Magee’s aiming to help Strabane to ‘progress’

NEW Strabane Rugby Club head coach Neville Magee is keen to help the Bradley Way outfit fulfil their ambitions of making progress through the Ulster junior ranks.

The 38-year-old brings a wealth of experience with him to Strabane, having been an Interprovincial Cup winner with Ulster Schools, represented his province at under-21 level, won the Ulster Senior Cup with Dungannon and having played in the Australian and New Zealand Premierships for Randwick and Christchurch respectively.

Upon returning home to the Ardstraw area in 2021, Magee joined forces with Omagh Accies as a player-coach in the All-Ireland Leagues where he learned a lot under the wing of Glenn Kyle and he feels now is the right time for him to step out on his own and that Strabane is the right place to do it.

“It’s a challenge, a step up in my coaching career so I’m looking forward to it. It gives me the chance to pick my own team, run the ship and do my own thing,” he said.

“I had a good learning under Glenn Kyle at Omagh. He’s a well experienced coach and I learned a lot under him. And playing and coaching in All-Ireland League 2C meant I learned a lot.

“The experience at division one [level, as a player with Dungannon], you know the level of commitment of the players around you so you try to bring those good things through and in New Zealand, there is a lot of support to the coaches, the management and the players, there’s a real drive and passion and a lot of effort goes in behind the scenes. You really see how the ship can be run. The dot the I’s and cross the T’s with everything but I’ll be looking to put my own touch on it. I’m looking forward to working with the players and the club and getting into the ethos there, which I hope we can align with my own ambitions and how I feel the game can be played.

“The club definitely want to progress up and that aligns with me, the ambition is there and I have ambition to work on that.”

After coming close to earning promotion to Ulster Championship 2 at the end of last season when they narrowly lost a play-off with Coleraine, Magee and Strabane can go into the new Championship 3 season with confidence and belief that they can build upon that progress.