Former Australian Kangaroos, NSW Blues and NRL utility playmaker Shaun Timmins has earned his first head coaching job and will look after the Illawarra SG Ball Cup team.
In a full circle moment, Timmins will return to the club that he made his debut for in 1994 at the age of 17 - the Illawarra Steelers. However, instead of returning as a player, he will look after the club's SG Ball Cup program.
After working at the Dragons in a number of roles, including recruitment, development and sponsorship, Timmins has now been awarded his first coaching venture at the age of 47 - 40 years since his debut in Round 18, 1994, against the Cronulla Sharks.
“It's a club that's very close to my heart,” Timmins said via News Corp.
“I sort of jumped at the opportunity, it's probably one of those things that was always in the back of my head that I'd like to have a go at coaching myself.
“With Flanno (Shane Flanagan) coming in this year, he said he'd be keen on me doing that role.
“I'm excited, we've got some great young kids in here so I'm looking forward to coaching them.”
Shaun Timmins also spoke about what he will bring to the table as coach. Having played over 200 games in the NRL and another 19 at representative level, he has been fortunate to work under Graham Murray, Andrew Farrar, Nathan Brown, Wayne Bennett, Phil Gould and Chris Anderson.
Coming through the Steelers SG Ball side in his youth, he is helping to guide the next generation of player to their first-grade debut and help with their development.
Speaking on his relationship with Shane Flanagan, he is hoping to improve the pathways system which will benefit the St George Illawarra Dragons for years to come.
“Flanno is keen on filtering everything from the top down through all our grades,” Timmins added.
“Last year we had kids in SG Ball that finished up playing Jersey Flegg and NSW Cup, so it makes it an easier transition when everything sort of flows the same through the grades, so when they move up everything is pretty familiar to them.
“We'll just be trying to teach the younger boys how to train, how to prepare and the right way to do things if they want to go onto a career in the NRL.”
“Right now it's just about preparing the boys to be as fit and as strong as they can be … It's a tough competition and a short one, so you have to be ready early to give yourself the best shot,” Timmins said.
“I'm excited with some of the talent we have, it's a young side so a lot of them can play SG Ball for two years which is exciting.
“At the end of the day though, I obviously love winning, but the end goal is to get these kids ready and hopefully some of them go through to play NRL.”
