Week 2

Week 2 of the Stoneham Blog.  and has been an eventful week.  Confirmation has been received of entry into the RFU EDU Junior Vase competition, just awaiting the preliminary fixture, also entry into the Hampshire RFU Plate competition, as this is the first year in this competition for some time the club has to enter another preliminary round as we are unseeded.  I have high hopes for both these competitions, i strongly believe that we have the capability and the talent to make a good run at such competitions.

My thoughts have also wondered to the possibilities open to us in the league, playing in Hampshire 2, which is Level 10, for those that dont know, level 10 means we are 9 leagues away from the Rugby Premiership. The premiership being Level 1, Championship level 2 and so on.  So, hypothetically, within a decade this small club in Hampshire could be playing teams such as Harlequins, Leicester Tigers or Bath.  But, being a pragmatist that is a long way in the future and the fortunes of war are such that this does not seem realistic.   Our Head Coach for this season has devised a game plan and training schedule that will challenge any team in either Hampshire 1 or even the low London leagues, and having played in London South West 3 and 4 i can well believe this.  But my thoughts have also turned to some of the clubs i used to play against.  namely one side in particular.  Jersey RFC, 10 years ago i played against Jersey in Hampshire 1 and in London South West 3, this was a time a young England player was playing for them, a man i am convinced will be at the World Cup in September, Matt Banahan.  But this is beside the point, 10 years ago Jersey were where we are now, they are now 2 years from the top flight, they are 2 promotions away from the premiership, they are plying their trade currently in National 1 a level 3 league, i have been impressed by their rise through the ranks and obviously wish my old rivals all the best.  I guess my point is, you never know what may happen in the future, i look at all my old rivals, Bournemouth, Trojans, Portsmouth, Havant, Basingstoke, Gosport and Fareham, Guernsey and i think maybe Rugby Union in Hampshire is not as bad as i once thought.  It is just difficult as a smaller less well known club to make its way and keep good players. All these clubs have one thing in common, ambition.  This is what we need, we need to instil a team spirit of moving forward.  For a while now the club has been happy to keep operating and fulfilling fixtures, and when i joined the club 2 seasons ago i fell into this as well, after many poor seasons it was a brilliant achievement and certainly one to be proud of. However, we have impressed with our resilience, we have proved our doubters wrong, now is the time to bang the nail in the coffin and attack with ambition, passion and pride!

What else has been on my mind, well have been upset by the loss of Winger Nick Davies, he unfortunately lost his job, another casualty of the economic climate, and as a result has decided to take a position in Spain, he is leaving immediately and will return in September, i personally feel this is a huge blow for us, as Nick is one of the most committed individuals we have in the club, always at training, always at matches, we are yet to see the full extent of Nick's talent and certainly yet to see what his blistering pace can do on the field, but needs must and we wish him all the very best of luck! I am hoping to welcome some new players to the club this week at training.  I am also hoping that soon we can announce some new sponsors to Stoneham RFC while welcoming back some old ones.  Post match food has been organised and arranged and we are so pleased that we can announce that our co-operation with the Cricketers Public House will continue into the 2011/12 season.

Finally, something that i have thought for some time, Cross Code co-operation, what do i mean with this, well seeing what we can learn from our cousins in Rugby League. As many of you already know i have been a proponent and tried to encourage players to joining me in playing Rugby League for the Southampton Spitfires RLFC, I personally have learned so very much from playing this type of Rugby, has opened my eyes to the advantages of close support, angles of running and i have personally improved my tackling technique.  However, i do have a concern that i have focused on aerobic capacity to ensure i am in defence or in the right place, right time, that i have neglected strength conditioning, i feel that i am not as strong as i used to be and am not improving leg power or upper body strength.  Fortunately it is only June/July so have time to remedy this, so time to work on a suplementary strength program to go alongside the Spitfires training and Stoneham training.  Wow, wont have any time for anything else.  I am determined that this season will be the best yet, as captain i want to lead by example, i want to be a beacon for the entire squad to say, wow, i want to be like him, i want to lead by inspiration, i know that the team respect me as a player, however, i must not allow that knowledge to affect my game, my place in the starting XV is not guaranteed and if i do not perform, if i am not fit enough, or if there is someone playing better Rugby than me i will drop myself.  So, there is something for everyone to play for, there is always something to compete for whether it be for a place in the starting XV or whether it be in the league or the cup.  This season needs ambition!