THE club is now in full preparation mode for the new season and from a team perspective we got all the players in for a meeting this week and went through some of the formalities.

Covid has not gone away, and the players still need to be vigilant. There are mandatory wellness checks before they come to training and we will be conducting at least weekly testing. It might not please the coaching staff, but players have to stay away from the venue if they are feeling unwell. This season there will be no scope to call off matches and not be punished. We would lose the points and face a hefty fine should we be unable to play. Double vaccinated players don’t have to isolate if they have been deemed close contacts so that should help reduce unavailability.

The league fixtures come out over the weekend with us being able to announce our first home fixture on Saturday with the remaining games publicised on Sunday 3pm through our website and social media channels.

Training begins in earnest on Monday and the players will be in three times a week throughout pre-season. We must thank Industry 13 and Life Leisure who have both made their venues available for sessions for the players to aid their strength, conditioning, and overall fitness. Life Leisure have given us a very generous sponsorship deal with both the men’s and ladies team having free membership. We are grateful for such superb support.

Our new replica shirts have arrived, and we plan a kit launch Friday, November 19 in our marquee with us doubling up the evening with a Q&A session with coach Paul Crarey and myself as we look ahead to an exciting season in the Championship. All our supporters are welcome to attend and fire questions and have the first opportunity to purchase a shirt.

Further ahead we have planned our Sponsors Evening for Friday, January 7 and we would like to encourage all our sponsors to attend. It is such an important night for the club in terms of generating revenue that will see us through the season. We have been very pro-active throughout last season in terms of income generation but as we have grown our staff numbers to become more professional, the financial pressures have also increased. Add in the fact that the ground maintenance is continuous then we must continue to form good relationships with our sponsors and supporters and get their backing.

I hope that everyone can see the improvements within the club and the direction of travel. We are hoping for some fantastic tussles in the Championship with some very strong clubs. It looks like any restructuring won’t be happening in 2023 so the league season is likely to have two relegation places. I’m hoping we are well away from relegation tussles, but I am realistic to know that we are unlikely to be on our way to Super League at the end of 2022. Personally, I want the club to continue its progression and to keep the smiles on the faces of the fans which will hopefully continue to grow in number.

We have an unbelievably cheap season ticket deal at less then a tenner a game for adults and less than a fiver for concessions. We are determined not to price any fans out of the game. Our ambition is that we can get a thousand season ticket holders. There will be no free entry offers this season but we will have generous online discounts. We just hope that our supporters continue to back us in numbers.