Dalziel coach – new players a must to move to next level

Jun 29 2011 by Andrew Weston, Wishaw Press

DALZIEL Rugby Club head coach David Wilson believes an injection of new blood is vital for the club to move forward next season.

The Motherwell outfit finished a creditable seventh during their debut season in Premier Three and are now keen to compete near the top of the table.

The club hope to welcome back Gillon Duguid after the skipper missed the whole of last season due to a hand injury but will be without key forward Steven Findlay who quit the club this summer to join Glasgow Hawks.

Wilson admits it’s difficult for Dalziel to compete with the financial clout of other clubs in their catchment area but is hopeful of adding to his squad before pre-season begins on July 5.

He said: “We have spoken to some players but they will not make their mind up until they have weighed up all their options.

“We know that we need to recruit. Quite simply if we don’t get new players in I think we will find it very difficult.

“Motherwell is not the best catchment area to pick up players when you have got clubs in Glasgow and beyond playing at the same level.

“So trying to attract players is no mean feat and that is proving to be the problem.

“But I am still very much working on that and hoping we can attract some new blood.”

Whilst some clubs have gone down the route of recruiting from overseas, Dalziel have instead put faith in players brought through their highly-acclaimed youth system.

Wilson continued: “There are some talented youngsters and the one thing that Dalziel should be credited for is they don’t fill the teams with players from other parts of the world.

“Even at Premier Three level it’s amazing how many sides have brought in overseas players.

“Dalziel have not done that but if we want to compete at the top then we need to recruit.

“That’s key to moving to the next level. You can only work with the tools you have.”

The former Glasgow Hawks coach hopes his squad learn from their first season in Premier Three which at times was a chastening experience.

Having enjoyed an excellent start to the season, winning six of their first eight league games, defeat to Haddington in mid-October started a 13-match losing streak.

The low point came in April when Dalziel surrendered a 25-0 lead at home to Cartha Queen’s Park, eventually losing 33-28.

“Next season the boys will be much more aware of what they can expect,” Wilson said.

“They had come up undefeated and were never going to find things going all their own way.

“I think physically we found it quite difficult. Once teams found out we were not the most intensive forward pack they tended to take us on there.

“We also lacked a cutting edge in midfield and having lacked pace on the wings we struggled to finish things off.

“Where we finished was a fair reflection of how we performed and I said at the start of the season it was all about consolidation.

“I think we were well beaten probably three times in the league but the amount of times we turned round leading at half-time only to surrender that advantage was astonishing.

“However, we ended up with 17 bonus points, more than any other team, which would indicate we were close in a number of games.”

l Dalziel have arranged four pre-season friendlies against Irvine, West of Scotland, Hamilton and Dunfermline.