Rhinos backing their youth to improve once again with key man to depart

Doug Sandry has stepped up as club president and Graham Conn will coach the first grade side while Jason Caddies and Travis Hill will mentor the second grade team.

Making the finals in both grades in 2023, the club is in a great spot to build on in the next 12 months.

After having a handful of old boy's matches this year, Sandry said the club is looking at bringing some of their legends back.

"Brett Austin is going to take that on board, we want to start to get that up and running," he said.

"We've had contacts from the up north, on the Central Coast and other places who all want to play some old boys rugby.

"I think that is going to be an exciting part of the club seeing all the old blokes throw the boots back on."

While there is plenty of good happening at the Rhinos, there will be some changes in the first grade squad even before returning to training.

Sandry confirmed one of their best players from this season won't be returning in 2024.

"Unfortunately we have lost Dylan Hill, he has gone back to rugby league which is going to be a huge loss for us because he made a huge impact for us with his season last year," he said.

"We are going to miss him. But the great thing we've got going forward is all the young guys who stepped up into first grade last year.

"We've got some new talent coming in and we'd love to get any new blokes as well. We can't wait for training to kick off."

Youngsters Lachie Toomey, Loni Langi and Ethan Smith were all mainstays in the Rhinos side last season.

The trio were the subjects of praise from Sandry on multiple occasions and will be key once again next year.

The quartet are product of the club's former colts system, the Rhinos have previously spoken about their intentions to get an underage side back on the back in 2024.

"We've had a little bit of interest but we know there are a lot of blokes who aren't playing any footy out there at the moment," Sandry said.

"We might be able to generate enough interest to get that side off the ground. We have a little bit of a nucleus but obviously, you need that big step so we need some boys to come on board.

"It is definitely something that we want to focus on within the club going forward."