The Central North Rugby Union has named Scone Brumbies' Ben McRae as the competition's 'President of the Year' for the 2021 season.
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The award was announced at the CNRU AGM on Sunday and McRae said he was 'pretty chuffed' to receive the honour after a difficult season impacted by COVID restrictions in NSW.
"We had sort of a year of two halves, in the first half we battled away as a club in terms of numbers and then I guess the reason I won (the award) is because we were able to turn the club around at the halfway mark after a bye," McRae said.
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"We were able to reset and focus on some goals that we wanted to achieve out of the year and we went into the second half and were able to win a lot of games of rugby against some of the top sides.
"We beat the Tamworth Pirates for the first time in 13 years in first grade and that allowed us to kick off the second half on a good note, we got really good support from the community, and we finished off with a hard fought 20-18 loss against Gunnedah, who went on to win the minor premiership."
McRae said he was honoured by the recognition given to the club from the CNRU.
"They normally give that sort of award to the more successful clubs on the paddock but a lot of work has gone in behind the scenes to turn our season around from where we were at the start of the season to the end of the season," he said.
"It's not been just myself, I've got a pretty good committee behind me but I'm pretty chuffed for the award."
McRae also paid tribute to the club's coaches for their part in the Brumbies' success.
"We changed our coaching strategies and Warren Park, our u18s coach, was a big part of that and he really stepped up," he said.
"Warren Park, Zac Allbon and Doug McKillop as our coaches have all been a big part of that success."
Looking ahead to the 2022 season, McRae said the Brumbies are in a strong position as he heads into his third year as president of the club.
"I'm hoping that what we were able to achieve in the second half of this year, will help kick start our season next year," he said.
"We drew a lot of confidence out of the back end of our season and I think the players got a lot of confidence out of realising that if they put in the hard work at training, results will come.
"Hopefully we can take the momentum out of this season and take that into 2022."