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Friday, 1 August 2025
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Roosters captain backs his ‘cool’ coach, dad
2 min read

ROSEWOOD Roosters captain Zac Collins rates his coach and dad, Sam “one of a kind” as his C-Grade rugby league team continues to build momentum this season.

While Zac might have some understandable bias towards his dad, he approves his inclusive coaching style that has yielded two positive results in a rebuilding year.

“He’s always awesome,” Zac, 22, said.

“He’s pretty cool.

“He understands stuff that goes on in the game and he sees it from a different point of view from different coaches I have had.

“He’s definitely one of a kind.”

Sam has coached Zac all his life from previous stints with Brothers and Norths to joining the Roosters in under 19s.

“It’s my first year playing under him as a senior, so it’s good,” Zac said.

Zac scored a try in the Roosters’ recent 24-22 victory over Norths.

That was the Roosters’ second win of the Rugby League Ipswich season.

“We just stuck to our game plan as much as we could,” Zac said, moving from his usual halfback role into the centres.

“It was one of my best wins that I’ve had. The boys fought hard.

“It’s definitely a confidence boost.”

The Roosters’ latest game scheduled for Anzac Park last Saturday was postponed, along with all Rugby League Ipswich C-Grade matches.

The Under-7 Gala Day planned for Rosewood last Sunday was also called off to preserve the field surfaces after recent heavy rain.

New dates for the matches were to be decided.

Rosewood’s first C-Grade win of the season was 24-12 against Karalee.

After recent team changes, Zac said the Roosters were starting “to find their feet”.

He was keen to welcome back senior player Cody Adams from his overseas mission representing Australia in new sport speedsoft (skirmish) at the NSL Nations Cup in The Netherlands.

However, he said the Roosters would miss second rower Jasper Strong who required surgery.

“He’s a hell of a player, so he will definitely be missed,” Zac said.

After some encouraging performances from this year’s new senior team, Zac said the main goal was always to play finals football, which his team can strive for in the future.

“There’s definitely a lot of new faces for Rosewood,” the former St Edmund’s College student said.

“Rosewood has a new committee this year and a new coaching team so we just want to prove to everyone that we are actually a lot stronger this year.

“The atmosphere at this club has changed a lot so it’s definitely good. We just want to show people that.”