Forget consolidation - we're aiming to go up, says Declan

DECLAN Hayes is too young to remember the balmy days of Skipton Rugby Union. He has to search the trophy boards at Sandylands and quiz former players like Arthur Norton for details of when the club was a major power in Yorkshire Rugby.

But he can remember with vivid clarity the time when the club was on the low road. He was only a lad then, patrolling a lonely touchline on Saturday afternoon and watching his dad, Tom, the captain, and the sides of the Eighties struggling to match the deeds and results of yesteryear.

"I was one of the few," says the Keighley solicitor: "Sometimes I'd be the only person on one side of the pitch. It was all a bit quiet."

From those early days, the pledge to come back to Skipton in later life and play for the club was born and last season, with a keen sense of timing, he fulfilled promise. Now he leads the team and is determined that the momentum gained in the 125th anniversary year will not be lost.

"The greatest things about last season, apart from the obvious delight of gaining promotion and winning the Silver Trophy, was the fact that it brought people back to the touchline side on Saturdays." He says: "We had hundreds watching some of our games and in many cases, they were faces from another era, former players and officials whose interest had lapsed, but who were drawn back to the club by the success were we enjoying.

"It obviously had a beneficial effect in terms of players getting their kit out and we even had people starting to train who for years had never been near the place in mid-week. It was a marvellous experience to be part of that success and obviously so much more satisfying for me having been here when the supporters were counted on the fingers of one hand."

But as another season dawns, can that wave of enthusiasm be harnessed again? Hayes is a happy hooker on that score.

"I know lots of people in our situation would be thinking in terms on consolidating our position in new division, but I'm sure we need to set our sights higher than that," he says. "We've played against a number of teams we'll be facing this season and we did well. I honestly believe we have what it takes to have a say in the promotion challenge.

"I know that some people felt that last season we owed everything to our New Zealand pair, but when you look more closely, it wasn't like that. Cameron Marcroft missed part of the season with injury and while Ben Antonio was a tremendous player and a big influence, we weren't a two-man band by any means. Don't misunderstand me. They were good lads and did us proud, but there is much more to us as a team than two guest players.

"In that score, we have two more players coming from the same club this week, and in the case of the scrum-half, he's the lad who's been keeping Cameron out of the club team back in New Zealand, so he should be useful."

While the purchase of a club house on the Burnside Estate for the newcomers and the urgent need for a 'makeover' has galvanised the volunteer force, on the training pitch there has also been much more activity than in this stage in previous seasons.

"Last year we had about seven training at the start, with missing players being on holiday, which tells you something," says coach Andy Guest, who teamed up with former Bradford & Bingley colleague Gerry Corrigan last season. "But when we started winning, players began to come out of the woodwork. We kept finding players we didn't know we had. Training is one aspect of the club culture that needs to change and the early signs are that it is doing.

"The curious thing is that we were running three sides regularly, but still only getting the senior players to training.

"Already we've had over 35 attending, including virtually all the lads who were involved in the double last season. What we want is a full second team also turning up a couple of nights a week so that we have good competition and players going into the first team who know what we've been working on and how we play. That's something to aim for."

Not surprisingly, Guest shares the captain's view about where the club should be setting its sights.

"In the past when we've had a good season I suspect players have relaxed and had a easy time," he says. "This time we need to set our sights on promotion from the outset.

"As a club we need to move up the leagues and get into a better standard.

"We need players in the district to recognise that we are playing in decent company and have something to offer them."

Apart from the new faces from the Land of the Silver Fern, then, it's very much the mixture as before at Sandylands, with George Smithson back from his New Zealand sojourn and Chris Howarth a new arrival from North Ribblesdale.

There may be one more 'celebrity' in the pipeline if promises materialise, but for now, Declan Hayes and his men are rarin' to get back to the fray. No doubt Arthur Norton and his fellow stalwarts are sharing that anticipation.