We are now entering August and our first competitive matches are in this month. So, we have one month to be ready.

Training takes place on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Regents Park. Many players are attending only one session a week. Many regulars from last season have not made an appearance at all. This is disappointing.

We have a large number of new players who need welcoming, who need to train alongside established players in order to gauge the standard of the club, and who need to be brought up to speed with club playing culture and structure. By staying away, you are not helping your own cause, nor the club cause.

We have a pool of talented coaches who are trying to structure sessions to accommodate numbers, raise standards, and still have a laugh. There are minor, but important developments to the playing structure this season; we cannot begin to train this until everyone is present.

For everyone who is training regularly, you can already look back on a few weeks of dustbowl rugby, Michael’s absolute killer first session, Primrose Hill, first contact and Dav’s wicked switch from the wing on Thursday evening. Leapfrog will never be the same and having 50 guys roll around on the floor wrestling nearly drew a crowd.

Pre-season is important for your fitness and for your rugby skill level. It’s a physical and emotional investment in the bank for when the weather’s cold and you wonder why you do it. But, most of all, it sets our stall out for  the kind of club we want to be in 2014/15.