Tallon Smith

He’s done what some labelled impossible, put his town back on the rugby league map, and won Battlers For Bush Footy’s Peter “Parra” Montgomery Battler of the Year award last year, but now Thomas Besgrove is set for a new challenge.

Having already started a junior rugby league club in Coolamon three years ago, Besgrove is returning to the senior ranks as the co-coach of the Coolamon Raiders’ senior men’s team for the 2027 season.

As he prepares to lead the side in a yet to be determined competition, the Group 9 premiership winner and former Southcity star said there are a number of reasons behind the decision, the main ones being a love of the sport and being a role model for his children.

“I think probably if you asked a lot of guys or ladies my age who are coming back into it, the first thing they’ll probably tell you is that they missed it, and that’s absolutely one of the reasons that I have come back into the fold as a player and a coach,” he said.

“I always loved coaching school level and stuff like that, so I probably always wanted to give it a crack at some point. 

“Then the other side is being a part of the junior setup [and] seeing how much joy the kids get out of that. 

“My kids are playing, and as a dad, you want your own kids to see you going out there and doing stuff as well and having a game and going through the same experiences that they are.”

Joining Besgrove as co-coach will be Darlington Point-Coleambally premiership player Jack Kelly, who also brings vast experience and an impressive country rugby league resume to the table.

Originally from Lake Cargelligo, Kelly’s footballing journey started at TLU, before he moved to Group 9 with Wagga Kangaroos. 

From there, he joined the Roosters, and went on to play in the most dominant Group 20 team of the past decade. 

“I was over at Wagga Roos, and I was actually under Benny Jeffery and just got a phone call from Darlington Point wanting to see if I was open to going out to Group 20,” he said.

“I spent most of my time in Lake Cargelligo, I was playing in Group 20.

“I bit the bullet and the first year I think we were second-last on the ladder, and [they said] ‘stick around for one more year’, which I did, and [I] ended up being a part of five grand finals.

“[They’re] just a great bunch of people out that way, I really enjoyed my time out there.”

Despite playing in Group 20, Kelly continued to live in Wagga, before moving to Coolamon with his young family.

Now settled in the community, he is excited to build something special with Besgrove, and use the knowledge acquired across a long career to help local players excel at the Raiders.

“I’ve been here for four years, I started having kids and just wanted something a bit quieter than Wagga, so made the move to Coolamon, and it’s exactly what we’re after, just a nice quiet town,” he said.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I’ve just never really had the opportunities, so when Bezzy approached me about getting the rugby league back to Coolamon I was absolutely stoked to be a part of [it].

“I’ve played with some good footy players in my time, like Jaden Kelly and Mick Dodson, Ben Jeffery, so I’m excited to get what I’ve learnt and pass that on in my own way.

“I’m absolutely stoked, it’s going to be good.”

Next step in a successful career defined by ‘love of the sport’

At 35 years old, Besgrove has already achieved a lot in a lifetime involved in community rugby league.

A Castlereagh junior, Besgrove grew up in Dunedoo, and began playing rugby league at a young age for the Dunedoo Swans, later progressing to senior football.

He then moved on to renowned Group 11 club Dubbo CYMS, before joining the Southcity Bulls after taking a job as a schoolteacher in Coolamon over a decade ago.

Although he has moved halfway across the state to a completely different sporting landscape, Besgrove said his love of rugby league as a pillar of regional communities remains as strong as ever.

“It was embedded in me as a kid, and it wasn’t embedded from anything bad, it was just a pure love of the sport from a young age and being from Dunedoo, which has just always been a rugby league stronghold,” he said. 

“[There’s] great people in Dunedoo in general, and then on top of that, they love their rugby league.

“For us growing up, it was a real way to connect within the community and to each other, and that fire was always there then. 

“I played at Dunedoo, which is such a great club and still is, [and] then went across to [Dubbo] CYMS and it was the same.

“When you’re a part of good clubs and around good people, I think it stokes the fire more.

“I reckon any person from Dunedoo, male or female, would tell you that they have a love of rugby league in some capacity, and that’s because it’s such a big connector to the community.”

Cross-code Coolamon connection

Compared to his home town however, Coolamon has been largely a rugby league desert for the past three decades, after the original Raiders folded in the 1990s.

Well known as an Australian rules stronghold, the town’s sporting landscape has been traditionally dominated by the Coolamon Rovers of the Riverina Football League, a club founded in 1894 and that competition’s most recent premiers.

After retiring from Group 9, Besgrove crossed codes and had a stint playing with the ‘Hoppers’, playing 39 games across five years for the club, primarily in the reserves.

Despite the two sports often being portrayed as rivals on a national scale, Besgrove believes this connection demonstrates the unity within the town’s sporting scene, and said the response from the Coolamon community to the formation of a senior rugby league club has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I think the majority of the community are happy to see sport in the town,” he said.

“We’ve obviously got an incredibly strong AFL club that are doing great things, but then in terms of having a rugby league club to work alongside that as well, I think the majority of people are quite happy about it. 

“Jack and myself get messages quite a bit, [president] Ross [Walters] does as well, people pulling us up in the street to say, ‘how’s it all going’ and ‘where is it at’ and ‘what can I do to help?’ 

“That’s probably the key indicator of where the community is at.

“Probably just as big of an indicator as well is the women’s league tag. 

“We put out a bit of an expression of interest for that and there’s a significant number of ladies who are keen to play, which is really good. 

“[It’s] awesome for us blokes to be able to have a go, but [it’s] just as good for the ladies to get that equal opportunity in this space as well.”

Gaining Momentum

Since the announcement was made Besgrove said the Raiders have seen a steady stream of people reaching out wishing to get involved with the club.

“Once Jack and myself were announced as co-coaches, you see the amount of people that have kind of come out and gone, ‘I’ve always wanted to play’ or ‘I’d like to come across and play’, or in particular some locals who are like, ‘we’ve really been wanting this opportunity’,” he said.

“That’s further driven the motivation then for myself to be able to help provide opportunities to others as well, very similar to [what I did with] the juniors to be honest.”

Those wishing to get involved with the Raiders can find the club on Facebook.

The club is still exploring its options with regards to competitions and fixtures.