Feeney ready to shake feathers in bid to turn results

"Disappointing" was the word new Sydney Roosters coach Jamie Feeney used to describe his players' reaction to the club's first two seasons in the NRLW Premiership.

The former Storm and Bulldogs forward will replace Rick Stone in the coaching role after the side failed to win a match last year.

The Jillaroos assistant coach has a long association in the women's game after working in pathway development and coaching roles with the NSWRL before joining the Australian set-up in 2016.

"If you ask all the girls who've played here to sum up their performances in one word it's disappointing," Feeney says.

"And we owe it to the Roosters supporters and people who work here to put in a better effort than what they have over the past two years."

Feeney's role at the NRL as the women's elite pathways manager has effectively been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing for the 42-year-old to get back into a head coach's role with the Roosters opportunity. 

"He knows a lot about women's rugby league and it's something we probably haven't had a lot of intellectual property with in the past," Roosters general manager of football programs Craig Walker told NRL.com.

"There is no doubt we've underachieved at the Roosters to what we expect of our teams across all competitions. 

"We do alright in the men's game and the women's game should be no different.

"To have someone of Jamie's experience who understands the women's game will hopefully benefit us."

Other teams are paying attention, too.

The four-team NRLW competition has been completely dominated by the Broncos in its first two seasons, something the Roosters plan on changing.

"All the clubs have been really supportive and congratulated me about taking on the job so there's a lot of understanding there around the juggling of roles," Feeney said. 

"Kelvin Wright and the Broncos especially have been great ... Kelvin and I have spoken a fair bit over the last couple of weeks about the game and keep in regular contact about players. 

"Across the men's game everyone likes as close to an even competition as you can get but that hasn't been the case and we are aware of that.

"It would be great for the whole game if we could get a new winner, hopefully, that's the Roosters, but it could easily be the Dragons or the Warriors too."

NRLW clubs have begun holding preliminary talks with players across the competition with every player essentially a free agent for 2020, but no formal contracts have been drawn up as yet.

Feeney has already begun drawing up a recruitment and retention hit list. 

"If I'm being honest there's about 12 I'll keep and there are other girls I'll call and put on notice," Feeney said of the current Roosters squad.

"For those girls, I'll tell them what I want to see more of from them in Harvey Norman [NSW Premiership] or South East Queensland [SEQ] competition before I offer them a contract.

"The core group is there and then there are a few girls like Ruan Sims and Rebecca Young who have retired.

"It's exciting for everyone. There are spots open for girls who haven't played in the NRLW to stand up in the HNWP and SEQ competitions and we'll be watching."

The Central Coast Roosters will remain a key feeder system to Feeney's outfit after joining the NSW premiership earlier this year.

"We're hoping what that allows us to do is grow and develop players, we've got that pathway now from the 17s through to the NRLW now," Walker said.