Fresh start for Griffith Blacks after tough 2023

After being beaten in all three men's grand finals last year, the Blacks couldn't repeat the same level of success.

While both their second and third grade sides played finals, with third grade being beaten in the preliminary final, the Blacks struggled to make an impact in first grade.

They finished sixth with four wins to their credit, 21 points adrift of a finals berth.

After coming off a near miss against Wagga City in 2022, incoming coach Mitch White is hoping they can reap the rewards of giving plenty of their developing talent.

"I think we had that grand final hangover without getting the grand final," White said.

"We had a lot of players finish up on that, a lot of guys who had been playing for a long time and were getting to the age where the kids were coming through.

"I think last year was a good rebuilding year for us as we had a lot of young guys getting a game.

"It's a good thing for us to keep building and hopefully we can do a bit better this year."

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White is looking to be a non-playing coach next year.

The 30-year-old has suffered a number of concussions issues and believes transitioning to coaching is the best way for him to stay involved in the game.

"I want to stay involved as much as I can," White said.

"We had a bit of a tough year last year, the previous coaches were ready to finish up so I thought it would be a good opportunity to jump in there and have a say on trying to get us going well again."

White isn't expecting a lot of turnover from the side this season.

Griffith had their first pre-season session on Tuesday with White keen to start early and keep people interested in rugby.

"We had about 15 and being the first training session on the 17^th of October I was pretty happy with that," White said.

White has been at the club for the past seven years but is hoping to bring a more structured approach to the game.

Something that hasn't always been the game plan of the Blacks.

"I'd like to play a bit more structured footy," White said.

"That's the big thing.

"It's not the typical Blacks playing style but I want to bring a bit more organisation into the playing field."

Daniel Richens has also stepped into the president's role.

Richens was looking to continue on as vice-president but when no one put up their hands for the top role he decided to step up.

"I've already been around the club for three years now but they've helped me a lot over the last couple after I broke my leg playing for them last year," Richens said.

"I didn't want to see them go downhill."

Richens has also been involved with touch, soccer and Australian rules in Griffith.

He hopes that experience will put him in good stead.

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