2026 Preview: Greyhounds eye further Premiership progress

Greymouth Greyhounds head into their third CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership campaign striving to build on the momentum that has made the club one of the great grassroots rugby league stories of recent years.

From competing in the CRL Premier Reserves and narrowly missing a grand final in that grade in 2023, the Greyhounds debuted in the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership in 2024 and proved instantly competitive.

The club fielded teams in both grades for the first time last season (Papanui Tigers were the Greyhounds’ Premier Reserves affiliate in 2024) and finished fourth in the Massetti Cup to claim a historic finals berth. They set the tone with a memorable opening-round upset of eventual champs Linwood Keas at Wingham Park.

The Greyhounds are continuing to build heading into 2026.

“We obviously had a long off-season with the guys not playing rep footy, and some of them really took that [as an opportunity] to get in the gym and rehab niggles – some of them have felt the best they’ve ever felt,” Greyhounds head coach Kurt Dixon says.

“We’ve had good numbers and some new guys come in – and the Christchurch-based players, we’ve got a few new ones there, too.

“There’s smaller numbers over [in Christchurch], which is a bit hard for those guys to train together in a team environment, but they’re just doing specifics and it’s working well. We’ve got Shaun Egan on board there, he’s come back into Christchurch and giving us his expertise.”

The Greyhounds have added some rugby union recruits and players relocating back to the South Island from Auckland.

The reinforcements are timely with CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership regulars Aston Wilson moving to Australia, Harry Millar unavailable due to work commitments, and Regan Stanton and Tayla Eason retiring.

“We’ve got good numbers now and got good headaches,” Dixon reassures.

“And we’ve got the likes of Jordie Campbell, he’s been around premier football for a long time and he always leads from the front.”

“There’s guys that are in their early- to mid-20s that have played a couple of years of premier football, and they’re really getting a grasp what it’s like and what you’ve got to do to keep that level of high standards fitness-wise and [managing injuries].

“With the leadership group that we’ve added to, those guys have come into it and they bring a lot – you definitely notice they do a lot more talking now, so it’s handy for the coaches and the older guys to let them do their piece.”

Meanwhile, Mac Gibson and Jordan Duggan will celebrate their 50th appearances for the Greyhounds this weekend.

Consolidation and progress is the name of the game for the Greyhounds, without getting complacent about their considerable achievements to date or putting the cart before the horse.

But Dixon wasn’t tempering expectations when questioned about his aim for the team in 2026.

“I’ve been asked that a few times lately. But obviously everyone’s goal is to win the comp that they’re participating in.

“It’s a cliché, but we’ll take it week by week. The goal is really to get to the semis, then you’re a chance of getting to the big dance.

“I think we’ve definitely got to strive for that. Last year we got to the semis and got knocked out, but there were good learnings for some of them.

“We’ve just got to go one more step, two more steps – and, yeah, the grand final is the goal.”

The Greyhounds make the familiar trip over the Southern Alps in Round 1 to take on Halswell Hornets, with the clubs building a fascinating rivalry over the past couple of seasons.

But having an even split of their 12 games on the road and at their Wingham Park fortress in Greymouth shapes as a huge boost to their chances this year. The Greyhounds get the bye in Round 2 before their first home game against Hornby Panthers.

“They might miss being on the road! But no, they’re real excited for the start of the season,” Dixon says.

“But it’ll be great to get that first home game [in Round 3] against Hornby. There’s a lot of talk around town and the boys will be looking forward to getting some home games.

“Quite a few of them have young families and they get up early [for away games], the kids probably don’t want to see them leave and they miss their kids’ sport in the morning. So they get to stay and watch that.

“Another upside having home games is for the older supporters that probably can’t travel to Christchurch like some can.”

The Greyhounds’ mere presence in the CRL Whitehead Plumbing & Gas Men’s Premiership and CRL Premier Reserves competition has been a shot in the arm for rugby league in a region that has endured challenging times in the previous few decades.

But the club and its players are not restricting their involvement to training and playing – they are taking responsibility for growing the game at junior and youth level.

“At the start of the schoolboy season, West Coast Rugby League always run a development day and our leadership group wanted to take on that role.

“We got a lot of players down there and heap of kids turned out – the parents said they loved it, my wife got told about it at work, kids want to buy Greyhounds jerseys and posters.

“The momentum’s there and we just have to keep it going. With our guys, they haven’t had to be told, but they’ve been turning up to the schoolboy footy on a Sunday morning for the last few weeks before school holidays, they’ve set themselves up a roster.

“It’s good to get the Greyhounds brand out there watching the kids on the sideline. Parents see that, kids see that and I just hope that if they see that, they can turn up to our home games and watch the boys play.”