THE WHEELS are in motion now at Sixways as they start looking beyond the end of the season and begin building for next year.
It is great to see Jonathan Thomas re-signing and I am delighted Andy Short has agreed to return to Warriors. Andy is a Worcester boy, so I think it is a good move for him and the club.
Andy was among many talented players who came through Worcester’s academy and for whatever reason they went on to play for other clubs and even achieve international honours.
There is always going to be players who won’t be playing as much as they want, especially young guys coming through. This can be a very difficult situation to manage, particularly for a newly-established club like Worcester who were trying to get into the Premiership when I first arrived and then were just trying to stay there. Sometimes you can understand why the coaches went for the tried and tested and are a bit conservative with experimenting with some of the youngsters.
But what we are starting to see now is a shift in the make-up of the squad. They are looking to re-engage with players who did not have the opportunities at Worcester in the past and have gone away and got more experience, so it is great that they are getting them back into the fold.
This period can be particularly unsettling, especially if you’re contract is up. Once you get that sorted and know where things stand, you can relax a bit more.
But the other side to that is that it keeps everyone hungry and wanting to prove a point. It seemed to have had a positive effect for Worcester as they have produced some stand-out performances in recent weeks, which I am sure they will be looking to continue now they are top of the league.
In other news, I was pleased to see some of Warriors’ players gain international recognition, with Chris Pennell being selected for the Saxons and Richard de Carpentier and James Stephenson being named in the England Sevens squad.
However, I was sad to hear about Shane Howarth’s departure and Andries Pretorius’ retirement, which both came as a surprise and I wish them all the best.