Gordonians head coach Jim Greenwood believes the break in play in club rugby has had a positive impact on club’s attempts to recruit players.
Greenwood arrived during lockdown last year and has had to wait an entire season to take charge of his side for a competitive game.
Greenwood insists the long absence has given players a real hunger to play and clubs are reaping the benefits.
He said: “Every single game is going to be a trip into the unknown and it won’t be until we’ve played all the teams in the league that we’ll have an idea of how the season is going to pan out.
“What I know is that our club has been completely transformed and we’ve worked hard to change the rugby set-up. The by-product of that is I’ve had 36 players at training and there are 39 available to play this weekend.
“There has been none of the old routine where a coach has had to phone round to get a team together.”
Greenwood’s first competitive fixture for a baptism of fire as Gordonians were hammered 76-3 at GHK on the opening weekend of the season.
The Gordonians coach offered no excuses for the one-sided result, insisting GHK were worthy winners.
He hopes to see a response from his side as they return to Countesswells for their first home game tomorrow against a Dumfries Saints side which edged Falkirk 29-26,but admits predicting the qualities of any team is a near impossible task after such a long break in play.
Greenwood said: “We met a very accurate GHK team and the scoreline was an accurate reflection of the game.
“The average age of their side was about seven or eight years more than us and it showed. Looking back I don’t think there was much we could have done to change the outcome.
“There’s no way of knowing of which players have been retained by clubs and who has been recruited.
“It would be nice to judge whether teams are better or worse in terms of their squads but we’re all starting from a blank slate.”
