Lauren Connell is swamped by team mates after winning a finals match leading in to the 2023 Grand Final against the Harden Hawkettes.
The Coota Bullettes will be coached by the uncle and niece team of Michael Slater and Lauren Connell in 2025 with the duo teaming up to see where they can take the Coota side upon their return to Group 9.
The Bullettes always performed strongly in George Tooke and often put it to the Harden Hawkettes who were the benchmark of the competition while Coota took part. Harden often played Group 9 clubs in preseason tournaments and performed strongly with the Smiths in Georgia and Clare representative players.
Lauren previously coached with Coota stalwart Kristen Byrne and had some great results. She will now be looking for some guidance in the form of 2005 Grand Final player and uncle Michael Slater who will help train the ladies and run the bench from the sideline on game days.
The idea to come together to coach the side came about towards the end of 2024. Lauren said, “Towards the end of last year. We spoke over Christmas a little bit about it. I did want to step away but we got talking and then we decided that we would give it a crack.”
“I was born in 2000, so I was five when he won the grand final. I remember there being a lot of people at the game but was too young to know what it was all about.
Lauren said, “I did two years of co-coaching with Kristen and this will be my third year coaching.”
Michael will bring a lot of experience to the side, from his playing days and his coaching over recent years across different formats and ages. He will be able to advise Lauren what changes she should make while she is out on the field.
Lauren said, “He will be good for the eyes of everything because when you are out there playing you can’t see everything. People on the sideline can see a lot more and he will be good to have the knowledge that he has to make the right calls on what we need to do.”
“This year’s side is relatively similar to last year’s. We have gained a few but also lost a few. We have around 19 players at the moment. It is a mixture of the ones who have been playing for the last two years and a few younger ones that have come up.
“Our preseason has been good with commitments and as long as that stays throughout the rest of the year, hopefully we will be competitive with all the Group 9 teams.
The side is still doing the final touches on who will start the season and in what positions, however Lauren plays well in the dummy half role and provides good service to her outside backs.
“With the new girls and Michael coming in it will be good for him to have fresh eyes on the whole positioning thing and see what he thinks.”
“Michael is Mum’s brother in law. The connection is through Mum’s sister Melissa.”
Michael Slater
The Bullettes have a trial against Junee on 29th March and their first round is 13th of April.
Michael downplayed his role when the Times caught up with him, but he could be Coota’s secret weapon with his experience.
“Loz is the coach and I’m just coming back to help out. I was lucky enough to play in the 2005 grand final and get a premiership with the Bulldogs. I would have been 28 then.
“I’m a Coota boy basically, born and raised but haven’t lived there since 2000, but used to travel home to play.
“I played front row. I was off the interchange bench in the grand final.
“I started as an Under 7 and went all the way through and was lucky enough to play First Grade when I was 16 and debuted on the wing in 1994.
“In 1995 I only played a couple of games and went back to 18’s.
“I then went away and played in Canberra for a year and came back in 1997 and played all the way through to 2000 and had two years down the coast with the Moruya Sharks.
In 2003 Michael moved to Canberra and was travelling back to play until 2013.
“I pulled the boots off in 2013. I started coaching in Canberra a bit as well, coaching Gungahlin and then did a little bit of stuff with the Belconnen Sharks.
“I’m just coming back to support her and bring some of those coaching techniques back to her.
“I still do a little bit with the Raiders development 14’s and 15’s squads. That’s the main coaching that I’ve been doing lately.
Michael comments on how the Raiders’ system works. “They have a squad in Group 9, a squad in Group 20 and a couple of squads here in Canberra and they all come together and then the Raiders do joint training. It’s a really good initiative to try and keep all the southern NSW boys together and get them to come through into the Raiders’ system.
“My role in that is just as a general coach to teach them the basics.
“I enjoy it. It’s not a full-time gig, it’s just for eight weeks of the year – October to December – that I do it.
“It keeps my coaching skills up to standard with what we are doing at an NRL level. Outside of footy, I am a self-employed mortgage broker. I’m a little bit lucky that way, as it gives me a little bit of flexibility to do the coaching.
“I started that when I moved to Canberra in 2003. “I’ve also coached at Aus Tag over here at ACT level as my daughter was in those sides, so that was easy.
“The game is similar but different. It’s about making sure that you do the basics right, learning the basics of the game and keeping things simple for the girls and also enjoyable.
“Loz’s mum is also helping out and my best mate Scotty Neil.
“We are bringing in some old faces, but new.
“It should be fun and I honestly believe that we are going to really have our backs against the wall in that competition, but we have to start somewhere.
“I’ve been watching a lot of the league tag over here in Canberra just to get an idea of the standard that they are up to.
“The skill levels are on the rise for the females and I still think it is the best thing they have done in country NSW is bring the league tag in, whereas before as a family, you would go to the footy and the ladies would just watch the men, but now they have got a reason to come as they can come and play and make it a family day out.
“Back when I was in Coota there was always one code that would struggle because there was never enough players to go around. You might have had a really strong soccer team, a good rugby team and a league team, but the Aussie rules team would struggle and each year it would change, especially through the late 90’s we were struggling big time to be competitive.
“The standard because we are now five or six years down the track since they’ve bought in League Tag, the standard in rugby league will also go up and it has shown by the results on the weekend where the Riverina 17’s girls absolutely pumped the Monaro girls and then Monaro pumped them in the women’s, so the talent is out there, especially in the Riverina.
Matthew Stadtmiller
