The chance to add to Western Division’s proud history is what motivated Tim Ryan to put his hand up and take on the Rams coaching job.
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The Dubbo CYMS mentor was confirmed as the coach of the Western Rams this week and will be tasked with improving on last year’s effort where the men in bottle green were bundled out in the first round of the Country Championship.
Ryan was part of the Western open’s side which took out the 2004 Country Championships and has since gone on to carve out a successful coaching career in Group 11.
His CYMS side has appeared in each of the past five grand finals and has won three of those, including the 2017 title.
“I haven’t really done it (coaching) at a representative level before so it’s exciting,” he said.
“I know Western Division has got a proud history and there’s a lot of talented boys out here so I thought I could help out by stepping up and trying to get a few things in place and go a bit better than we have.”
Ryan takes over from Darren Jackson, who had one crack at the Country Championship with an open side in 2016 before Country Rugby League made the call to change its representative rules and enforce an under 23s cap for 2017.
One of the biggest and most well-known challenges for Jackson, and all those Western coaches before him, was having to deal with gathering players from such a huge geographical area.
Ryan knows that will be an issue again as his side works towards the 2018 Championship but a man renowned for getting the best out of his players at the Fishies is confident it can be overcome.
“It’s hard. Newcastle, for example, started training six weeks ago because they are all so close whereas we’ve got blokes from as far as Nyngan to Lithgow so it’s a long distance,” he said.
“But there’s a lot of talented young fellas around. You can throw anyone a jumper but 17 players don’t just make a team, you’ve got to work together and really come together so that’s what I’ve got to try and do.”
Making Ryan more confident is the fact he saw the commitment and positive attitude first hand last season when he assisted Jackson in the build-up to the 2017 Championship.
“To see the keenness of the boys, it’s a different level, and to see them at training after travelling those distances and see them wanting to be there is a good thing,” he said.
As well as seeing commitment, Ryan saw talent and he’s excited to harness that in the new campaign.
While not choosing to single out too many players by name, he did pinpoint hulking Orange CYMS winger Tom Satterthwaite, a man who scored three tries in the Group 10 grand final, as one who could make an impact at the next level.
“I’m pretty excited about him and hopefully he’s keen and there was a few others in that (Group 10) grand final that I watched,” Ryan said of potential Rams.
“And there’s some at Nyngan too, and hopefully kids at Dubbo are keen.”
One Dubbo player certain to be in the mix is Ryan’s star half at the Fishies, Alex Bonham. Bonham featured in the havles for the Rams last season, alongside Parkes’ Chad Porter.
“The hardest thing is the side changes so much. I know six or seven players from last year’s side are gone,” Ryan added.
“Guys like (Parkes pair) Sam Dwyer and Chad Porter, I was pretty excited to think they were going to be in it but now they’re gone and it’s pretty crazy to think that when they’re 24 years old. But it is what it is and we’ve got to get a squad together.”
Ryan has been known as a strict mentor at CYMS during his time at the helm with the foundation of the club’s success being built on the training paddock and in conditioning.
“I get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing boys improve and enjoy playing footy,” he said.
“You have to do the hard work if you want rewards so that will be no different. We’ll try and get together as much as we can and give ourselves every chance to put up a good showing.”