Troy Meath takes the reins of under 18s as Bathurst Panthers reveal 2023 coaching staff

That is the message from newly appointed Bathurst Panthers under 18s coach Troy Meath as he begins to map out his plan for the 2023 Tom Nelson Premiership.

Meath is one of the new faces on the coaching staff of the Bathurst club this season, taking over the reins of the under 18s from Mick Carter.

Across the club's senior sides, only first grade captain-coach Jake Betts has retained his role from last season.

Georgie Betts has stepped up to coach the open women's league tag outfit for the first time after Jess Hotham opted to stand down, while Michael Wicks and Tyson Chapple are the joint mentors of the Panthers reserve grade side.

While this season marks Meath's first as a Bathurst Panthers coach, he does have prior experience guiding young talents.

He also brings with him the desire to coach Panthers to their maiden title in the Western-wide Tom Nelson Premiership.

"I coached in the Penrith comp for a number of years, mainly teams with my young bloke [Lachlan] who's in 18s," he said.

"They've always had Mick [Carter] or someone else on board, but I thought I've got a little bit to offer actually. I've been around footy for a long time so why not give it a crack? Hopefully we can go deep into the season.

"I don't want them to lose, and hopefully they've got the same mentality. Once I finalise everything and the numbers turn up, we'll get that mentality across the board hopefully."

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As Meath indicates, he is only early in the process of forming his squad for the upcoming season.

Gone are the likes of Group 10's season 2022 joint under 18s player of the year Jackson Carter, rookie of the year Tom Lemmich and hard-charging front rower Tallis Tobin.

They are not the only players to have graduated from last season's under 18s outfit either.

Still, the prospect of putting together a new playing unit doesn't worry Meath. It's something he's eagerly anticipating.

"I can't wait," he said.

"I've got a good core group who are turning 18, but our biggest number at the moment is the 16s who are coming up, so it's going to be a bit of a challenge to bring them all up and get them on board.

"All positions are vacant at this stage definitely until we finalise numbers and get everyone to training, it's pretty early on in the year, people are away and it's hot at the moment.

"I'm guessing most clubs will be in the same boat as us with a heap of 16s coming through and only a handful of returning 18s or that are turning 18. So it will be a level playing field."

Last season the under 16 Bathurst Panthers reached the first week of Group 10 Junior Rugby League finals.

As for the under 18s, they were declared Group 10's champions for 2022 after finishing the regular rounds of the Tom Nelson Premiership as the best performed side from its ranks.

Panthers then beat Forbes 24-8 in the first week of the Tom Nelson finals series, but an upset 18-16 loss to St Pat's denied them a place in the grand final.

It was a loss that Meath thinks should 'definitely not' have happened.

"They should've won that game out there last year, unfortunately they left their worst game til last, but that happens sometimes," he said.

Losing crunch games - or any games - is something Meath will be working hard with his Panthers to avoid this season.

While the draw is yet to be released, Panthers will begin their campaign on the first weekend of April.

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