Cohesion. 

That’s the word for the Goulburn Dirty Reds as they prepare their 2025 campaigns, with a mix of familiar and new faces to coach the club’s three senior sides.

A focus on the club training together through preseason and throughout the season will aim to bring the club together, ensuring competition for places. 

Further cementing the club cohesion is the fact the three Goulburn sides will travel together all season, consolidating club resources and bringing players together. It also means three home games each time the Reds run on to Poidevin Oval, giving Goulburn’s rugby fans a full afternoon’s entertainment.

This season sees the return of former first grade player and coach David Anable to the coaching ranks. The former Brumbies Women’s forwards coach will bring a wealth of experience to the men’s first grade side, and high expections for the playing group. 

For Anable, he wants competition for spots, with second grade players pushing their first grade counterparts for their positions. 

“This season, I’ll be looking for improvement from the players. I want to be challenged, and I want to challenge the players,” Anable said. 

“We’ll look to create combinations and connections with both grades, build on last year. There’ll be a lot of work with first and second grade together this year, and we’ll see who rises to the challenge. 

“Cohesion across first and second grade will be a big focus for us, we want to bring both grades along together and really push for competition within the playing group,” he said.

“I think we’re expecting a few new players, and we’ve got a fair few coming back from last year, which is promising. We’ll need commitment from players each week, and not just on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

“It’s going to be a great year for rugby in Australia, and hopefully we can have some success here in Goulburn.” 

Ashley Mewburn, who has also been working with the Brumbies Super W squad, returns for another season in charge of the Women’s team, who this year will make the move back to Premier 15s. Mewburn is confident the Reds will be able to match it with the Canberra sides, and said building the culture off the field would reap rewards on it. 

“Off the back of the premiership win and undefeated season in the 10s, it’s great to be promoted back up into the Premier 15s competition,” Mewburn said. 

“We’ll be looking for growth from our senior players going from 10s to 15s format, obviously growth in the players, but also growth in our numbers. 

“Travelling with a match day squad of 23 players each week is going to be a big key target for us, and then sustaining those numbers throughout the season as well. 

“We’re country girls – we’ve got big hearts, small bodies, and we can match it with our physicality against the bigger sides, so hitting our targets with the set piece in particular will be important,” Mewburn said. 

“It is a Women’s World Cup year, so all the Brumbies-based Wallaroos players will not be playing throughout the Premier 15s season, which will help our transition into the competition.”

Anable and Mewburn combine to form one of the most experienced coaching combinations the Reds have seen, with both holding a Level 3 qualification. Mewburn is currently the Australian U18s Schoolgirls 7s coach, and toured New Zealand last year with the side.

New to the club is Director of Rugby Douglas Ryan, who joins the Reds from the West Harbour Pirates. Ryan has an impressive rugby CV, and has worked with (just to name a few…) Randwick and Southern Districts in Sydney, Wests and Vikings in Canberra, junior Waratahs sides, and even a stint with the Canadian national junior sides. Ryan will oversee the coaching program, providing advice and furthering the cohesion through the coaching program. 

Also returning for another season overseeing second grade is Corbie Yeo, who will look to build on last year’s results. 

Learning his trade with the Orange Emus as a youngster, the former Monaro representative front rower joined the Reds back in 2019, winning a premiership the following year. This will be Yeo’s third season as second grade coach, with the former prop keen to see his second grade charges returning to finals footy.  

The Reds have been busily arranging trial matches, with games against Crookwell and Wagga Waratahs tentatively booked in for the men, while the women will take on Wagga, Wests, and Uni-Norths. 

But first, Goulburn’s women will be out to defend their title at the Kiama 7s later in February, with the men looking to also bring home a trophy. 

Training is at Poidevin Oval every Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 6pm sharp. Players are encouraged to get there early to hit the ground running. 

“We highly encourage everyone to bring a plus-one to training – bring your brother, bring his sister, bring an uncle, bring your cousins, bring everyone that you know, and who knows, they could be the next Brumby,” Mewburn said.