New Helensvale Hogs Rugby Union Club president details her vision for the club

The Helensvale Hogs have elected its first female president. The woman at the helm of the Hogs has detailed her vision for the club and her strategy to get Helensvale back on track after a tumultuous start to 2022.

UNITING the club after a dark period and creating a clearer path from the Gold Coast to Super Rugby are the two biggest priorities for new Helensvale Hogs Rugby Union Club president Tegan Pratt.

The Hogs committee elected Pratt as the new president on Wednesday following the shock exit of Karl Wernham who was stood down from his role last month.

It ended a tumultuous period for parts of the club after many senior players walked out on the Hogs ahead of the 2022 season.

Pratt, believed to be Helensvale’s first female president, was viewed as the perfect candidate by fellow members given her ability to connect with and unite people.

The mother of two may be at the helm, but Pratt said it would take every player, manager and coach to rebuild its senior program that momentarily looked a shadow of the one that appeared in the men’s first, second and third grade and senior women’s grand finals in 2021.

“It is not a one person show with me,” Pratt said.

“Everyone has to do their part. We will need everyone at Hogs to step up and that is why we will have a coaches and managers meeting (on Thursday night) to say that exact thing.

“You want to know how you are going to rebuild your senior program” It starts with you.

“It is about everyone coming together. We are so lucky that we have such a strong junior competition. We have great people around and in the right roles who are passionate about doing what they love to do. That is all that matters and what we need to focus on.”

The Helensvale Hogs featured in the first grade grand final in 2021. Pictured is Logan Watene. Picture: Mike Batterham

Pratt’s son Te Kani, 6, plays for the club while her daughter Teoarani, 3, already has an oversized Hogs jersey she proudly wears around Helensvale.

She managed her son’s under-6 team last year and was the 2021 Hogs under-6 to under-11 junior co-ordinator.

Pratt said no one at the club wanted to go through the bleak period that engulfed the Helensvale in the early stages of 2022 but believed everyone was excited to get the Hogs back on track.

“No one wanted to go through that,” Pratt said, declining to go into details about the inner workings of Helensvale in the lead up to Wernham’s exit.

“No one pictured that was how the year would start. The only thing we can do is get back to doing what we love and that is playing rugby. The past is the past, you can’t change it. The only thing you can do is take hold of the future.”

Pratt said some players who had exited the club amid a relationship breakdown with Wernham had already started to return to Helensvale.

She confirmed the club would have a second and third grade men’s team but was unsure at this stage if it would have enough to field a first grade side.

Pratt said she wanted to leave a legacy Gold Coast juniors going on to be scouted by Super Rugby clubs like the Queensland Reds while playing first grade on the Glitter Strip.

Pratt said the Gold Coast competition was just as strong as Brisbane’s and believed more needed to be done to improve the number of players being signed from the city’s top competition.

“I want to create a legacy for my son and the boys I manage in under-6s,” Pratt said.

“They need to have something to strive for or how are we going to entice them to keep playing.

“I watched Helensvale’s first grade semi-final last season and it was some of the best rugby I have ever seen. There is so much talent here so why are the Reds only looking in one area?