McAvoy optimistic, as Newbury Blues Rugby reset ahead of new season
Newbury Blues head coach James McAvoy is excited to get stuck into the new season.
The side, which won the Papa Johns Cup South Shield in Bristol earlier this year, are keen to improve their performance in the league this campaign.
Having suffered an injury crisis which saw fifty players feature for the side, pre-season offers the opportunity for a reset and recalibration.
McAvoy was pleased with how the squad is looking following a summer break.
“Happily, we’ve seen about five or six new senior players come through the door”, he said.
“Some of those have joined from other clubs and a couple are returning.
“We’ve got a good few boys from the Colt system too.
“We blooded a few last year towards the end of the season and they were terrific.
“In terms of people leaving, a few of our senior players are just having a bit more of an extended break.
“A lot of them are involved in the sevens season. But numbers have been steady.
“We’ve been looking at between 30 and 40 players on a Tuesday and a Thursday so far.”
There’s reinforcement off the field too, with McAvoy set to be supported by a familiar face.
“We’ve got Paul Archer, who was the head coach before me and is highly qualified”, he said.
“He’s leading the Colts senior academy program now. So we can push more boys through.
“We also announced Joey Watmore as our Stags head coach this year, and he’s going to take the forwards as well.
“He’s settled in really well and I think we’ve worked well together in terms of our coaching chemistry.”
Training so far has been encouraging, with players and staff all keen to get back onto the field and start building fitness.
“This first block has been a bit more conditioning focused”, McAvoy explained.
“That was one of the things we set out to do at the start of the year, just make sure that our condition was right so we can play the way that we want to.
“We’ve also worked on catch and pass skills, just developing the basics.
“We’ve had some messy sessions which I’m not mad about, I think in preseason you don’t want every session to be perfect.
“The first friendlies for me are just to get minutes, get ourselves back on the ground and see what we’re like.
“I’m not going to put too much pressure on shape.”
McAvoy remains ambitious, although is keen not to set fixed targets.
“I’m not going to set an outcome goal in terms of a position in the league.
“I think people can see where we were last year and that really just came down to inconsistencies.
“At this level of rugby, you’re not guaranteed your best team out every week.
“We’re looking to just be more consistent and just play the way that we can, for as long as we can.
“I believe that when we do that, we’ll find ourselves in a good position.”