Ross Sutherland head coach calls for early season games
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ROSS Sutherland head coach John Mann is calling for the majority of league fixtures to be played before December.
His views come after the Stags have only played two matches in Caledonia Two North this season.
Ross Sutherland should play their third league match when they visit Aberdeen Grammar 2nd XV on Saturday.
But it will be the club’s first match in four weeks with games postponed due to scheduled breaks along with cup competitions and extreme weather.
However Ross Sutherland were also at fault for the postponement of their match at Aberdeenshire in September due to a lack of players.
But Mann says fixture organisers need to look at least having around 66 per cent of league games being played before December.
“It’s quite hard to fathom we have only played two league games by November.
“There has been a lot of free weekends where we could have played rugby and there was scheduled weeks off.
“I don’t understand why this has happened, surely you should play the best rugby in the best weather.
“Pitches are getting boggy and days are getting shorter, in my opinion we should front log the first half of the season.
“I would rather try and get two-thirds of the fixtures done before December.
“I have had conversations with people inside and outside the club wanting to play that way.
“If we can get into the habit of front loading early it would make more sense to me.”
Mann says the lack of rugby is also having a negative impact on his team
“We have not played a game in four weeks.
“Every week seems 50/50 and a lot of the boys are chomping at the bit to play some competitive rugby again. It is hard to motivate the lads when they have no game on a Saturday.”
