PART TWO | LEE GREENWOOD INTERVIEW

We sat down for an in-depth chat with Lee Greenwood, who recently extended his stay at the club into a third year, taking on the role of First Team Coach. Read Part Two of our two-part interview below.

Greenwood arrived at the club on the back of a ninth-place finish in 2022 but the off-season signings of Michael Lawrence, Jack Walker and Bodene Thompson signalled a change in momentum.

Recruitment over the last two years has seen several more experienced players arrive, resulting in higher standards on and off the field. 

James Donaldson, Ronan Michael and Emmanuel Waine are just three who join us for 2025 with a reputation for their work ethic and meticulous approach to training. 

Those players, who have come from “good environments”, has led to increased expectations of what can be achieved next year with Greenwood highlighting the professionalism of the playing group as a key area that has improved since he first arrived.

“The club seemed like it already on a bit of an upward trajectory when I came in, some of the names and players that were brought in right before I joined, they were obviously of a good level, big names that had already committed to be here. 

“Since I've been here, I've seen progression in terms of professionalism and levels, whether that comes from what the staff have been doing to try get in place or some of the playing personnel, who raise the standards within the playing group. “Some of them have a big influence on what goes on. They'll pull other people up when things aren't right, and they'll lead by example. We've probably increased that number of people from when I first joined, it went from having maybe two or three that led by example, but with a lot sort of not used to that, or not displaying sort of some of those behaviours, whereas now it's probably tipped in our favour. 

“I'd say we've got a really good number of people that professional in what they do. They've been in good environments; they know how to train look after themselves and I suppose those numbers have grown. What you see then is they don't need policing as much as probably what they do when I first come in. “The expectation levels from everybody too, not just within but obviously from supporters and other people out there that see us, they probably expect a bit more from us now than when I joined at the start last season, especially when you finish third and you start bringing you bring more players in that have played NRL and Super League. Expectations do go up, but certainly personnel wise and behaviours, I've seen an improvement over the last couple of years.” 

The familiar pairing of Greenwood and Brian Noble will be looking to steer the Bulls to even better pastures in 2025, following three semi-finals and two third placed finishes in the last two years.

Continuity with a core of the playing group staying put and familiar faces on the training pitch will help when pre-season training commences on Monday. 

Whilst there are several new faces to welcome into the group, knowing what to expect from the players and what areas we can improve will help us continue to build heading into next season according to Greenwood, rather than starting from scratch. 

“By bringing someone new in at this stage, they might not have signed some of the people that we've brought in, they might not have kept some of the players that we've retained. They might want a different type of team or play a different type of way. 

“You probably get that that period where it's not quite their team for a start and any individual that goes in as a head coach in charge of a team, you end up wanting to put your stamp on it, and that usually means a player turnover. 

“It's probably good in a way that when we don't need that, we've been involved in all the conversations, so we knew who we wanted to keep and who we wanted to bring in, ultimately, it was obviously Eamon's choice in the end, but we discussed all those like we did with everything. 

“We know the players, so we know what to expect from them, what we can ask of them, the improvements that can be made. We know what all the strengths are and what we're good at, and we were good for large parts and in certain areas over the course of the season. 

“It's about building from there, rather than starting from scratch and just getting to know each other. I think that'll help us, but we've still got a good number of new players in there and in influential positions as well.

“There's still going to be a bit of getting everyone used to each other and how people play. There’s still going to be a bit of making sure people know what other people’s strengths are and you look at people like Jimmy Meadows and Joe Keyes, the positions that they're going to be figuring in, there's still a bit of work to do with that, especially when you're part time and only monitoring it a few times a week.”