They finished the 2017/18 season fourth overall despite a third-place finish at Woolgoolga on Saturday.

In a season of firsts, the girls regularly claimed third place finishes throughout their campaign.

They did, however, manage to get the monkey off their back in a race win in Port Macquarie in February.

Boat captain Wayne Dickson believes they will be a crew to be reckoned with in coming years.

“They got a special mention at the presentation night where they had their own age group when they took on crews down in Newcastle earlier in the year,” he said.

Capping off the club’s successful season, both men’s crews finished on the podium after consistent efforts throughout the year.

The reserve grade crew registered the club’s third-straight win in that division, while their A-grade crew improved on last year’s fourth-place with a second-place at Woolgoolga.

Reserve grade had a taste of what they can expect in A-grade next season when they finished third on the day.

Boat captain Wayne Dickson said they forfeited any points in reserve grade for the final round as they had already claimed the title.

They went head-to-head with their teammates and Woolgoolga in a close-run finish.

“Our reserve grade crew gave up the last round and went up to A-grade where they finished third for the day,” he said.

“There was one race where they beat our A-grade crew; they were brilliant.”

Dickson said the club’s regular A-grade crew had slowly improved throughout the course of the season.

“The final result was the best result for an A-grade crew we have had in quite some time,” he said.

“It’s a bit like any sport really – you want to be at your best at the end of the season and surfboats are no different.”

The more-fancied Woolgoolga crew continued to set the pace throughout the year, but Bonnies didn’t let them have it all their own way.

“They won three races on the day and we won two; our crew were nipping at their heels all year,” Dickson said.

In claiming the club’s third-straight reserve grade title, it appears the future of surf life saving for Bonnies is in safe hands.

“It’s been a different crew each year so to win it three years running is a tremendous effort,” Dickson said.

The competition could be fierce in A-grade next season with Bonnies indicating they could field two men’s crews.

“Really, for me, the improvement of our young guys in A-grade has been the most pleasing,” he said.

“For them to go from fourth to second in 12 months is a great effort.”