Sport
13 December, 2024
The Wolves gear up for 2025 season
Big things are coming to the Stanley River Wolves Rugby League Club, including a refreshed committee, major clubhouse upgrades and dominant senior signings.
New club president Sam Cooper has previewed the 2025 Wolves season and has big plans for the club.
“We want to bring a premiership, obviously—that’s what every club president wants,” he said. “But I suppose my mantra is, I don’t just want to produce good footballers, I want to produce good humans as well, and that starts with our juniors.”
The club’s focus this year was on recruiting senior players who not only excelled in football but were also good people. “That was our big focus with our senior recruits—they had to be good people as well as good footballers,” Sam explained.
The Wolves’ A Grade signings for next year promise a high-calibre group of players who can help the club win a premiership. With the Beerwah Bulldogs A Grade team securing back-to-back premierships, the Wolves are determined to follow suit.
“We have Cameron Cullen coming on board as a Wolf. He played NRL previously, and he’s possibly the biggest signing on the Sunshine Coast, to be honest,” Sam said.
Cullen played for the Brisbane Broncos and was with West Panthers last year in the BRL. He has been involved with several NRL systems and was with the Dolphins as a junior.
The Wolves also signed Gareth Friedrich, who was an “extremely good” BRL player, and Ben King, who has re-signed with the club after playing in NRL systems and emerging as a dominant leader after this year’s season.
The Stanley River club is also investing in infrastructure, doubling their dressing sheds to better accommodate female players. The upgrades, which cost the club $480,000, were supported by funding from the Moreton Bay Council, Queensland Government, and the QRL.
“We want to better accommodate our girls; we have a lot of girls playing nowadays, which is excellent,” Sam said. “We are trying to have more space for them and to be separate from the boys.”
The club is also looking to add an announcer's box in the middle of the field to accommodate scoreboards and storage.
Along with the new signings, the Wolves have a refreshed committee for the 2025 season. Sam serves as club president, with Jarrod as junior vice president and Paul Potts as senior vice president. Bree is the club treasurer, and Lauren is the secretary.
Sam, who was also the junior vice president this year, expressed confidence in the new leadership team. “It’s a good team, and we all get along. Obviously, we have our disagreements here and there, but at the end of the day, we all have the club’s best interests at heart,” Sam said.
“Jarrod is excellent; he has worked with the NRL and QRL before, and he’s passionate. He has real knowledge around the game of football, around kids and coaching, and how organizations are run.”
