Chris Rainbow will be taking over the reins with the ladies league tag side for 2025 after club stalwart Steve Rose decided to hang up the coaching boots for now.
Chris is 35 and has been at Gundagai since 2010. He hopes to build on the hard work that Steve put in and chase more of those elusive wins for the local ladies this season.
He said, “I’m a former player and I was in the 2019/20 Reserve Grade premiership teams. “I’ve coached juniors for 11 years, but it’s my first time coaching seniors.
“I’ve had a couple of years off and I’m looking to comeback this year. The ladies got one win last season and had a pretty tough year but credit to them they stuck the year out and went oh so close in many games. where it’s due. They remained tough and hung the year in and there’s no doubt that the effort was there and they tried their guts out.
“It’s good to be coaching my daughter, Destiny Cooper. It’s good to combine with her and a few other girls I’ve been keen to coach. They are a good bunch of girls. They have a lot of drive and a lot of effort.
“I believe if they can stick together and keep growing with confidence as they are only a young squad, experience has got to come and if they can stick together hopefully we can get back to our 2015 level with the great side that Paul Dean had. We won all three grades that year.
“A lot retired or moved away or had work commitments and we lost a lot of players. Chris has played a lot of positions and started off in the Backs as a centre before ending up in the Front Row.
“I’ve played a lot, I’ve been around the whole field. I’ve played under some good coaches. I played under Mark Elphick for a lot of years.
“I spent 12 months playing up in Sydney for St. Christophers’ and then came back to the bush.
“I’d just like to give back to the club and really dig in with these girls this year and try and give them something to re-work for the season. They are starting early with pre-season and they are training the house down.
“It’s just a bit tough at the moment, but I’m sure we will have a pretty good squad put together. PHOTO: Tahlia Crane
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