Charlie Henley named Emus rugby president and sets sights on tackling volunteer crisis

The first grade forward will step into the shoes of outgoing boss Jamil Khalfan, juggling roles off the field as well as continuing his comeback on it.

Having missed the majority of the 2022 Blowes Cup campaign with a torn pectoral muscle, his 2023 season only lasted 30 minutes after suffering a ruptured bicep against Bathurst Bulldogs.

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But after working his way back ahead of schedule, Henley was able to string some games together for the seconds late in the year.

It's something he says has lit a fire underneath him ahead of 2024.

"I had been on the board as secretary in the last two years and been helping quite a bit...but it was something that I always envisaged doing when I'd finished playing," he said.

"That seems to not be the case because I'm definitely playing again next year.

"I think coming back for those last four or five games gave me the confidence in myself again.

"Coming back, I think it was about six weeks ahead of schedule, and then playing again on the weekend with no issues in Toothy 10s."

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When asked what challenges the club faced in 2024, Henley was straight to the point about an issue being felt wide and far in the community space.

"I think the big thing that is facing us and not only us, but most sporting clubs at the moment, is lack of players and lack of volunteers I think is probably the two things that are the biggest challenges," he said.

"We sort of have found that whilst playing numbers have probably remained steady, it's the commitment for the full year that seems to have changed since COVID.

"Maybe that's a by-product of people wanting to get away more or just committing a little bit less.

"So just trying to get people and keep them engaged is probably one of the big challenges I see."

While confident senior players would continue helping the running of the club, Henley said he wanted Emu's growing junior base to get involved.

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"The senior teams when asked do step up, what I think I want to focus on is getting our juniors more involved," he said.

"I think the last three years we've seen record numbers of growth each year in terms of junior involvement in rugby.

"But I think there's still this hesitation that parents come down, they drop their kids off, not that they don't get involved, but they sort of stand back a little bit.

So I think what I want to do is try to involve those parents more.

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"Because with nearly 200 juniors you realistically should have 400 parents that have to be there to drop their kids off, they're not driving themselves.

"I think if we can capture the parents at a younger age and they can sort of take their kids through, which is key for us moving forward."

Final details on the make-up of the 2024 Central West Rugby colts season are yet to be decided but after failing to field a side in 2023, Henley said Emus would be back in 2024.

Elsewhere the club is focusing on building upon foundations with first grade again being led by Nigel Staniforth and Tim Davidson while coaches are returning in the lower grades.

The club has also started work on female dressing rooms for Endeavour Oval with construction expected to be complete in time for the season.

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