Sudbury Rugby Club head coach Cameron Greenhall adds six players for shot at title and promotion in 2024/25
After adding six players while importantly not losing any of the existing squad, player-head coach Cameron Greenhall is confident a special season is in the offing at Sudbury Rugby Club.
The Whittome Field outfit certainly displayed their potential for mounting a serious promotion challenge in 2024/25 in the second half of last season, winning 15 straight matches to finish as runners-up in Regional 1 South East. Four defeats early on, however, still left them some 15 points back from local rivals Colchester.
And though he knows his boosted squad – which includes some returning faces in Chris Lewis, Taane Forster and Charlie Gardner – will have the added pressure of a target on their backs to deal with this year, he is confident they can deliver on their own target.
Ahead of hosting newly-promoted Amersham & Chiltern tomorrow (3pm), he said: “We’re looking to compete at the top of the table, that’s for sure.
“And I think we’ll have a name on our backs after the success of last season. I think it’s fair to say we’ll probably be the team to beat.”
They will also have the added bonus of three players coming in who have been there and done it last season with their former fly-half Lewis as well as utility back David Brennan and second rower Rory Miller having joined from champions Colchester.
Winger Finley Laing, who steps up from lower-league Cantabrigian, as well as utility back Forster and hooker Gardner, the latter two returning to the club from university, have also added to Greenhall’s options for the new campaign.
But with captain Sam Bixby (knee), Lewis (shoulder) and himself (knee) among the absentees for their opening consecutive home games, with Old Northamptonians to follow next weekend, the Suds head coach – who himself is not expected to return to action till March after a second operation on an ACL injury – is looking for others to stake their claim as key players.
And although knowing the result was not the most important element of Saturday’s 35-27 home defeat to Harlow in their warm-up match with eight regulars missing, he wants to see a big improvement when the real stuff gets under way.
“September’s going to be a tricky month for us with player availability, so we can only put the best Sudbury side out possible with availability,” he said.
“We’re looking to start the season how we left it, basically, so scoring a lot of points and hopefully winning rugby games.”
Ahead of facing a side from Buckinghamshire who enter the fifth tier division after winning Regional 2 Thames last term, he said: “We’ll welcome them to the league, that’s for sure.”
Henry Cowling, who was vice captain last season, will lead the team out on Saturday having been promoted to co-captain along Bixby this term, the latter out till October after a knee clean-up operation.
