NATIONAL TWO

COACH of the MONTH

Rhys Morgan – Harrogate  

Rhys Morgan, 37, in his first year as Head Coach of Harrogate has rallied his troops to great effect in retaining the club's status in National 2

Following a turbulent season in which Harrogate have been crippled by injuries to many senior players the club has fought back under Morgan from a seemingly impossible position at the beginning of April to chalk up wins against 5th. placed Launceston away, 6th placed Manchester at home and 4th placed Waterloo away in the final game of the league programme. A final league placing of 10th has resulted from Morgan's sterling efforts when the only real pleasure from an arduous and torrid season came right at the end,(as some things so often do in life).A deep learning curve for Morgan has born fruit and offers real hope for Harrogate as he develops as a
coach of great potential.

Rhys states “I am just over the moon for the players they dug in deep not just for me but for the Club, to win 5 games out of 6 of our last games gives the Club a great platform to build on next season. The only way is up as far as I’m concerned.”

PLAYER of the MONTH

Ollie Thomas – Moseley

Ollie is the son of former Moseley winger (and groundsman at The Reddings), Alan Thomas. He is 21 years old, and is a product of our mini and junior section, having played for Moseley teams every year since the age of 8. He is also a very proficient cricketer, having been at one time on the books of Warwickshire CCC, but when the time came, he chose to follow rugby, although he still plays cricket in the Birmingham League.

Ollie was originally coached as a scrum-half, and he made his debut for the 1st XV in National League 1 in season 2002-03, when Moseley got relegated. He played several games that year as a scrum-half. Last season he moved to fly-half, and shared the position with Greg Macdonald, and the kicking duties with Steven Nutt, both of whom were former Moseley Colts' team-mates of his. His handling skills and quick reactions were recognised quickly last season by new coach Steve Ojomoh, and they have continued to be developed this year under the eyes of Don Caskie and Ian Smith. This year he has also taken over the kicking duties, and he is maintaining a creditable strike rate of about 70%. Ollie combines his rugby commitments with full-time work for the club as a rugby coach in Moseley's extensive Community Programme.

2^nd: Lee Cholewa (Harrogate). 3^rd: Gareth Cull (Nuneaton).      

KICKER of the MONTH

Ollie Thomas – Moseley

See above.

During April he had a terrific strike rate of 79.17% with 19 of his 24 shots at goal being successful to just edge out Bracknell’s Andrew Frost.