Lloyd Thomas looks to usher in new era of Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies football

Thomas said he's hoping to usher in a new era of Magpies football and restore the historic club back to being one of the league's best.

The veteran prop has a lengthy career in first grade football.

Thomas played his juniors through to U18s with the Warilla Lake South Gorillas before being picked for the U20s side of the St George Illawarra Dragons.

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Thomas then played in the Illawarra Rugby League with West Illawarra under the guidance of former NRL playerJason Ryles before a fractured skull caused the prop to take a lengthy break from the sport.

He then returned to Group 7 with the Shellharbour Sharks, where he played for a year before returning to his junior club Warilla.

Thomas played with the Gorillas for a further two seasons before moving down the coast and joining the Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies where he was one of the sides most valuable players last season.

Thomas said he approached the club at the end of last season to offer up his services as captain/coach.

"I thought I could bring something different to the club than what we had been doing," he said.

"Being coached under Jason Ryles, he brought a lot back from Melbourne and Craig Bellamy which he instilled in me.

"The stuff that he taught me as a player I felt like I could push through to the boys more as a coach."

It was always going to be tough for the Magpies returning to first grade last season after a year off in 2021.

They finished the season at the bottom of the ladder with a record of two wins, two draws and 13 losses with a for and against of 246-622.

The team was the youngest in the competition which definitely showed in many close matches that they gave up, but with a year of experience under their belt the young Magpies will look to make noise in next year's competition.

"We've got a lot of young guys coming through with a ton of potential," Thomas said.

"If you can get them in the right headspace they'll go a long way."

Thomas agreed that having that year of experience will go a long way for the side heading into next season.

"We've got some 19-year-olds in the squad and they're playing against grown men, I know when I first came into first grade it was scary and it's a big learning curve," he said.

"There were a lot of games last season where we were in to the very end but then a few things would go the wrong way and we'd drop our heads.

"As coach I'm obviously trying to change that mentality of I suppose trying to find a way to lose instead of focusing on turning it around."

Thomas couldn't speak more highly of the Magpies calling it "a great club" and one he's excited to spearhead the turnaround for.

"I've connections up north and have begun to to recruit and get players down here, so we'll see what happens," he said.

Lighting a fire under the young players is a key for Thomas and will be an emphasis looking ahead to next season.

"I like to think I always push myself to the max and I think if I can light that fire in them on the field then I think good things will happen for us."