Building for the future

REALIST: Mick Slicker jnr knows there is much hard work to do at Waterhead.

RUGBY: 

COACH Mick Slicker Jr made an honest assessment when outlining Waterhead Warriors’ ambitions at first-team level.

“It’s all about consolidation, and that goes for the next couple of years,” explained the former Super League player.

Slicker acknowledges a lot of work needs to be done before Waterhead start to claw their way up the National Conference League ladder.

The foundations have been laid, with Slicker’s dad Mick Sr as chairman and a seasoned coaching team.

Now the trick is to construct a clear path from the club’s renowned junior section to senior rugby.

“It’s about building a bridge from the under-18s to the first team — for it to become one unit,” said Slicker Jr.

“The club is facing a period of rebuilding. It is a process we’ve got to get through so that the 18s can be moulded into genuine open-age players which then puts the club in a better position.

“In a way we’ve been a victims of our own success. Waterhead have produced so many excellent junior players that they’ve often moved on. The open-age team has suffered as a consequence.

“Turning pro is not the be-all and end-all of this sport, though. This level can offer a lot and players have got to realise that.”

The 36 year old has attracted a clutch of new players for the 2015 campaign — Rhys Wareing (back row/front row), Luke De Feu (full-back), Jason Andrews (centre/back row), Danny Early (front row) and Luke Bentley (loose forward) among others — as well as keeping hold of some familiar ones