I have to extend a humble apology to coach Steve Turner, Dale supporters and other readers for misleading all with a blog that suggested Luke Smith is the new head coach at Dale. Yes Luke is effectively the replacement for Griffy Griffiths in the sense that he will do much of the sports administration tasks that Griffiths did and will be actively involved in the 1st XV coaching setup but no he will not be the man in charge. That honour goes to Steve Turner, who assisted Griffiths for the past few years and was responsible for the under-15 group last year. Turner is also a Dale old boy from the Class of ’95. He is known as a hard worker and is big on disciple. Smith will be his assistant and in charge of the backline.
Recently departed coach Griffiths (1993), Turner (1995) and Smith (1990) were all part of a golden age for Dale rugby. Here are the records covering the periods during which the three coaches played 1st XV rugby:
Year | P | W | L | D | Dale | Oppo | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1990 | 20 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 493 | 111 | 100.00 |
1991 | 21 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 561 | 118 | 95.24 |
1992 | 21 | 18 | 3 | 0 | 570 | 160 | 85.71 |
1993 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 833 | 125 | 100.00 |
1994 | 18 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 515 | 175 | 83.33 |
1995 | 21 | 19 | 2 | 0 | 586 | 169 | 90.48 |
TOTALS | 123 | 110 | 9 | 4 | 3558 | 858 | 93.43 |
@Queenian: I heard trials were only held last week. So I reckon trainig will only start later this week/early next week once the squad has been finalised
@Playa: Have Dale started training yet.
He should serve Dale well
Good man Player – can only assume that Queens, was a litle louder, robust!
I am sure he will be a good coach
Congratulations Steve “Big Daddy” Turner. Right behind you and Luke, and we look forward to great things.
Awesome evening last night at Hamiltons Rugby Club, where we had our Old Boys function and official handing over of the Old Dalian Herons 10s rugby team jerseys.What we didnt expect was that Queens would be having their old boys function in the same venue, in the room next door to ours.As one might guess, there was some good old banter going on.Wonderful spirit, made me want to wear that red and black blazer again.
Beet, were you also in Brits at school? Same blond teacher with the long legs that gave us “consentation problems? 8)