THINGS are revving up as Westoe prepares for an all-out bid to bring National rugby to South Tyneside.
Both seasons in North One – since being promoted as 2004-5 champions of North Two (East) – have ended with them just missing out on the runners-up spot that would have meant a play-off opportunity to join the game's elite.
Each time, captain Gare
th Nesbit and his squad could look back in exasperation at a faltering start and unaccountable lapses in form along the way, against opponents they know they should have beaten.
So Big Nes and the club's hierarchy are pulling out all the stops, in an endeavour to eradicate such hiccups this time around.
With the Wood Terrace ground currently occupied by cricketers, strenuous training sessions are being held from 7pm every Tuesday and Thursday on the town's Leas (opposite The Bamburgh pub) to which new players are welcome.
Good news is that ex-Newcastle Falcons hard man Richard Arnold has returned as coach for the fourth year.
And while his assistant and Kingston Park companion Joe Shaw is pursuing other interests within the game, his wise counsel will still be available.
Meanwhile, vice-chairman and First XV manager Duncan Murray has been in negotiations with an overseas player-coach who he describes as 'very exciting'.
While nothing is yet certain, I understand it is very much a matter of 'watch this space'.
More glad tidings are that the Springbok duo of Johan Saaiman and Jacques Prins, who injected raw-boned tenacity as well as skill into the side after their New Year arrival, have summered happily on South Tyneside, and will again don the dark blue, sky blue and red jerseys.
The club faithful will also rub their hands at the news that strong, athletic flanker, Jonathon Okwe-Pearson, 23, is returning to the fold after departing in November on a solo 'see the world' quest, his appetite for travel now apparently sated.
A number of other players of regional repute have. I gather, also been in touch, encouraged by Westoe's ambition and achievements in recent years.
Certainly, the club has come a long way since its homespun days when, under the leadership of Shaun Helme, its table-topping feat eight seasons ago earned a place in Durham and Northumberland Division One in the restructured league set-up.
Other new boys on the block, though of long and high regard in north east rugby circles, are coaches Rod McClure and Keith Lupton, who have been recruited specifically to transform the Seconds into an academy-styled development unit as a conduit into the senior squad, particularly for the club's rich crop of up-and-coming young ones.
The two earned laurels at West Hartlepool and then Blaydon, where now-established Westoemen Paul Bird, Vinnie Bell, Paul Alexander and Ben Mason all benefited from their tuitional skills and methods, of which they speak highly.
The club has had a significant boost in the run-up to the season by being able to announce that Peter Maughan, boss of South Shields-based Beacon Electrical (NE) Ltd, is its new main sponsor, and his generosity will benefit the second and third XVs as well as the firsts, while Vic Young is again sponsoring the Senators.
Chairman John Tighe said: "Assessed by the level at which it plays, Westoe can now claim to be the foremost sporting club in the borough. But to have achieved this and hopefully, to progress still further, has come at a cost.
"That is why we are so grateful to Peter for his support – as we are to all our sponsors – and so also should be our growing band of supporters, who can now see a quality of rugby undreamed of just a few years ago."
For purely material as well as prestige reasons, it is, therefore, crucial that Westoe win at Darlington on September 1, a week before the league campaign begins, for the right to play in the potentially lucrative EDF Energy National Trophy, rather than the much less rewarding Intermediate competition.
Two pre-season friendlies have been arranged. at Hull Ionians on August 11 and at Morley a week later – tough opponents from National Three (North), which is where Nesbit's men want to be playing themselves the season after this.
Said Mr Tighe: "These three games will give us the testing work-out we need to hit the ground running when the league programme starts."
