Welcome back to the Salford Community Stadium at the start of another massive Gallagher Premiership season. It feels like a long time since we have been here but I can assure you the team has been working really hard in training and we can’t wait to run out in front of you all once again on Sunday.
I’m really excited and proud to be captaining this club for a second season. On a personal level, It’s a massive honour for me however at the same time I’d like to emphasise the fact that the leadership of this team is not just me. The team is blessed to have a number of really strong leaders – Fordy, Gus, Ernie, Rob and Tom – away from the pitch Tommy, Beau and Bevan have been unbelievable around the training ground. For me, I feel there are more experienced players in our squad in terms both of age and experience. We’ve got Lions players, international captains and players with loads of international caps, so we’re in a really good place with the leadership of the team because all of us take different roles.
Like last season, we’re more player led. My role is leading by example and setting the tone. I want to give our other leaders the space to contribute in the way I know they can.
A big figure in our leadership group on and off the field is my brother Tom. It’s brilliant to have him back from a personal point of view, but from the team perspective, it’s massive because he’s a Lion, and a 50-cap international. He’s one of the best players in the world but it’s the way he drives standards, he motivates and he demands high standards. A Sale team with Tom in it is very different to one without and we’re buzzing to have him back.
We only had Tom for about 20 minutes of last season and I think injuries were a big factor in why maybe it was a season of three thirds. We started really well and then had that blip in the middle and the end was fantastic. We were missing some big players at key moments and we’re excited to have some of those lads back. Jonny Hill, Dan du Preez and Nick Schonert will be back soon and that’s so important for us especially after a few games in. This year, if we’re going to achieve what I know we’re capable of, it’s going to take everyone.
Personally it’s been a summer of mixed emotions. I went away with England on the summer tour of New Zealand and Japan and while it was frustrating not to play, it was a great experience. Steve was really honest with me about the pecking order so I was able to get my head around that. I worked as hard as possible and I enjoyed the off-field stuff with a great group of lads. It was great to have five of us there from Sale and I’m sure Carps will have enjoyed having some familiar faces there for his first England tour. I know he and the rest of the lads who went away with their countries and won caps will be better for the experience.
Looking ahead to the Autumn Internationals and the Six Nations, I feel I’m at my best when I don’t think about whether or not I’ll be picked for England. I know that if I’m playing well and the team is winning, then I have a much better chance of being involved so that’s where my focus is.
We’ll all need to be on it this weekend because we know what Harlequins will bring. We know they’ll throw the ball around and their transition is fantastic. It’s exciting for the fans but for a defence, it brings some big challenges. We’ve also been working really hard on our attack because that’s the area where we feel we can make the biggest improvement. We want to go after teams but I guess that old cliché is true – everyone has a good plan until you get punched in the face. We want to land the first punch.
What would be a good season for us? None of us are happy if we’re not winning. We’ve got to three semi-finals and a final in five years and we feel like we’re better than that. We expect more because we’re not a nearly team. We don’t want people saying we’ve done well to make a semi-final because that’s an absolute minimum for this group. We all feel we’ve got everything in place to go all the way.
It all starts this weekend.
Enjoy the game,
Ben.