David Holt, the President who does it all.
The Junee Diesels are kicking off their centenary year in style under the leadership of long-term President David Holt.
Holt has been at the helm of the Diesels for the last six seasons and his commitment to the club is unquestionable, often housing footballers under his roof and doing everything he can to progress their careers as well as ensuring the success of the blue and yellow side each week.
It’s been a difficult time for the Diesels, who have managed to deliver on the roster’s potential at various times over the last couple of seasons, however, cruel runs of injured players have been a set back for them, with 2026 hoping to be a hard slog and a fairytale ending for the club.
Holt said, “We kicked off preseason training on the 13th January. But we ended up having that week off after Australia Day because the weather was atrocious. But other than that, things have been going pretty good.
“We have got very good numbers at training in senior men’s, women’s and under 18s. Things are ticking along pretty nicely. We’ve pretty much got our coaching staff sorted out for all grades.
“For now, Damien Willis has got the reins with guidance from Ben Shea and Chase Bernard, who are still over in France. They’ll miss the first six rounds, before returning to Junee.
Shea and Bernard are highly skilled players who have been honing their craft for years in the area between amateur and semi-professional. Their skill-set and knowledge of the game is well complemented by the wisdom of Willis, who played first grade for over two decades at both Gundagai and Junee.
There are a couple of new faces in the signing department and Holt is looking forward to seeing how they will go.
“One of the players coming in is Connor Garrety, who had been playing in the NSW Cup for North Sydney for a few years and just wanted a bit of a change.
“We’ve got a training run Saturday the 21st from 8 o’clock till probably 10 o’clock. They’re going to have a run as they are not training Thursday and have a bit of a bonding day.
“Neti Latu’s come into the side. He’s from Melbourne, but a couple of seasons ago, he was playing for Wagga Brothers.
“Then we have Jaydyn Hoyeta and he’s having his first training run this week.
Junee Diesels fans may miss the liverwort action of crowd favourite Ratu, who is currently in his Fijian homeland. He is working towards returning to Australia and will be welcomed back with open arms at the club.
“James Strickland is up in Sydney and trying to do his best to make it into different grades up there, so those two are out and we’ve got the two coming in.
“Stuart Dunbar has been training, and he hasn’t missed a training run, I don’t think, so he’s fairly keen to get into this season. He’s an ex-captain of the Australian Sevens and originally a Junee junior. He has been playing high-level rugby union all his life.
“He has had a few hit-outs with us over the last few years, but this year he wants to have a full season and really give it a crack.
“Daniel Foley played brilliantly and he’s out to play with a point to prove, which is good. He was coach in 2024. Because of work and family commitments, he took a step back. We then have Ben and Chase and then Damien Willis is like an interim coach.
“We have our local fellows coming through the ranks. Jack Schubert he’s one that comes in from the outside, but he played last season with us.
“Schuie’s pretty solid. He loves it here at the Diesels. He’s really enjoying his footy, so that’s a good thing.
“Last time we played in a grand final was 2015 against Gundagai in Albury. We went down 28-16.
“We are getting people keyed up for the 100 years.
Many of the clubs playing in Group 9 were formed around the 1923 commencement of the competition, with Junee starting in 1926.
There is a big football program over the next few weeks. “Our program over the next month, we’ve got the Bidgee Bulls versus the Monaro Colts. That’s on the 28th February. We’ve got that here at Laurie Daley Oval.
“It may be 16s, 18s, open women’s and open men’s.
“That’ll be played on Sunday, 1st March. And then we’ve got a trial against Leeton in Leeton. That’ll just be 18s, league tag and first grade at this stage. The women’s tackle we are trying to get a game going against either Leeton or Yanco.
“Then a big one for us is we’ve got a trial here at Laurie Daley Oval against the Gungahlin Bulls on the 28th March. And then we get into the season. But that trial against Gungahlin, that’s where we’ll get the Shunters, which is our old boys, try and get them motivated and get them keen and get them on board as this is our start of our 100 years.
The club will be coming together for one of their biggest events in July.
“The major event is set out for 18th July. I think it’s round nine and we face Young, which is the last time we won a grand final. So we’ve got Young here on a Saturday and that’s our big event for the centenary at the Ex-Services Club and we will get some entertainment and have some fun.
Holt has plenty of belief in this year’s squad and so he should with the roster.
“I believe we are very strong across the park. “There’s a couple of blokes there that could play second row or centre. In the modern game, that’s not outside of the realm of possibilities sort of thing. I think we’ve got a very strong side. I think we’re going to give this a pretty fair shake of being in the finals, solidly in the finals.
“We’ve definitely started well and with the attitude it is a lot more positive amongst the players, amongst the coaches, things have just got that positive feel about them, which is always good.
“When you start off on the back foot, you’re a long way to go forward. We’re already starting on the front foot, which is good. It’s very good to see. In the six years that I’ve been doing it, it’s the best we’ve ever started.
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