Rebuild for Roosters

Atherton confident talented juniors will lead club to bright future

Atherton’s A-grade side might be struggling to scrape a win together but work is in full swing to enhance the foundation of the club’s future success.

The Roosters enjoyed three wins across women’s, under-18s and reserves on the weekend they celebrated 30 years since their first premiership in the CDRL competition, but A-grade was comprehensively outplayed in a 46-12 loss to Innisfail.

And while the Leprechauns might be perennial finalists and among the premiership favourites, it’s a different story for an Atherton club which is in the midst of a build for the future.

Roosters supporters have had a glance at how that might look with several graduates of the club’s under-18s premiership success in 2022 now featuring across the two senior grades.

Jhidan Dikes was particularly impressive in the halves, earning Atherton‘s player of the match honours, and his form, as well as that of his fellow U18s graduates, has captain-coach Nathan Curcio excited for the future.

“This whole year is about building the foundation of this club,” Curcio said.

“Bringing these kids through, it’s all about that this year.

“Jhidan Dikes was man of the match, young halfback, he was unreal. If they can keep that up … sure it’s still early days, they have a big future of A-grade footy in front of them – if not further.

“We’re struggling to scrape a win together but we’re still building, and when it does click, it’s gonna be good. You can’t rush it, we knew what it was going to be like at the start of the year – no premiership is won overnight, we just work hard and build into next year.”

Don’t think that means Curcio is writing off this campaign; not a chance.

Sure, Atherton need a lot of results to go their way if they are to be in the fight for the top six, but the Roosters are a proud club that want to win.