Sadly, there are occasions when inevitably all 3 teams will be away on the same day - this can’t be helped. Thankfully on the couple of times it’s happened this Season I’ve been able to jump in with Stu and go and watch the 2’s and enjoyed the road trip but what I’ve really struggled with are the rest weekends. No denying they are needed to give players free weekends and in turn boost participation but I just don’t understand why they weren’t able to be stagger rest weekends throughout the different leagues rather than blank weekends for the whole club.

There isn’t a club in the land that hasn’t struggled financially over the last 2 years for obvious reasons - but to have 3 Saturdays already with no game at the club seems criminal to me! The bar and cafe need to be open and turning over. No club benefits from being closed! One of the reasons for rest weekends I’m sure when they brought them in, would be to manage player workload and reduce injuries. Well - whether by ill fate, bad luck (definitely some of that) or for any other reason - it certainly hasn’t reduced it for us! Never in my 17 years of watching from “The Steps” can I remember so many long-term and concurrent injuries across all 3 teams.

Enough of the rant! Thankfully as always, we have got a great squad of players many, of whom are utility players who can and will play in any number of positions. Definitely in the back line they’re very interchangeable and so too in the forwards. The news is getting better regarding the injuries with a good few back in training and should be back in the mix for selection early in the New Year.

Performances on the pitch, all things considered have been very good and our league position is a fair reflection. In fact, the four narrow (rather frustrating) defeats we have had this Season could have gone either way and maybe we should have more points on the board at this stage of the Season. There are definite positives to take, and we are in a good place as we go into the second half of the Season. The 2’s are having another great season with only Caldy really having their number at the minute, but given the plethora of players at their disposal it’s no surprise! I would still love to see the 2’s given a go in the open leagues but sadly I don’t think it’ll happen anytime soon.
Now for the good stuff!! The VP’s initiative goes from strength to strength with all the lunches we’ve had so far being very well supported and our VP away day to our friends at Rotherham a few weeks ago saw 33 of us royally entertained from start to finish. A brilliant day at a club which is very similar to ours in many ways. We were made to feel extremely welcome. Looking forward to the rest of our functions in the New Year.

It would be remiss of me to also not give a mention to the Mini’s and Junior’s Dads and Coaches Christmas Lunch which as always was brilliantly attended and raised a staggering amount on the day for their section! Absolutely unbelievable effort and I’m sure all the funds raised will go to good use. That’s about it from me and I’ll see you all soon. All the best Dave