Tookey steps up to coach Bears
RUGBY LEAGUE: After playing an on-field mentoring role throughout the season, Mark Tookey is ready to take the next step in 2019.
The 125-game NRL veteran played all 16 games for Oakey this year, however a “burning ambition” has seen him take over the coaching ranks ahead of the Bears upcoming season.
“I coached at Souths Logan for a while doing development with the Raiders,” Tookey (pictured) said.
“When I stopped doing the development job I got out of footy for a while and it took a back seat.
“It’s been a burning ambition of mine to coach and obviously I played this year with full intentions of knowing I wanted to coach.”
After running out with a lot of the men he will be coaching in 2019, Tookey said the potential was there for the club to improve, but said he would remain on the sidelines throughout.
“I’ve been really impressed with a big chunk of the Oakey A-grade side from this year,” he said.
“They were super impressive but it’s just an attitude thing. The club has had a defeatist attitude and learnt how to lose. We need to break through that and put some discipline back in the joint.
“We don’t need to recruit too much, there’s a lot of good players here.
“We want to get back the players who have left the club through the years, and get the stalwarts back who made the club great back involved.
“The team that I’m going to build isn’t going to need my services.”
As for goals, Tookey isn’t content with being among the also-rans in the future.
“We’re 100 per cent looking for semi finals. We want to be in the top five, that’s the stick for us,” he said.
“The long-term goal is to win the club championship again. It’s not about winning a premiership at this point but about getting the club back to where it belongs.
“I’ve got a soft spot for Oakey as a town. I know the club has potential and I can see it’s not going to be hard to make the club great again.
“The potential is definitely there. It’s just about ironing out a few attitudes and getting the club running like an A-grade club. Doing little things right.
“I’ve done it before at Souths Logan who were in a similar position with the same kind of feel.”