Michael Crawley reflects on coaching in Mackay, appreciating its community spirit and simpler lifestyle amid broader rugby league challenges.
Michael Crawley has worked as an assistant coach at the Raiders, Knights and Cowboys as well as a coaching consultant with the Dragons.
When Peter V'landys talks expansion and the powerbrokers start hand-wringing that there are not enough quality players to stretch the competition, it's time to zoom out and look at places like Mackay.
I spent 2020 coaching up there through the middle of the COVID chaos when the rest of the game ground to a halt, and that town left a permanent mark on me. Easy going country people have life pretty well worked out, moving to a different drum than the city folk. They put in the hard yards. When they knock off, they like a cold beer with mates, and if the fish are biting, well they hook up the boat and they go fishing - it feels like a jump back to a simpler time.