UTILITY player Toby De Stefano will return to Taree City Bulls for the 2023 Group Three Rugby League season.
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A club junior, De Stefano has played at the Old Bar Pirates for the past two seasons. He was a member of Old Bar's first grade grade final squad this year after recovering from a broken cheekbone sustained midway through the season.
De Stefano can play in the halves or hooker.
The Bulls previously announced that another club junior, fullback JJ Gibson would be returning to the club for next year.
Gibson last played with Wingham, where he made his first grade debut in 2019 while still eligible for under 18s. He was a member of Wingham's under 18 premiership winning side in 2020, when no senior grades were played due to the pandemic.
Gibson started at fullback for Wingham's first grade in 2021 but a badly broken leg has sidelined him since.
Christian Hazard will be Taree's captain-coach next year. A Taree Red Rovers junior, Hazard had stints with South Sydney and the Gold Coast and more recently in the Queensland Cup and is a Queensland Residents representative.
The Bulls have started training.
Meanwhile, Wauchope has announced that experienced Tony Pascoe will be non-playing coach for first grade next year. Pascoe won first grade premierships with Group 10 club Mudgee and also Port Sharks when the club played in Group Two.
Matt Bird, who was the captain-coach for the past two years, will be staying on as a player.
Under Bird and co-coach Beau Kettle the Blues were unbeaten in 2021 before the competition was cancelled just before the semi-finals when the State when into full lockdown. Wauchope missed the playoffs last season.
