AFTER a hard pre-season, I am really looking forward to getting back into the new season with Worcester Wolves.

The players have worked exceptionally hard and I think we’re ready to get some games under our belt that actually mean something.

Starting at Newcastle Eagles tomorrow is great as far as I’m concerned because we’re going to know exactly where we are as a team and, hopefully, we’ll be on the right side of the scoreline.

Last season we played Leicester Riders, who were the defending champions, in our first home game, so it seems we always get a tough start but I don’t mind that.

It gives us a chance to gauge where we are as a club and how far we’ve come in pre-season. I relish that challenge and hopefully the players do as well.

There’s no bigger game than playing Newcastle on their own floor in the opening game of the season.

Certainly, for Fab Flournoy and I the challenge is always great, whether it’s a final or just a league game. We both have a lot of pride in the way our teams play.

It’s been a good few weeks since the players returned at the beginning of September. We have played two friendlies, winning them both, and I think we learnt a lot. I certainly learnt a lot about some of the new players and what we need to do to improve them. As far as competition is concerned, Reading Rockets gave us a good run for our money and Bristol Flyers even more so.

They were good challenges for us and weren’t easy games by any means. We were behind for most of the Bristol game and pulled it out of the bag in the fourth quarter by showing a bit of resilience, so that’s a positive.

We’ve got a lot of talent but we’ve got work to do to make it all come together and for it to be a cohesive unit.

However, I think we are way ahead of schedule of where I wanted us to be. Our offensive and defensive sets are in place, now I’ve just got to fine tune it because it’s a little bit rough round the edges and people don’t have enough confidence in their team-mates yet, but they will.

Remi Dibo has done very well in the two games and Sean Park led all scorers against Bristol, which was great for him because I think he needed that.

Chavis Holmes was rested against Bristol because of a slight ankle injury but he’s fine now.