Coaching change possible for Forbes Magpies in Peter McDonald Premiership

Despite the departure of 2022 Peter McDonald Premiership winning coach Cameron Greenghalgh and a host of experienced forwards, hopes were high when the star duo of halfback Nick Greenhalgh and fullback Mitch Andrews took on the captain-coaching role together.

However, the side finished the wooden spoon in the Group 11 pool after a year which featured just three wins and plenty of off-field distractions.

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While Greenhalgh, 27, and 25-year-old Andrews are enjoying a post-season break and haven't spoken about 2024 plans in great detail yet, they are pondering their roles in things.

"Looking to still play for the club but I'm not sure if we'll go around coaching again. Maybe just playing and focusing on ourselves a little bit more and the team rather than juggling a lot of things," Greenhalgh said.

"We're still young and it's a learning curve for both of us. We both have thoroughly enjoyed it."

Greenhalgh added there were already whispers around town "someone involved with the club now, or a past player or coach" could be taking it on.

The halfback's father is a leading candidate to return, having still been at Magpies games this season and often running the water.

Cameron Greenhalgh previously led the Magpies' first grade team to the 2018 and 2022 titles while he's also the current Western Rams coach.

For this year's coaches, the 2023 season felt like one which never really got going.

The Magpies started their season two weeks earlier than most as their round one clash with Mudgee was moved forward to act as a curtain-raiser to an NRL game at Glen Willow.

A number of weeks off before round two wasn't ideal, while both Greenhalgh and Andrews missed games due to injury early in the campaign.

It was the round three draw with Macquarie which really pointed to what was to come.

It was the first of a number of close games the Magpies had chances to win but let slip and that was a major factor in missing the finals.

"I can probably pick four or five games we should won. Some where we were leading with 10 or even five (minutes) to go," Greenhalgh said.

"It started in round three against Macquarie. That draw where we should have iced that game pretty easily and we didn't. I missed that game through injury and I said I hoped it wouldn't come back to bite us.

"I don't know if it was a confidence thing after that and we thought we couldn't get over the line late in games.

"Then the Dubbo CYMS game, we had them on the ropes with 30 seconds to go and we only needed to make two tackles to win and we didn't.

"It was very frustrating and a couple of those results go our way and maybe we are playing finals footy. Things could have been a lot different."

The departure off a number of key forwards after last year's title triumph also had an impact.

While Greenhalgh said this year's forward pack never let the side down, the experience and know how lost when Jake Grace, Brad McMillan, Ben Maguire and Jake Haddrill opted to either hang up the boots or play elsewhere left a clear void in the team.

The late arrival of the team's Fijian contingent also didn't help.

Former NRL player Pio Seci and fellow Fijians Epeli Uluinavacu and Nikola Sovatabua were part of that forward pack but all missed pre-season and the opening rounds.

Other off-field incidents include the tragic death of under 18s star Dane Richards, something which impacted a large section of the bush footy community, while Forbes was also in the news for all the wrong reasons when an ugly off-field brawl occurred during the round 12 meeting with Wellington.

A number of people from both clubs were suspended following that while the Forbes club was fined and it was deducted two points in every grade as punishment for poor ground control.

"It was disappointing how we were portrayed during that and people were saying things happened when they didn't so it was frustrating and it takes the attention away from what we're trying to do on the field, which is disappointing for me and Mitch and the first grade side," Greenhalgh said.

"It was a bit of a distraction but it's not an excuse for why we couldn't win games of footy."

Forbes' under 18s and the league tag side will both be in action in do-or-die finals games on Sunday.

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