Hello again!

So it’s been an uneventful last month since we've only played 2 games in the last 8 weeks. Unfortunatley we lost both of the games and with the bottom of the log team somehow upsetting the undefeated top team we've wound up in last place in the standings. This means with 5 games left we need to get maximum points out of 2 games to be clear or win 3 games to be totally safe from relegation. Personally I'd prefer to win every game and end the season on as high a note as possible. It certainly is doable, we just need to pull together and get a bit more self belief brewing.

As my time here is nearing a close, 6 weeks or so, im looking forward to what comes next. I have another great opportunity that I’m going to be thinking long and hard about. I’m also trying to reflect on what I was able to accomplish here, looking at my rugby, the personal relationships I’ve established and how I’ve changed since coming here.

The personal relationships that I have created here have further supported the saying that rugby is a universal language. I've come here not knowing anyone except for a coach and am walking away with some great friends and a few who will continue to be life long teammates on and off the field. Some of the guys I've met here I have very little in common with but through the nature of the game we've become friends. It’s an incredible notion that no matter where I land in the world I will automatically have a community, further proof of how great our sport truly is.

My performance from the last season is something I am not ok with, its been something that at the end of the games I’ve played I’ve been left knowing that I am capable of better. As any player knows that’s never a good feeling to leave the field with and haunts you until your next chance for redemption in the next week’s game. There’s any number of reasons I can conclude to be the source of the sub-par performance I have given this past few months. I had just come back from my first serious injury, it was the first time in my life where there were no other distractions to prevent me from focusing on my own game and training. Maybe the distractions helped my game by taking my mind off of it for a while.

While being here and having so much down time in between training sessions it has given me time to think about the dreaded "life after rugby". As any rugby play knows those words haunt you, and you always hope that your life after rugby will not happen prematurely by injury or otherwise. However, it’s something that we all think about and does become a reality. Next month I’m turning 25 and hitting the midway point in my career and it is becoming more real that I’m in need of finding what else suits me other than just being a player. I know most of the older payers will read that and say that I’m still young and have plenty of time to come right in my next life. Right now though, it seems like something that is of immediate importance, it’s a finish line that's getting closer every day. I have had my ideas and have worked plenty of jobs while playing and a few have piqued my interest the way rugby does because of a few different aspects that can relate back to the sport. It will come in time, I just need to continue to think about it and try everything I can.

What ever the case for the future, I have 5 more games to give myself the chance to walk away from this club feeling like I have achieved something here. And I won’t waste my time.

Trevor