Ray Sargent takes over as CSU Mungoes president for 2023 Woodbridge Cup season

Sargent was announced as the Mungoes' new president on Monday evening, stepping up to the role previously held by Lily Walsh.

He takes on the job during an exciting time for the university club as the men's and women's teams prepare for the second years of their journey into a new competition.

Both CSU teams managed to reach the finals series of last year's inaugural Woodbridge Cup campaigns, showing that they well and truly belonged in the tougher competition after coming across from the Mid West Cup.

Sargent isn't afraid to dream big when it comes to the Mungoes' growth.

As he prepares for his third season with CSU Sargent would love to see 2023 be the year that the Mungoes take a big step forward not just in Woodbridge Cup but in the Bathurst rugby league landscape.

"The number one thing is bringing excitability into the club," he said.

"I want to compete with Bathurst Panthers. I want to compete with St Pat's. I want Mungoes to be on the map when it comes to rugby league and I'd love to see that growth continue in the years to come."

The Mungoes player said he was honoured to take on the president's job at an important time for the club, and he's excited to see how many new faces join forces this year.

"Next year we go into the 50^th year of our club and to be president in that year is a massive feat," he said.

"A lot of new players that come to the club are students but last year in particular we probably had a 50-50 split of students and tradies and I think that's awesome for the club.

"Coming into this new year we've had some talk of a couple of new players coming around. I think the uni will have quite a good influx of first year students. I've spoken to a few locals who are also keen to jump on board and give something different a crack."

Sargent brings plenty of knowledge and experience of rugby league in the region to his role.

Originally from Oberon, Sargent played with the Tigers in 2020 before making the switch across to the Mungoes the following year - claiming back-to-back Mid West Cup premierships.

Prior to that he was also a title winner at the junior level with the Bathurst Panthers.

Sargent said the first season of Woodbridge Cup football has left him and other returning Mungoes teammates hungry to take another crack.

"It's a big step up in competition, going from playing just three other teams to now playing in a 12-team comp. It's much more organised. It's unreal," he said.

"Oberon Tigers and Orange Warriors should be commended on making finals as well after making the move across. It's been a great change for us as a club and I'm sure I can speak so those other clubs as well in that regard."

In other Mungoes committee roles, Blake Armstrong has been named vice-president, Joe Fixter as treasurer, Hannah Meier as secretary while Grace Farmillo and Ike Eggleton are the women's and men's club captains respectively.

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