Jamy Forbes re-instated to coach The Entrance in 2024

The decision reversal came out of a club meeting on Wednesday night, leading into the Tigers' maiden Newcastle Rugby League finals appearance this weekend.

Forbes will now be at the helm for a third term alongside assistant Ben O'Connell. Former NRL player and Wyong premiership-winning mentor Paul Stringer was poised to take over.

"All parties involved have rethought their decisions and the club has decided to reappoint me and Ben," Forbes told the Newcastle Herald on Thursday.

Forbes, who has a long association with The Entrance and returned in 2022, admits it has been a difficult period.

"It's certainly been a stressful few weeks, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. We had to support the decision even though it was hurting," he said.

"We've been blessed with support and it is a relief, especially at this time of year. We really want to concentrate on the game ahead and hopefully going deep into the finals series."

The Entrance face fellow Central Coast club Wyong in an elimination semi-final at St John Oval on Sunday (2pm).

Forbes says he hopes to now re-sign players from the current Tigers squad for next year.

"Some clubs have reached out to some of our players already and hopefully we can knock it on the head now, get the boys to re-sign and move forward into the future," he said.

"Ideally it would have been done a month ago when we first made semis and had it all tied up, but obviously with the uncertainty players were looking at their options."

Souths host Cessnock in Saturday's qualifying semi-final at Townson Oval.

Maitland have the weekend off as minor premiers.

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