After the calamitous end to the season, Quins, like a phoenix from the flames, appears to be ready to fly again, with a new Director of Rugby, a new coaching set up, new training facilities, new players, new stand and now a partnership with London Broncos. 

Let's starts with the new Director of Rugby, Dean Richards – His name is synonymous with Leicester’s domestic and European domination. He is a proven winner, whilst playing and in his early coaching days. I for one was not as ecstatic as many Quins fans about the announcement, I feel he is not the kind of coach that will continue the traditional Quins playing style (not that we have seen much of fast flowing back play in the last few years!), I am also concerned by his recent form. He left Leicester under a cloud after their worst start ever, they were languishing around the bottom end of the league, he reappeared with Grenoble, a small side in France, where his one year stint was filled with rumours of player unrest and ended with Grenoble being relegated. So I think the jury is still out, the hope from a fans perspective is that he can muster a pack who can compete in the tight, to complement their play in the loose. Personally I felt the pack punched above its weight last season, they consistently won ball only for the half backs to throw away possession, as the games became more desperate the pack appeared to trust the backs less and less, hence more inappropriate decisions. I believe Dean Richards will install some basic, simple processes to the team that I hope will be successful. 

To the rest of the coaching set up, still on board we have John Kingston, who was responsible for producing the pack that I feel exceeded expectation last season. More of the same from him over the season, although I hope he can solve our line out problems. I get the feeling that Dean Richards and John Kingston are singing from the same hymn sheet, with regards to forward play. 

Andy Friend has been given the role of Head Coach, a former New South Wales Fullback, who retired because of injury, has been a skills coach at the Waratahs as well as having some experience with the Australian under 21’s and their 7’s team. All this points towards inspired back play as part of a structured team approach, something that has been missing over the last few seasons. I have felt that we have had some superb backs over the last two seasons (no more so than Keogh), and unfortunately they have suffered from two afflictions. NUMBER ONE: Given the ball as a last resort to conjure something out of thin air in an impossible situation. NUMBER TWO: trusted to use instincts over coached moves too many times. So I hope that this Aussie has some tricks up his sleeve.

Finally, with regard to the coaching setup, how is it going to work? This has come up on the Message board – how can you have a head coach and a Director of Rugby? Who picks the team, who sets the style of play, who calls the set plays and pieces during the game. All this without ME poking his nose in (you know he’ll be itching to). I feel the assumption is that as a unit, the director of rugby will set out the style by the players he will bring in, the head coach will deal with the specifics, then the backs and forward coaches will put the plan into action. Will it work? Well here’s hoping!!

Having already discussed the merits of the new coaching set up, we have the other main ingredient, the players. To be able to do justice to this mid-season dissection I feel it is important to state my position on the teams play last season.

I felt the pack was a little lightweight in the tight, but punched above their weight in the loose and the line outs were a disaster at times. The backs were under used, we had pace and power, but were short on ideas. The major problem for me was the half-backs and one role in particular. I felt that the Scrum Half was inadequate, his lack of composure, pretty awful kicking and at times shocking passing gave Jeremy Staunton’s confidence a major blow, that he did not recover from. I feel that the move for JS to Wasps, may allow him to prove his worth (hold the back page), he was terrorised at Quins, playing behind a pack that was getting punched around and with a SH who was not helping.

Let’s discuss the problem area first, Fly-Half – Andrew Merthens, the guy is class, no matter what, he can stick to a  game plan, cope with pressure and has a boot to match. He will control the backline, choose the right options and cope with playing on the back foot if necessary. I for one am pleased we have him over Carlos Spencer, Spencer is superb on the front foot with a dominant pack, but he doesn’t like it up him, when the going gets tough he shrinks into his shell and starts to over cook the pot, Merthens sticks to the basics. So far so good.

Scrum Half – SS is still here, but this year he will have severe competition, from Ian Vass, I saw him play for Northampton a few years back in the European Cup, he was the youngest player that year in the competition. He has talent! And I feel could be the replacement we have been seeking since Nick Duncombe. The question marks over him come from the fact that he has not been able to sustain a regular team place, at the Saints he was behind Matt Dawson, then a move to Stade Francais saw him behind the mercurial Agustin Pichot. He played First division last year, and by all accounts made a good showing. He should see his move to Quins as a chance to make the England jersey his. (I know this sounds far fetched but just bare with me for a minute) If he shows he has the talent, and Quins perform this year, he will be playing GP the following year, England still have not solved their Scrum-half problem, Ellis appears to be the answer but not everyone is convinced, Vass is young enough to make an impression and has the experience to grab a chance with both hands.

The pack – Let's start in the front row, the impression from the other sides in ND1 is there are no easy rides, the pack, specifically the front row are “Old School”, so it is imperative that we have some props who can mix it up! Ceri Jones and Mike Worsley know what they are doing but they are not the massive physical presence of say Phil Vickery, so there is a slight concern, Ricky Nebbett has returned to the club where he started his career, he is something of an unknown quality, unable to hold a regular place at Leicester, and leaving Leinster after just one season, so we will have to wait and see. The positive spin I can apply is that when he was here, he was considered to be Jason’s heir to the throne, high praise indeed. Aston Croall is the up and coming young gun, who will find out whether he is going to make it next year, against these less compromising teams.

The locks - Kevin Burke is a step in the right direction although we are still waiting to discover if his posterior is covered in fluff or not!! Simon Miall will provide the strength and Jim Evans will struggle in my opinion (not because he is not good enough, because I rate him) because he benefits from the faster paced, open GP style, and this season is going to be more a war of  attrition.

The back row were successful last season, with Nick Easter the find of the season.

I’m looking forward to an injury free season for most of the first choice, because once we lose one or two key players we could struggle, most important is Tani Fuga, when fit he is unstoppable, but for too long have we seen him be brave, pull on the shirt when not 100%. The Welsh chappie does not look the part on all accounts, though we do still have Hayter, of whom I am a big admirer.

Backs – This is the mouth watering prospect, if the pack can secure the ball and Merthens can marshal the plays, we could see the resurgence of Will Greenwood, playing inside a world class fly half, back on top form, Mel Deane will be his usual dynamic self. On the wings we have the make or break season  for Ugo, he needs to rediscover the form that put him so centrally in the spotlight, key to this will be the basics and hopefully a game plan that will stick to his strengths, he needs a little room and no hospital passes. From the silky skills of Ugo to the mad axe like George Harder, he will be successful next season, he will barge through tackles, make yards and possibly be marked to the point where space may be created elsewhere across the pitch. I feel Tom Williams will continue his superb form at Full Back. If WG does not recapture his form, then the stage is set for Gavin Duffy to emerge as the next centre for Quins, he played there a little last season and on the Irish’s tour in the summer.

So we are still short in the forwards. I, unlike some, feel this season will be tough. I don’t see any point in belittling the teams in this league, they have some quality players, some have big ambitions, we were not good enough last season, so we deserve to be here and we have to deserve to be promoted. That means keeping it tight, grinding out those away victories. The fans have a big part to play, we must not heap massive expectation on the team, let's support and enjoy it, it could be great but if it isn’t then let's at least enjoy it.

Finally the ground changes and new training facilities. I can’t comment on the new training facilities, though I do trust that we would not have moved to worse facilities than the club had access to in Aldershot, and it is a bit closer to the ground, so that must have a positive impact.

The new ground, although delighted with the new stand (shame about no standing room mind) I’m not totally happy with the naming of it. The LEXUS stand, I can cope with, I just hope it doesn’t set a precedent and before we know it we’re playing at the NEC STOOP, or CSF STOOP. In my book the ground will still be “the Stoop”, in Twickenham or not!!

The London Broncos tie-up will be good in my eyes. It appears that it will not affect the Quins too much, except for saving some cash on academy teams and administrative costs. It’s the Broncos that should be worried, they can call it a partnership all they like, but they have to change their name and the team colours, seems a bit strange to me. As a brand it can only make us stronger, it will bring much needed revenue into the club, as the stadium will be being used all year round, and I still remember the benefits it had in training when we signed some league stars on loan so that ca only be a good thing.