Matt Ryan, who took a year off coaching duties in 2018, will take on the head-coaching position, flanked by assistant coaches Jim Roberts and Mike Wallace.

Roberts was one of the co-head coaches last season, and will return in 2019 to coach the forward pack and set-piece structures.

Mike Wallace has fulfilled a number of coaching roles at the Camden Rugby Club in recent years, and comes to the Boars as the skills and backs coach.

Ryan said his year-long break was beneficial, and helped him improve as a coach.

“The year off gave me an opportunity to sit back and have a think about my own coaching styles and the way I was doing things,” he said. 

“It also gave me an opportunity to observe how other teams are doing it, and I feel like the year off has done me well.

“I’ll come back with a different style, some different ideas, and we’ll be able to go in a different direction with the player group.”

Ryan said recruitment had already started for the 2019 season with a focus on building a stronger forward pack.

“We’ve got a few blokes returning to the club after a year or two off, so they’ll bring experience to the team,” he said. “The way things are looking, we’ve really got some good forwards coming in.

“We’ll sit down as a coaching staff, but I’ve already got an idea of the structures we’ll play, and the style we’ll take overall. When we finalise the squad and get them on the paddock, then we’ll refine exactly how we go about it.”

One of Ryan’s main focuses for 2019 will be improving what was sometimes a lackluster defence in 2018.

“Our defence is probably what’s let us down in the past, so we’ll put in more work in defence this year, and that will give us more opportunities overall,” he said.

“If our guys are a bit more clear in their roles, and we can identify who’s doing what better than others, and channel our attack to suit that, that’ll give us better front-foot ball.”

And while Ryan is excited about next season’s prospects, he said it was too early to put an expectations on the team.

“It’s not premiership or bust, it’s more culture or bust at the moment,” he said. “We want to get the right attitudes across the board, and hopefully get everyone to buy in for the next couple of months.

“Once we nail that down, and recruit accordingly, then we can really start getting excited. If you ask me again after round six or seven, it could be premiership or bust.”