THANK YOU, WAYNE SOUTHWELL
It will be a very bittersweet moment for the Queanbeyan Whites this weekend when they take on long-time rivals Royals in the final round of the John I Dent Cup. The last round of the competition sees former Whites mentor and the last Whites coach to win a 1st grade premiership, Wayne Southwell, step down from coaching with Royals not figuring in this year’s finals. As most know, Southwell has a long and storied history with the Whites dating back to 1989 when as a teacher at Queanbeyan High School, he bought a young group of Under 16s through the junior competition and who in 1990 some progressed into playing as the first ever Whites Colts team in what was then Monaro Division 4! It was a massive step for the Whites in bringing in local school kids, some of whom are still involved with the Club to this day. Southwell then progressed to coaching the club’s 2nd grade side in 1991 before missing out on the 1st grade job in 1992. His ambitions to coach 1st grade saw Easts offer him the vacant 1st grade job and he stayed there for a number of years before progressing to be part of the Canberra Kookaburras coaching staff in the NSW competition at the time. .
With the Whites future looking decidedly bleak as player numbers and talent dwindled as the 1999 season was coming to a close, with the assistance of ACT Rugby, a proposal to get Southwell back to the Club as Head Coach was formulated and thankfully for the Clubs future, he accepted the role and went about rebuilding a broken Club! He, and those who were about at the time tasked to resurrect the Whites did have some bleak, dark days, but his drive to succeed and ensure that the Club not only survived but also got stronger was a motivating factor. Many long hours went into talking with talent to get to come to the Club and with no budget to work from it was a tough and massive ask! Slowly but surely, the Club could see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and by the end of 2002, the foundation blocks had been put in place.
An ordinary 2003 season without Southwell at the helm quickly saw the Whites look for a solution to move forward with. Enter Kim Thurbon (former Canberra Kookaburras and Royals Head Coach ) returning from coaching stint in Ireland who took over the reigns at the Whites and one of his first ports of call was to get Southwell back into the Whites fold. Thurbon as a full-time employee had the time and drive to get about building on the blocks Southwell had put in place and the re-birth continued. Southwell continued on in his role as Thurbon’s assistant and at the same time spent time nurturing the next wave of players and coaches coming through the Whites as success started to come through firstly 1st grade finals appearances, but also finals and grand final wins in the lower grades. Building on Thurbon’s and Southwell’s work, enter Kiwi Glen Christini who put the polish on a Whites club itching for success with again Southwell as a first-rate quality assistant. Back-to-back premierships in 2007 and 2008 for the Whites saw Christini enticed to Tuggeranong leaving the Whites coach position vacant. Again – Southwell was given the reigns over a quality field who had applied with the Club knowing that with Southwell he would continue on and bring the Club continued success. Christini picked up his 3rd successive John I Dent Cup in 2009 , albeit this time with Vikings before Southwell guided the Whites to the 2010 crown in an epic encounter over Vikings 30-28 – the last time the Whites held aloft the John I Dent Cup.
Over his tenure at the Whites, Southwell oversaw not only success at 1st grade level, but ensured quality coaching through the lower grades which saw the Whites have unprecedented success in the lower grades, whilst all the while ensuring the next group of Colts players were getting the necessary exposure to be ready for high grade honours. Southwell left the Whites on a high and so well respected by all and sundry. He took the opportunity to try his hand overseas and took up a coaching position in Canada, almost like a sabbatical, from Australian rugby, however the coaching bug continued to bite! With the Whites having a coaching team in place, he accepted the vacant Royals head coach job and sees us where we land today. He has taken Royals back to the top of the pile having won the John I Dent Cup on no less than another 4 occasions making him more than likely the most winningest coach in ACT Rugby history with 5 titles to his name.
Southwell not only had massive success at Club level, but he has also coached many representative teams over his coaching journey including Australian 16s, ACT junior sides, ACT Under 19s, Canberra Griffins, Canberra Vikings, Southern Provincial selections as well as assisting Brumbies Runners teams over the years.
This weekend will see Southwell coach his last game of club rugby – for the time being! He may well dip his hat into the coaching pond again one day down the track at Club or representative level or may just take some time to sit back and contemplate an outstanding coaching career that has impacted a multitude of past and current players and coaches that will forever owe a debt of gratitude to Wayne Southwell.
