‘Winning is the absolute goal’: Central Coast out to defend rugby union country championship title

After a decade of underperforming, find out why the Central Coast will enter the rugby union county championships as prime contenders.

The Central Coast will be out to defend the Caldwell Cup at the Country Championships. Picture: supplied

When Ethan McInnes starting playing rep rugby a decade ago, any talk of the Central Coast winning titles seemed fanciful.

Lingering in the second division of the country championships, the rep team was a perpetual underperformer that struggled to get the buy-in of local players.

But fast forward 10 years and McInnes will captain a highly regarded Central Coast side looking to defend its country championship title and win its third Caldwell Cup in four years when the tournament takes place in Tamworth this weekend.

“When I first starting playing for the Central Coast the team was pretty poor, we were in the second division (of the country championships) and struggling to get players to commit.

“But now that the culture and everything within the team has changed, I’m just keen to keep it going and drive it so other players on the Coast don’t have to go through that poorer phases and we can keep it at that high level,” he said.

The Central Coast has emerged into a regional heavyweight in recent years. Picture: supplied

“It’s been a good preparation. Even with the rain around we’ve managed to train every week leading into it.

“We’ve got a very similar squad to last year’s team that won the comp and it’s a pretty similar team to the ones we’ve had success with over the last couple of years. So it’s so far so good and up until this point there have also been minimal injuries, so that’s nice.”

After breaking a 17-year drought in 2022 by taking out the country championships, the Central Coast has been among the heavyweights in recent years, making the grand final in 2023 and then claiming the title once again last year.

With fellow contenders Hunter and a new-look Central West side awaiting his chargers in the pool stage, McInnes is confident the Coast can do the business again.

“This year we have a very good side,” he said. “Obviously winning it is the absolute goal but there are a couple of other hurdles that you’d like to tick off along the way.

“If you lose every match you get relegated to division two, so you want to make sure you don’t get relegated because it then takes another two years to get back into the Caldwell Cup. We also want to have a high representation of players in the NSW Country squad.”

Playing in his 10th country carnival, McInnes has also reflected on the reasons behind the Central Coast’s rise from underperformers to big guns.

“There have been a core few players that have stuck around and really tried to push other clubs,” he said.

“And from that, more core players have joined in. We have about 10 solid players from different clubs that all really enjoy playing with each other.

“But also some of us have had success in making the NSW Country side, so to have that success also attracts more people who are driven to make the squad as well.

A string of Central Coast players have represented NSW Country in recent years. Picture: supplied

“When I first started playing about 10 years ago the Central Coast had no one in the NSW Country squad. But last year we had something like eight players picked in the initial squad and six ended up touring, so we’re getting that representation as well.”

There is a strong Terrigal flavour to the Central Coast team, with nine of the 23-man squad coming from McInnes’ Terrigal side. However the skipper has pointed out that the broader continuity of the squad will be a key strength for the team.

“It’s easy to rely on those Terrigal players and sharing that defensive line with players that you know,” he said. “But to be honest, there are guys like Matt Martin, Brock Peden and Lachie Peruch from Ourimbah who we’ve been playing with for five or six years now at this rep level and that is equally as important.

The Central Coast’s Colts will also be out to defend its title. Picture: supplied

“Whilst there is a heavy Terrigal presence, once we step into that Central Coast side, no one talks about clubs, we have such good combinations amongst ourselves that it doesn’t really matter.”

And although McInnes and his team are motivated to win, success in the country championships also has the added goal of increasing rugby union’s presence on the Central Coast after a couple of difficult years for the code.

“I think it showed that it is a strong competition and that there are good players on the Coast, McInnes said.

“A lot of players do go to Sydney to test themselves but a lot of them are staying or returning to the Coast, so it’s important to have that pathway and that’s what this competition is all about: it’s about giving those players a pathway to higher-level rugby without having to move to the major cities to compete and be seen.”