Let me start by saying what an immensely fun time I had playing rugby with you all last year & what a grand job Nelly did as Captain, Jammo for arranging our fixtures & the lot of you did for playing some fantastic rugby & mucking in like desperadoâ€™s when called upon.

I award you all a badge of honor for your social exploits too â€“ OUTSTANDING!

Chaps,

As you all know I am very proud to have been selected as 2s Captain for the 09/10 season & thank you for the opportunity. Iâ€™ll do my best not to let you down in any areas whether on field or off of it.

I am adamant that last year has given us a much overdue shot in the arm & a fantastic platform to build from, one that we can really push on from both as a team & as individuals.

I say Team, as it is undeniable that we all really came together throughout last season & gave topping the league a great effort. Each & every one of you worked bloody hard to earn your place in the starting 15 last season, with a great amount of dedication & competition going on for places at the season end. This was fantastic to be part of & just what FRFC needs.

Itâ€™s this competitiveness & winning ways that have really impressed Mickey Clifford, Mick Mack, Ollie (Club Captain) & Laurence (First Team Captain). As a playing committee & as Captains we have sat down & highlighted areas from last season that didâ€™nt work & would be unacceptable going forward & areas that we really want to develop & keep going for the coming season.

Guys I can but promise you that things will be different going forward â€“players will be judged on merit & performance, no one has a shoe in place & we will all be starting from scratch at pre season this for both 2s & 1s teams.

Overall club coaching structure is: Peter Halsall Director of Rugby, Micky Clifford & Mick Mc 1s Coaches & squad forwards & fitness caoches respectively, Pat McCarty squad backs coach & Will Hargrove 2s manager (part time player) & specialized 2s forwards coach.

I can name atleast 10 players I played 2s rugby with last season whom are capable of playing for the 1s & I want to see each every one of you busting your gut in pre season & when playing to earn yourself a place in the 1s as that should be the aspiration of each & everyone of us.

Iâ€™m delighted to say that Will Hardgrove has agreed to act as 2s team manager & give as much of his time & knowledge to the 2s as his other commitments permit. For those of you who donâ€™t know Will he has played 1s rugby at Finchley for aslong as Iâ€™ve been a member as is a fantastic chap who will gladly spend time helping you improve your knowledge of the game & physical capabilities.

Ok, Iâ€™ll stop rumbling on now & just say that the coming season promises to be a very challenging season for us all & one which Iâ€™m certain we will rise to â€“ Good Luck boys!

Mini Schedule:

21st & 23rd July â€“ Pre-season & then every Tuesday & Thursday there after 7.30pm till 9pm.

Newcastle West Friday 28th August Under floodlight & Haringey Saturday 5th September both at home & both squad games.

Both 90% set but wait for TBC from Lozza\Ollie as they are both squad games (eg:no 1s or 2s & will be played in comboâ€™s of x4 20mins) .

Regards,

Garthy