Ex-NRL ace, Lebanon international sees NSW Cup role confirmed for 2025
George Ndaira in action for Lebanon during Rugby League World Cup qualifiers in 2007
Former NRL playmaker George Ndaira will continue as the head coach of reigning NSW Cup champions Newtown Jets in 2025, it’s been confirmed.
Capped ten times by Lebanon during his playing career, Ndaira – who made his international bow in 2004 – took charge of the Jets ahead of the 2023 campaign.
After narrowly missing out on the play-offs in his first year at the helm, the 39-year-old then guided Newtown to the NSW Cup title in 2024.
Having finished a point behind the same foes in the ‘regular’ campaign, Ndaira’s side then toppled North Sydney Bears in the second-grade competition’s Grand Final, winning 28-22 to secure a first title since 2019.
And having masterminded that success, Ndaira has opted to continue on into a third season in the Jets’ hotseat.
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Ex-NRL ace, Lebanon international George Ndaira sees NSW Cup role confirmed for 2025
Ndaira, who retired for the final time at the end of the 2015 campaign, made 25 NRL appearances in a career which saw him don a shirt at first-grade level for St George Illawarra Dragons, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Newcastle Knights.
He also featured for the Jets, and having agreed to continue as their head coach in 2025, he told the New South Wales Rugby League website: “(I had) no hesitation at all in going round again.
“I’ve been with Newtown a long time now – it’s a great club with a great culture, great bunch of people to be a part of. I don’t see myself anywhere else at this stage.
“Every year you have that goal to be there on Grand Final day. We know what it’s like and what it takes to get there.
“Hopefully it’s given the boys that hunger to go after it again as this time we’ll be more the hunted.
“Newtown wants to be known as the club that when you play us you’re always up for a decent game of footy.
“It’s not new territory for us, but we need to be good at everything we do.”
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