We’d go and watch them and all we wanted to do was go and be Magpies when we grew up, so I suppose it’s a way of creating an opportunity for kids to do that.”

BRINGING EXPERTISE

Aside from providing a bit of star power to generate some interest, these former NRL figures have also brought a heightened level of knowledge and expertise back to the local competition as coaches.

It is perhaps no more evident than in the case of Todd Carney, who is currently in his sixth straight season with the Byron Bay Red Devils.

Originally agreeing to go around again as a player-coach, the 37-year-old former Dally M Medal winner tore his bicep during the pre-season and is likely to miss most of the season, meaning he’ll be restricted to coaching duties for the bulk of 2024.

As a former Australia and NSW Origin playmaker, Carney has been a particularly huge help to the string of young halves coming through the Devils’ ranks over the years.

“I enjoy specialised coaching, I enjoy working with kids who have got a desire to go further. I enjoy team coaching and it’ll be a bit different this year because I’m not playing and I’ll be able to concentrate on little things,” he said.

Todd Carney is currently in his sixth season with the Byron Bay Red Devils. Photo: Ursula Bentley@CapturedAus

Indeed, Carney played a key role in the development of young Byron halfback Jesse Soric, who last year made his A-grade debut for the Red Devils at 17 before signing with the NZ Warriors to play in the team’s SG Ball side.

Aside from providing tips and advice, the former Canberra, Cronulla and Roosters half even moved to hooker for much of the season to give Soric some on-field guidance and allow the young gun more time in the halves at first grade level.

“He helps so much with all my playmaking abilities: kicking, passing, defence – everything. It just helps so much,” Soric said last year upon signing with the Warriors.

While Soric has since moved on, there are some similarities this year with current Byron halfback Toby Marks, who moved from his hometown on the Central Coast to the Northern Rivers in the hope of furthering his career.

A former NSW Cup player with Newcastle and Canberra, the 24-year-old is dual registered with the Red Devils and Q Cup side the Tweed Heads Seagulls, a feeder club for the Gold Coast Titans. Alongside his time with the Seagulls, it’s hoped that Carney’s knowledge and experience can help Marks take his game to the next level.

Former NRL players Michael Gordon and Brent Kite are at the Tweed Coast Raiders.

Another familiar name involved with the NRRRL this season is former Manly forward Brent Kite, who is coaching the Tweed Coast Raiders.

After Kite won premierships with the club as a coach in 2018 and 2020, players say they’ve certainly noticed a difference since he returned to Cabarita this season.

“It’s been outstanding having him back,” said Tweed Coast back-rower and vice-president Owen Fredericks. “His leadership, accountability and his knowledge around the game and how he communicates are one of a kind, so we’re really lucky and grateful to have Kitey back steering the ship.

With the help of former Sea Eagles hooker and current Brisbane Broncos assistant coach Matt Ballin, who helped run some sessions over the summer, Kite has brought an NRL-style intensity to the club over the pre-season.

He’s been helped by the presence of 260-game NRL veteran Michael Gordon, who at 40 is still running around for his junior club.

Fredericks said the players have noticed how Kite’s presence has helped lift the standards of training, with other aspects of the 43-year-old’s coaching also being hugely beneficial to the squad.

“He just speaks about what he expects from us and what he believes the best way to go about it is. He simplifies things a lot, which obviously helps us.”

GIVING BACK TO THE GAME

While many of these former NRL stars rightly earn a fee for coming back to coach at a local level, there is also a strong sense among them that it’s important to give back to the game at a grassroots level.

In addition to Douglas at Lower Clarence and Nelson at Mullumbimby, another great example of a famous face returning to his roots can be found in Casino, with Brian Smith helping out his junior club in a coaching consultancy role.

Overseeing 679 games in both the NRL and UK Super League across his stellar coaching career, Smith is one of the NRL’s most well-respected coaches of the modern era.

Working with all coaches from under-13s through to A-grade, Smith will provide tips and advice to Casino’s mentors on all aspects of rugby league coaching over the course of the season.

“He’s just got that much knowledge of football, it’s unbelievable. For us to get him once a month or once every six weeks is gold,” said Casino president Travis Falls.

“He’s actually from Casino. I think he’s the youngest ever Casino Cougar to play first grade,” he added. “He’s just happy to come back and help out because I asked him to.”

Brian Smith has joined hometown club Casino in a coaching consultancy role this season.

Indeed, a sense of gratitude to the game and desire to help the sport at a local level is a key motivator for a lot of the former stars currently involved in the NRRRL.

“It’s good that everyone goes back to their junior club or a club in the community,” said Carney.

“That’s what rugby league is about. I think a lot of blokes would be pretty lost if they didn’t have rugby league so it’s good for them to be able to go back to the grassroots and give back to the game that gave us so much, so it’s exciting.”

And while they’re all out to win a comp for their respective teams, many of the former professionals seem to have an understanding that lifting the trophy at the end of the year isn’t the only thing at play.

“It feels really good,” said Nelson. “None of us carry on or have any arguments or disrepute towards each other, we’re all there trying to help the Group as one and help everybody move forward.

“It’s been pretty tough for a few years, especially for teams like Lower Clarence with Dougie (Luke Douglas) down there. They’ve really struggled over the past few years so to get people like that back and to see the club starting to thrive again is awesome – not only just for the individual clubs but also the Group as a whole,” he added.

“I think the football’s about to take off to a whole other level now and hopefully it’s supported by the Group and you see fans back watching country footy.”