Preseason Training - the ramblings of a tired man

Morning has broken like the first morning……

That first Saturday after the season has ended and once the back, neck, foot, arm, jaw and ear stops hurting you leave yourself thinking what next? Its May the sun is shining and now its time to….

GO SHOPPING

DO THE GARDEN

PAINT THE SPARE ROOM

SPEND TIME WITH THE MRS

All those things the safe haven of the rugby season shelters you from suddenly come to the fore. For a time you become normal, Saturdays you can catch up on the TV shows you missed, you don't hang around in a stinky changing room chatting utter rubbish with 20 other blokes. The metamorphosis of rugby playing oaf to James Joyce quoting, nature loving DIY mastery had begun. It was rumoured that Jonny ‘Babyface’ Buxton had taken on the Bronte sisters collection and had been admiring the long standing traditions of the 19th Century, Jonny had been actively looking for a woman with a healthy dowager and a home in 200 acres in Derbyshire!!!!

And just like that the light disappears. Time for the Mrs to say bye bye to evening time and pre season rears its ugly head….. he creeps up on you like a long lost unwanted relative. No we don’t want you to come for tea in fact go away.

Pre season is like cleaning your car. You don’t want to do it but once its been done you feel so much better for it.

For the first time in a few seasons Eccy found themselves with a coach in place, Steve ‘Dolph’ Dolphin had stayed on after he had seen so much promise the season before. With the average age of the team in its mid ish 20s, not withstanding Parker who despite his appearance is known as the Peter Pan of eccy rugby! We had done well last season in a new league again and what we thought most was that we could do better.

Pre season started with a bang and session after session rolled on. Dolph making us run till we cant run no more, looking out for Dill and his vomit crawls (though it didn’t happen), need to come more Dil and eat more Chinese’s!!!!

Ball work always the key doing things under pressure and fatigue. I think on the whole most would say the sessions have been great and like childbirth you enjoy them more after than at the time! The fitness has improved and the turnout has been good.

We thank Alex for his coaching when Dolph went to top up on his tan!!!! (can you top up on mahogany I wonder!!!) and now we see the end in sight.

The season! With a pre season game on Thursday 22nd at Stoke to look forward to first and tricky matches v Tamworth (31st August) and Longton (7th Sept) we hope that the lads will be fired and ready for that first league game, we have the 2s in a merit league as well and all seems well with ERUFC as we enter our 40th season.

If you are reading this and you have not been much or at all, don’t worry all is not lost! Get yourself down to Baden Hall on Tues or Thurs for 7 and expect to work hard but most of all to have fun!!!!

Updated 16:15 - 29 Aug 2019 by Tim West