IT is a position Hastings Public School has been in before.
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After claiming back-to-back North Coast championships, the year five and six team has another shot at state glory when it heads to Sydney for Monday’s state titles.
Coach Tony Scott has been impressed with the continued improvement of his side from the first match of its zone campaign.
“I’ve been really happy with the growth of the boys right from the first game,” he said.
They progressed to the next stage of the competition following a heart-stopping 4-3 victory over Tweed Heads in the North Coast final.
After the two teams were locked at 3-all at full-time, Hastings were the first team to cross the stripe.
Last year they also made it this far before Warnervale Public School eliminated them from the competition.
Another Central Coast school stands between them and progressing to the second round of the state titles in the form of Kariong Public School on Monday.
“It’s a knockout format so if you win three games on the one day you become state champions,” Scott said.
“We’re starting to get a bit of momentum after our success last year.”
Scott, along with co-coach Greg Jordan, have implemented what they believe is a simple game plan, but it’s effective.
“We’re a bit of a structured team and everyone is on the same page,” Scott said.
“It does make it predictable how we play, but once we get the ball down the other end there is a little bit of ad-lib play and creativity that comes out.”
The coach didn’t want to single out any players for praise, instead preferring to focus on the overall performance of the team.
“Without people doing the hard work we can’t score the tries,” he said.
“We don’t worry too much about what’s happened in the past because that’s not fair on the kids that have come through.
“We’re more future focused.”