Maids finally able to ‘bring back the biff’
Maidenhead RFC: Club begins full contact training ahead of competitive return
Myke Parrott was delighted to see Maidenhead RFC ‘bring back the biff’ last week as the club began contact training under the new RFU guidelines.
On Thursday, Maids’ players were able to tackle and engage in physical activity at training after it was announced that contact in community rugby would be allowed to resume subject to adaptations. It is another step in the right direction, and makes the future look a little bit brighter, for grassroots clubs hoping to kick off a new campaign in January.
“It’s brilliant to be contact training again and the lads loved getting back into it,” said Parrott.
“We’ve sorely missed it but we can now look forward and work towards some form of competitive action.
“We’ve got four training sessions before we play our first pre-season game against Tring on December 19. We will give everyone a good run out there, and depending on our numbers, we will look to make it one big squad game rather than two separate games for the first and second team.
“Obviously there are going to be new rules to abide by but it will be good to be back playing somewhat competitively. On January 9, we play another pre-season game against Rams’ development squad who we will welcome to Braywick Park. Hopefully we will have a fixture for the third team on that day as well. All being well, it is hoped that our mini-cluster league will kick off on January 16.”
Parrott is hoping that the forthcoming campaign will reveal Maidenhead’s strengths and weaknesses as he looks to experiment with the first team.
“This season will give us an opportunity to have a look at youngsters and members of the club that we wouldn’t have done previously,” added Parrott. “It gives us an opportunity to reward some of those players that are always at training and maybe don’t necessarily get picked for the first team.
“It means that we can really plan for the following season and identify areas where we might need to strengthen. It just gives more development opportunities for our unbelievably exciting young squad.”