The action on the field has finished, the best performers have been recognised and now it’s a case of sitting and waiting.
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The Dubbo Rhinos had its presentation night on Saturday and while there was plenty of positives to look back on the club now is in a holding pattern until the finer details of the 2018 draw are confirmed.
It was a time to celebrate the year and some people have said to me it looked like a tough year but I want to look at the positives.
- Dubbo Rhinos president Ian Burns
Burns said he was keen to hear from Central West Rugby officials before any changes to the draw – a new model with three tiers was announced last month – are confirmed.
“Hopefully they speak to the clubs because they haven’t done that yet because that’s the only way to resolve this,” he said.
But the presentation night was a chance to look back at the year that was and despite the Rhinos having troubles at times, Burns was focused on the things the men in black and gold did right in 2017.
“It was a time to celebrate the year and some people have said to me it looked like a tough year but I want to look at the positives,” he said.
“We had firsts, seconds and colts playing for most of the year and we had a 17s side which played in one of the best grand finals people can remember so there’s only positives for me.
“Every club goes through those down patches through the year, usually it is right in the middle of winter, and we had that but I was stoked with the effort and really appreciative of the committee that worked so hard.”
Kane Rich, one of the real regulars in season 2017 and someone who cach Dave Stuart could rely on when numbers were low, collected the Best and Fairest award for first grade.
Boom recruit Javarn Nofoagatotoa proved a real hit in his first Blowes Clothing Cup season and those efforts were noticed by his teammates when he collected the Players’ Player prize.
Other first grade trophies went to Codi Riley (Most Improved) and Ross Gilmour (Coach’s Award).
The club’s under 17s side, defeated by Narromine in the Central West Junior Rugby Union grand final, was recognised as well.
Ben Carolan collected the 17s Best and Fairest award while Riley and Rodney Jackson won the Best and Fairest for second grade and colts respectively.
Also in colts, Jesse Redenbah was named Most Improved, and then he landed one of the night’s major prizes.
Redenbach was also awarded the Dwayne Olsen Award, the prize given to the rookie of the year.
Burns stated another of the night’s highlights was seeing a number of the club’s players of Fijian descent doing a traditional tribal dance, once that Scottish import Ross Gilmour also got involved in.