Welcome to 2022

By Club President Grant Jones

A big welcome to everyone to the 2022 season to our players, members, volunteers, sponsors and supporters.

I want to start off by saying what an honour it was at our AGM in December to be given the responsibility to lead our club in 2022. There is no doubt that the Whites is in my blood, and while I might not have got the rugby ability of some others in my family, I hope I am able to make a contribution to the club in the role of President. The Whites is a place that I love and am truly passionate about, and I am looking forward to continuing to play a role in the history of this proud club.

I want to thank outgoing President Mick Pini for his contribution to the club over the last few years, particularly the last two as President through what has been both a challenging time for the club as it has navigated the world we currently live in and for him personally. I look forward to him continuing to play a significant role within our club in 2022 and the years to come.

It gave me great confidence that all other members of the committee decided to support me and the club by staying on the committee in 2022 and I welcome new committee member Jamie ‘Chainsaw’ Marmont, if he can be half as good as a committee member as he was in his near 150 1st grade career, we will benefit greatly from his contribution in the board room.

Last year, the club took part in a process to establish a Strategic Plan for 2022-2024. A big thanks to Ben Hall who was very generous with his contribution to the club in helping us through this process and also thanks to new Vice President Mick Douros for driving this at committee level. This plan has provided us with a clear direction for the club in the coming years and once achieved will set our club up for a long and successful future.

The committee has identified the areas of priority for the next 12 months and are included in a Recommendations Report which can be found here;

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Q6rB_syFEGKLzIWmRSOTLrQAl8z_zNdq/view?usp=sharing

The committee has identified that relying on volunteers alone will not allow us to achieve the goals set out in the Strategic Plan. In a big step for the club, we will be seeking expressions of interest for an Operations/General Manager to be employed by the club and this will be going out this week. The type of applicants will help determine if this role becomes a full-time or part-time role. The great work by previous committees and the generous support of our sponsors has put our club in the position to take this step which we feel will make a significant contribution to the club in both the short and long term.

On the field, training is well underway with new and returning players ready to build on the momentum created before the season was cut short last season. It was great to see so many of our players rewarded with higher honours following last season and we wish them all the best in their rugby journey. They all leave holes to fill and we have players ready to step up into those positions to take our club forward.

It is great to see Darren Bulley return to the club in a coaching capacity, with Tim Hawke also returning as a full time coach and Dan Penca stepping into a 1st grade role. Maligi Finau and Reinhold Kamilo are taking the reins as coaches for our women’s program and we are looking to build on what was started last year and turn that into the best female program in the ACT region.

We are always on the lookout for new players and volunteers for both the senior and junior clubs, if you would like to be part of an exciting 2022 at the Whites, please get in touch via qbnwhites2620@gmail.com or by turning up at training on a Tuesday or Thursday night at 6pm.

Finally, a big thank you to everyone that has already made a contibution or will make a contribution to the club this season, without the support of you all we simply would not have a club for our players to enjoy this great game.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about anything at the Whites, please do not hesitate getting in touch with me through president.whitesrugby@gmail.com

Hope to see you all around the club in 2022.