Cover Photo: JGRImages
Tallon Smith
The Jamberoo Superoos will field a new-look team in 2026 after the retirement of several players opened up spots in the club’s first grade line-up for the new Group 7 season.
One of the biggest areas of change will be in the halves, with four players in the mix to take over from Jonno Dallas and 2022 Michael Cronin Medallist Mark Asquith after a successful long-term playmaking partnership.
First grade coach Dallas said that any combination of the four could take the field against the Shellharbour Sharks in round one at Kiama this weekend.
“We’ve got four blokes in there at the moment, Jake Hay’s definitely one of those, Toby Peters and Thomas North are two young guys who were at the club last year and have been training there, and then Jacob Maher is a guy who was at Cootamundra last year,” he said.
“Those are the four guys in our side who have been running in the halves, so it will be two of those.
“We literally haven’t picked our side yet, we’ll probably do it this weekend, because we didn’t get any trials.”
Of the four halves hopefuls, Dallas said that it is the experienced Hay that has set the standard at training over the pre-season.
“Jake Hay’s been a standout at training, all four of them have been really good,” he said.
“He was at the [Shellharbour] Sharks years ago, and he’s from Gundagai.
“Last year he played reggies at Albion Park, I don’t think he was all in with footy, I just think he was playing for a bit of fun.
“Then he got pretty committed this year and he’s dropped a heap of weight and has been unreal for us.”
The change at Jamberoo doesn’t stop in the playmaking roles, with a number of new players putting their hands up for spots across the field.
Amongst changing of the guard at the club this season, there has been a Riverina flavour, with several players from clubs across the Group 9 competition in addition to Hay and Maher also joining the Superoos, while a number of established lower grade players are also set to move up to the first grade team.
“There’s been a few new players that have moved to the club, a couple of guys from out at Cootamundra have moved up that are playing for us, which is cool,” Dallas said.
“A couple of boys from South City have moved up, so a few Group 9 players, which has been handy, but again they’re young, they’re all under 25, which is really good.
“There’s a fair few young guys like Riley Plekan, Jake Wilkins, like they’ve been here for a few years, Luke Carey, Thomas North, all these guys that have been in our club for quite a while but haven’t been in the first grade squad, they’ve all been elevated.
“Our side last year was quite post-30, a lot of the dudes, so we have a lot of new guys in our squad now.”
After finishing last season in second-last place with just four wins from 16 games, the Superoos missed the finals once again in a disappointing campaign.
When asked about his goals for the season ahead, Dallas said that a top five finish and a return to playoffs is the target that the rejuvenated squad is aiming for.
“Inside the year, it’s always to play finals and win as many games as you can,” he said.
“If you’re in first grade and you’re not trying to win, you’re in the wrong grade, first grade is trying to win.
“Ultimately, my main focus is that the club’s got a bit refreshed with younger players that are keen.
“The boys have been training hard, they love it, they’re really committed, everyone’s happy, and ultimately my philosophy in team sport is if everyone’s happy and wants to be there, then generally you get good results on the back of it as well.
“We didn’t get a trial, which was irritating, and our team will be completely new, so going into the start of the year we’ve just got to see where we start.
“If we start great, that’s awesome, and if we don’t, well then we’ve just got to make sure we accelerate our learning as quick as we can.”
Jamberoo will start its Group 7 campaign against the Shellharbour Sharks in the opening game of the competition’s Magic Round at Kiama Showground on Saturday at 11:30am.
