The coaching staff are really pleased with how our pre-season preparations have progressed so far. Despite define intervention (The Kirkstall floods) attempting to derail our plans it has only brought out the “Never Say Die” attitude all Milford Marlins players are required to possess.

At our first pre-season meeting in December we outlined our goals for the season and set the tone for how we thought we could achieve them. The goal is simple – win something! As an open age squad of players we have six cups to compete for - NCL division 1 title/promotion, National Cup, 40/20 Cup, YML division 3 title/promotion, Dave Longhorn Memorial Cup and the Darryl Peacock Memorial Cup. We recognise we have a very capable squad of players who have been brought through the Milford system over a number of years and are ready to challenge the best teams for honours. We also identified that last season the first team didn’t manage to put the same seventeen players out on consecutive weeks and our second team used over seventy five players! Without consistency in the teams we put on the field success will be very hard to come by. So from the very first meeting we have emphasised the need to #CommitToTheCause and we have certainly had that in pre-season. With 35 players regularly attending training the attitude and commitment to the cause has been excellent. Special mention for John Plunkett, Mathew Brocksom and Danny Horner who have attended every training session so far.

January was all about preparing the team physically and mentally for the challenging season ahead. Thanks to Paul ‘The Machine’ O’Rourke and Camp Detox Boxing Gym the players were pushed extremely hard and raised to the challenge accordingly. The makeshift gym in the sports bar, the astro turf and the streets of Kirkstall provided a different challenge and put some much needed miles into the player’s legs.

February was meant to see a change in focus to more game related fitness and game plan. The now infamous Kirkstall floods challenged our ability to deliver that change. It’s amazing how you take things for granted but when it is taken away from you, as our world class facility at Kirkstall has been, your appreciation for it is second to none. Like all good teams do we have adapted to overcome this setback and have adjusted things so we will be ready to play our first game on Saturday 20th February.

The squad is taking shape nicely. Competition in the forward’s is fierce which we hope will convert into dominant performances up front for both teams. Our half back options a very good led by former Milford junior players Josh Parle, Zac Snellgrove and Macauley Barron. On the back of dominant forwards and smart halfbacks we hope to create space for our big backline to exploit led by 2015 coaches player of the year Joe Ramsden. Notable additions to our squad include Tom Wilson (Eddie Wilsons brother) who is a former GB student international, Scott Watson who has played professionally for Wakefield, Sheffield, Hunslet and Dewsbury and former BARLA player of the year Robin Wilkes.

Everyone is very much looking forward to playing now and especially putting in a good performance for former club landlord Dave Longhorn in his memorial game versus Dudley Hill. A special thanks to Bengal Brasserie for sponsoring this game as well as hosting our pre-season team curry night which was a huge success. We were honoured to have former Leeds, Dewsbury and Milford coach Norman Smith speak to the squad about what it takes to be the best and how the founder Milford teams were so successful. If we are able to put his advice into practice I am sure we are going to have a great season ahead of us!