Rugby is back for another year — and the Lawrence Rugby Club is getting pumped and ready to get the show on the road.
The Lawrence Premiers, commonly known as the Nuggets, are gearing up for their second season since their hiatus, and they’re looking to climb the ranks and improve on last years’ efforts.
Taking a sneak peek right into the heart of the Premier team and the club itself, player coach Ben Martin lets us know what the go is this year in Lawrence rugby.
‘‘We had a bit of a challenging year last year, with coming back and having a bunch of players who hadn’t played together before,’’ Martin said.
‘‘We only had one win, but it never stopped us from showing up and hitting hard against our opponents.’’
‘‘We’re looking to step up the ladder this year. Our players are in their pre-season training and they’re finding the ins and outs to working together as a team and learning to gel together. We’re feeling a lot more confident now the boys have had a season running around together, so we’re becoming pretty fired up for this season.’’
Their Premier side has a mix of older and younger players on the team, and have some players travelling from Dunedin and Cromwell to play.
The club also has multiple junior teams, and a tight-knit community that rallies behind the teams when they’re on field.
‘‘The community and camaraderie we have here is pretty incredible. Last year since we started back, the amount of support we’ve had is amazing,’’ Martin said.
‘‘Rugby is all about bringing people together. It’s not always just about the game, it’s about the families, partners of players, friends of players and more that come along to support us.
‘‘We’re gearing up while we train. We haven’t appointed a captain yet as we’re in our infancy stages to creating a strong side, but once we get sorted we’ll begood to go.’’
The Premier side is excited to get going and the boys will be ready for pre-season matches soon enough.
The Lawrence Rugby Club is looking for more supporters to come along to games to give them a boost from the sideline. Ifplayers are looking to join, feel free to check out the Lawrence Premier Rugby Team Facebook page or contact club president Sean Roughan on 0273056367.
Keep an eye out for their upcoming pre-season and scheduled games. Up the Nuggets!
