Gosford-Kariong end seven-year absence from senior footy

Tallon Smith

After a painstaking seven years on the sidelines, the Gosford Kariong Storm is set to make an astonishing return to the field in the Central Coast Rugby League senior competition this year.

Having last fielded a senior team in 2018 in the Third Grade competition, the Storm have been included in the CCRL Open Age draw this year, as a lower grade-only club alongside the likes of Budgewoi, Northern Lakes and local rivals St Edwards.

Storm First Grade Manager Brent Connelly said that the main motivation in getting the senior teams back was providing a pathway for the club’s juniors to follow.

“We’ve got a really good culture around the juniors at the club and we just wanted to push, we got the opportunity, trying to aim to get seniors,” he said.

“Last year it sort of fizzled out, we couldn’t get the numbers and we just let it go.

“Then I got approached again by a couple of old players and we tried to push it a little bit more this season.

“We got an  old player from Woy Woy who was [their] president come over, Jordan L’Estrange,  and he really helped me push getting players, and then another family member came on involved and he got us involved with another ex-player for think it was while and he’s part of the Adventist College up in Morisset. 

“So we’ve got a good bunch of blokes coming through, from police officers to ex-players coming in to religious guys that are in the team, it’s really a good mix of everyone at the moment.”

Like many other clubs in the district, Connelly said that the club have identified the Open Age competition as the best level of competition while they look to rebuild their senior division.

“We’re going into the Open [Age competition],” he said. 

“We just really want to try and keep pushing it next year.

“Now we’re in, the door opens for us to push even harder and try and get a couple more squads going.

“The world’s our oyster, isn’t it?”

Founded in 2000, as the child of a merger between the Gosford Townies/Giants and the Kariong Kookaburras, the Storm were created with the initial focus on building junior teams after the two respective clubs had struggled in senior footy prior to the merger.

The Townies were a successful club in their heyday, winning titles in 1950, 1958, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1973 and 1978, while Kariong also competed in the local top grade.

The club entered its first senior teams into the Open Age (Third Grade) competition in 2010, making the finals in their inaugural campaign, before narrowly missing the top four the following season.

However, in 2019, the club withdrew from senior football in the Central Coast Division and the Storm has remained a juniors only entity since.

According to Connelly, the big problem that having senior football back will address is the consistent loss of junior talent to neighbouring clubs in the Central Coast competition, which has been an issue for the club since its formation.

“This is the whole point for pushing this open grade and to keep pushing for next season, is to have somewhere for these younger blokes to go instead of [them going] to Terrigal, Erina or Ourimbah,” he said.

“We want them to stay with the club and know that they’ve got somewhere to go and keep that club culture going with these young fellas, [we want to] show them that you’ve got somewhere to stay.

“In the past we’ve had nowhere to go, they get to their 17s and then there’s [nothing]. 

“We’ve had nothing for the past five, I’ve been with the club five years, and we’ve had nowhere for [them to go] once our kids get to that age to move forward. 

“With the club, they’ve always got to move on.” 

As for what the club’s goals for the season are, Connelly said that the aim is to build slowly, with the Open Age side acting as a building block.

“We would love to be able to say, yep, we’re gonna push for first grade next year, but we’ve gotta aim small to get big if you know what I mean,” he said. 

“I would love to say, yep, we’re pushing for first grade. 

“Basically, we want the club to be one of those clubs and it should be one of those clubs on the coast here which has every grade, I would love for it to happen.  

“But at this point in time the goal is to get this season going, and during the season, build even more than what we are to push next season to go out and try and get that reserve grade team, and start building a club to push it all the way.”

Co-Captain and Gosford junior Hayden Doyle said that after a stint playing with Ourimbah, where he won a Third Grade title last season, he jumped at the opportunity to return to his home club this season.

“I was lucky enough to win the Open Grade Premiership last year with them, with some really talented footballers,” he said.

“It was just the same thing [coming back to the Storm], being part of something special. 

“And yeah, then as soon as this opportunity came about, I just jumped at it.

“It’s just amazing to see everyone come together to create something special.”

Doyle joined the Storm in the juniors after being invited by a friend from school, and has felt a strong sense of loyalty to the club every since.

“A mate from school at the time, got me over to the Storm and then from there it was just all love towards the club and the people in it,” he said.

“I came in contact with a great group of people who were heavily involved in the club, the Martin family, who were really, really heavily involved in the club. 

“They’re from Sean Martin, Greg Martin, Renee Martin, Jake Martin; Greg actually passed away  just as I sort of joined the club.  

“The people there were just amazing.”

The Martin family are synonymous with the Gosford club, having been involved since the beginnings of the merged entity way back around the turn of the century.

One of the next generation of the family, Doyle’s fellow Co-Captain Jake Martin, will lace up the boots for his beloved club this season in a long awaited moment.

“It just means everything really,” Martin told Battlers For Bush Footy.

“I played juniors, but haven’t played rugby league again, so now as soon as my junior club [formed] a senior club, I asked to play in it.”

Extremely loyal to the club his family have been such an integral part of, Martin said he hasn;t played the game since he aged out of the club’s junior program following the Under 17s.

“I’m 21, and I played my whole juniors at Gosford, I played 13 years of juniors at Gosford in consecutive years, I’ve only ever played [here],” he said.

“After I finished my juniors, I stopped playing for the pure fact that they didn’t have seniors, and that was when I was 17. 

“So I’ve been out of rugby league for about four years now, I switched codes to play rugby union, and I’m still playing rugby union now.”

Speaking on his family’s influence at the Storm, Martin said that both his parents had been involved with the club for two decades, with Jake himself spending countless weekends at the football throughout his childhood, leading to a strong love of the club.

“There’s a family history behind the club with my family,” he said.

“My mum was the first female president, and my mum and dad are both life members.

“My dad was pretty sure one of the first presidents or coaches for the Gosford-Kariong when they merged. 

“My mum and dad have been in it ever since it merged pretty much, think a year after it merged, and then ever since then, I’ve just been in the club, since I was born pretty much. 

“My dad used to take me down there to coach his team, I started when I was four, and then just throughout the whole time, I just constantly played for Gosford-Kariong. 

“All my uncles and all that stuff played for Gosford as well.”

As for what he would like to see the club achieve in 2025, Martin said that just getting through the season and building for the future are the primary short term goals.

“We’d like to just build on this year first and see where it takes us and see what happens.

“The aim is just to retain players as much as we can and then later down the track hopefully have them teams.”

The Storm’s return comes after the promotion of Ourimbah to the local First Grade competition, which in turn follows the return of Dora Creek to the Newcastle and Hunter Community Rugby League after one season in the CCRL top grade.

Umina have also had a change over the off-season, adding a Reserve Grade side to their Open Age team in 2025.

The Bunnies’ Reserves will play in the bye slot of the First Grade competition, allowing them to host home games at Col Gooley Field.

With Northern Lakes, Umina, Budgewoi and St Edwards fielding Third Grade teams alongside the traditional 10 First Grade clubs fielding various sides, the CCRL will have a total of 15 senior clubs in 2025.