I’m Taking a slightly different format to my pre-match article this week with the request of Mr. Barden Junior to give some insight into my time at the club so far since joining in the summer of 2023 and the journey the squad have been on since then.

I have to start by saying that it almost feels like an end of an era, as the one and only Jason Ford has regrettably decided to hang his ‘whispering’ boots up after today’s game as he looks to dedicate more time for him and his family. Fordy was a huge catalyst in Liam and I joining Petersfield as coaches when he did what he does best and ‘tapped’ us up early doors in the previous season to make a compelling argument about the set up and the ambition of Petersfield Rugby club and to gauge our interest - over a beer or two of course.

I found it strange at the time Fordy opted for alcohol free beer as his poison, but I’ve concluded that it must have been for him be at the top of his game during that initial dialogue. A true pro doesn’t drink on the job. The meeting was followed by regular timely soundbites to ensure the hook had a firm grasp of its prey, and soon after, Liam and I found ourselves steering the senior men’s rugby ship at Petersfield RFC. Dubbed ‘The Horse whisperer’ for his ability to not only lead the horse to the water, but to also convince the horse to drink it, Fordy has played a pivotal role in the recent success and development of the Senior rugby environment. His efforts in pulling the lads together, liaising with players as a collective and individually, chasing people to check their whereabouts, the arms round the shoulder etc - a thankless task and most of which is done outside of our training hours has allowed Liam and I to really focus on the rugby matters on the training pitch and on match-days.

Unseen by most, but hugely recognised by Perky and I, and will be extremely sad to see him go. Our whispering skills are clearly below par for we were not able to convince the Jedi Master of the whispering world to stay.

A person such as Fordy will be irreplaceable. A man with a heart of gold who will do anything for you, and always gets things done! Fordy, on behalf of both Liam and I - thank you for everything you’ve done during our time here, we can only hope that over the course of time, wandering up and down the touchline from the brewery side of the barrier on a Saturday without a purpose will change your mind.

Since joining, the playing squad right across the three senior men’s sides have really bought in to our vision, and our approach to how we want to play rugby. The engagement levels have been excellent - driving collective and individual player development right throughout group. We were rewarded with unbeaten league season’s across the 1st and 2nd team last season and earned promotion to level 6 with the 1st team, and a 3 league jump for the 2nd team into County 2 - where our 2nd team are competing with 1st teams most fixtures.

Winning the leagues last year at almost a canter probably hasn’t done us many favours as we were not well versed at dealing with challenge or adversity during games and stepping up a level has certainly exposed us to this, and we have on many occasion this season found that difficult to deal with - but on a positive note, it will be vital experience gained and banked for us as we move forward through the rest of the season and prepare for the next.

Having said that - we have been able to demonstrate our ability, and capability to compete with the best in this league, going to to toe with the top two teams in the division, losing out to both by less than 4 points in the dying minutes of the games. Our struggles though have come against the so called ‘weaker’ opposition (based on league position) and particularly away from home. Again, all learning an experience not only for the players, but for both Liam and I as ‘young’ coaches which we will be strategising about how to address.

A key development and step change in our structure throughout this season - which has been extremely positive for us has been our set-up through the Colts age group. For the club to 1. Maintain its level, and 2. Continue to progress - the development and engagement of the aspiring young players throughout the club is critical. We took the decision to take a more professional approach to our Colts coaching set up, with a view to embedding the culture and playing environment we are building in the senior set up through the age groups.

Nick Blumlein was appointed head coach of the Colts Age group in the summer and was tasked with filtering the senior men’s game through to the playing group at college level, with development and enjoyment at the forefront of the agenda.

Nick, and the coaching team made up of Dan Sargent, Franko Tomic, Andy Barnes along with some key support coaches/volunteers from the parent contingent have done an excellent job, creating a hugely enjoyable environment for these young lads to play, learn an develop, as well as building a real tight knit group of people who work hard for each other. On the pitch, they’ve had a fantastic start to their season, so far boasting a 100% win record in the age group’s highest tier of rugby. Well done the Colts!

A by-product of this set up is that it creates a genuine player pathway for players to transition from Colts rugby to senior rugby - this being evident by the number of ‘Academy Graduates’ to have featured in the senior men’s 1st team in the first half of the season.

Dan Chinnock made his debut off the bench against Bournemouth in early November and had a great impact on the game. Still part of the colts set up - his experience in the senior environment will inevitably filter down to his colleagues at colts level and drive further development for others around him in that environment.

Ethan Horsfall has now strung together a number of games in the first team and is growing in confidence. Today we also hand another debut to current Colt member Jamie Guthrie, who starts on the wing. The feedback from Nick and the team on Jamie’s strong performances for both the Colts and Hampshire u18’s has given Jamie the opportunity to sample 1st team senior rugby today - he’s looked sharp in training this week and we are really excited to see him express himself on the pitch this afternoon.

And so we welcome Chichester at Penns Place today for this festive fixture. Todays opposition I’m sure will be hoping the ghost of Christmas past is not about to remind them of the outcome in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, having surrendered a circa 25 point lead with 18 minutes or so remaining on the clock.

We hope, despite the wintry conditions that we are able to put a full 80 minute performance together and re-discover some of the early season form and play an expansive brand of rugby. We ask that the pitch side support really get behind the boys today and make some noise to get an all important victory in this highly anticipated fixture before the Christmas break.