NEW Huddersfield YMCA RU Club director of coaching Damon Scholes is determined to put the pride back in the shirt.
Scholes was last week announced as part of a new-look Laund Hill coaching set-up to be led by himself and Mark Eastwood.
They will be supported by Andy Lyon, Jody Shaw (the former St Joseph’s RL head coach), Matt Larder, Andy Crossley and Chris Hartley, who will take charge of YM’s second team.
Former Giants Academy man Jon Bell has also been recruited as club conditioner.
And Scholes is confident this is the right team to spark a return to the glory days of a decade ago when the YMCA were making their historic Twickenham appearance in the Tetley’s Vase.
"For whatever reason, the pride in the shirt has been lost in recent years, and that’s very painful to see," said Scholes, who has also confirmed the experienced Neil Walker will be club captain and 19-year-old prop Stuart Dyke will be vice-captain.
"We believe one of the main priorities is to restore that pride as quickly as possible so we can halt the slide and get back to where we were just a few short years ago.
"And I believe that with the personnel we have been recruiting we’re putting ourselves in the best possible position to do just that."
As well as the new coaching set-up, a player recruitment drive is already under way, with Neil Pollock, Chris Williams and Elliot Lyons the first to be signed up.
There are several others in the pipeline.
On top of that, former YMCA prop Gary Toomes has returned to the club to take charge of sponsorship.
Pre-season training gets under way at Salendine Nook on Monday (7pm) with a conditioning session under the vastly-experienced Andy Farrell.
