THE Francis Retreat at Bonny Hills will be the Newcastle Knights’ home away from home for the next two days.
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The club visited the Hastings as part of their Harold Matthews’ (under-16) and SG Ball (under-18) teams’ pre-season training camps ahead of the upcoming season.
Elite pathways manager Casey Bromilow said the partnership with the retreat had been “struck up” over the last couple of years and one which would see them return annually.
“We’ve got a good relationship and have stayed there a couple of times with these groups in previous years and they look after us,” he said.
Coaches ran their teams through training drills at St Joseph’s Regional College on Monday and Tuesday before they return to Newcastle on Wednesday afternoon.
It followed a pre-season trial against the Gold Coast Titans at Coffs Harbour on Sunday.
“The training grounds at the school are exceptional so it makes sense to us,” Bromilow said.
“It’s a good opportunity to take (the players) away from what they’re used to and take them somewhere that’s a good facility.
“It gives them a sense of difference so they can focus on footy and coming together as a team.”
Taree’s Mitch Black is one of a handful of Mid North Coast products in the Knights’ under-18 squad, along with coach Joel McCafferty who hails from Kempsey.
“There are no Port Macquarie players this year,” Bromilow said.
“We had Josh Dwyer in the summer squad for the SG Ball, but unfortunately he had to pull out due to wanting to focus on his HSC studies, but we’ve got quite a few from Taree and Nabiac.”
The Knights junior teams will kick off their season on February 9.
“The kids are just keen to start playing footy and can’t wait for round one.”
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