Jamie Johnston, Enniskillen’s new first XV captain, cannot wait to get the season started. The experienced number eight has taken the armband this year and is keen to oversee an improved season after a disappointing campaign last time out.

“I’m really excited about it,” he said. “Last season it was just a case of survival. We lost pretty much out entire back line due to boys going to England or off to university. Our forward pack stayed pretty much the same but we ended up having a few injuries and it was a tough situation to be in but for the fellas who got game time out of that situation, it will stand them in good stead for going forward this season. There were a few young boys who had to learn very quickly what it is to play senior rugby, but they have one year behind them now.” With the benefit of that experience, Jamie is not ruling out a promotion chase this season. “I always maintained that any team playing in any league should always be pushing to be the best you can be,” he said. “Before Christmas I would be looking to win all our home games and try to meet each game as it comes. I would like to see us in the top half of the table by Christmas and then kick on from there and see what we can do. We are not talking about promotion at this stage because that would be premature but our long term target is definitely to be in the top five, and I would like to see top three later in the season and then we can work it from there.” Jamie has been at the club for the past five seasons, and he believes the players have never been in better shape as they prepare to face Lisburn in the first match on Saturday.

“Pre-season had seen really good and the fitness levels have really improved,” he said. “There is nothing like tough fitness work to bring a team together. Fitness wise we are doing great and we are just settling in to the patterns of play as well. We rolled out a few different options last Saturday and they were working brilliantly. We are becoming more and more comfortable. Lisburn is definitely a winnable game for us. They have to travel down to us and Enniskillen is a difficult place to travel to, especially for teams up around Belfast. We want to make it a bit of a fortress and they will definitely have their work cut out for them when they come down. We are definitely targeting that game as a win.” The squad go into the match with a new coach on the touchline. Alasdair McKee has moved on and has been replaced by long standing club man Norman Richmond, who was assistant coach last season. “Last season Norman would have taken a lot of the sessions anyway and he would have had that respect from the boys,” revealed Jamie. “He has taken the whole pre-season fitness and it is the hardest we have worked in my time in Enniskillen. It’s probably the hardest I have worked in pre-season in any rugby club. We are just instilling this honest ethos were you do the best you can, and we are getting a lot of good hard work out of the fellas. Alastair was great and aside from the rugby that he brought in, he brought a whole ethos in terms of sports phycologists and opened up that whole side of things within the club. Boys started to talk about what they would like to achieve personally and with the team, and they are young fellas and they are open to that communication. That is great for me to inherit because everyone is open to trying to take the team in one direction. I think we have a really good communication system going off the back of his coaching which is fantastic. He also did a lot of video analysis and we have that in place this year and all these things help us to improve week on week.”