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Maidstone Rugby - Club eager for kick-off
Maidstone Rugby - Club eager for Kick-Off
With Head Coach Andy Foley taking on the role of the club’s Director of Rugby in March, preparation for the 2011/12 season started well in advance of the end of last season. Another key appointment alongside that of Andy Foley was the return of Des Diamond to the club in the role of Club Coaching Coordinator following his retirement as a Coacing Development Manager with the RFU; Des's role places a particular emphasis on qualification and development of coaches at all levels of the club
A further addition to the coaching team is the appointment of Pete Barford; Pete has particular responsibility for the Mustangs XV and also as Development Coach, working with young players to improve skills and also aid the transition from youth to senior rugby.
The club has also been joined this season by Jaoa Branquinho from Portugal were he has been involved in the National Youth Coaching structure at U18 & U20 level which took him to several European Championships at that level, Jaoa is no mean player himself having represented his country at U18 & U20 levels.
Given the restructuring of the Kent RFU junior leagues for this season; the club has also taken the opportunity to reorganise the way in which its teams are established, primarily to promote free flow between teams and improve development of young players as well as transition of players from Youth to open rugby.
On the playing front, the club suffered no losses from the senior squad from last season that weren’t anticipated due to them moving away from the area, except for talented Lock forward Nick Coles who has moved to Westcombe Pk to further his playing ambitions at National level (we wish him well). The club has attracted a number of new players, in excess of 20 for the coming season, in addition to Hayden Mitchell (Lock/No8), fellow Kiwi and former Auckland U19 scrum half Nick Cullen also joins the club. Other overseas players that have joined the club are Tongan front row forward Loni Vikilani and Romanian centre Andrei Toma. In addition a significant number of local players have also joined, Chris Catt, a talented midfield back arrived from Cranbrook plus a significant influx of senior squad players in a range of positions from Lordswood, amongst them Sean Evans, Mick Jones, Nick Jeary and the Dorman brothers. Other additions include back row players Ben Wilson who arrives from Exeter via Worcester Uni and Paul Hannah from Coventry. It is however not all new additions with a number of players returning to the club, wing Damien Houlihan returns along with Harry Stockford and these supplement a number of talented young players already at the club such as Ollie Newton, Josh McKenzie, Dan Foley, Alex Hadi, Luke Powis & Alex Knight.
All in all there is a real buzz across the club in anticipation of next season
