way you can focus on solid defense and force them to make errors; which you can then capitalize and gain possession or a scrum feed. That, I find, is the safest and most effective way to force turnovers instead of tiring yourselves out from excess counter-rucking efforts and risking too much 'penalty killing time', if you will."

He then talked about mauling and scrumming:

"In the maul, the team with the ball will always be looking to gain momentum and driving advantage every time one is formed. They will often do this when they are close to the line because they will be looking to drive over the line and score a try. This can also happen in five metre scrums when the ball is at the back of the scrum and they push those few extra metres before they can just pick the ball up and touch it down for the five-pointer; and if you attempt to drive them back and stop the  momentum, you can only push yourselves so far before you get penalized for pulling the maul down or entering from the side. Plus if you continue to infringe, a penalty try may be awarded to them. Therefore you need to stay composed and hold them back from advancing on you by providing as much strength in numbers and power to the maul and scrum as possible and digging those boots into the ground to further assist in the restriction of movement; and if you are lucky enough, the maul may unintentionally lose its stability and collapse to the ground to change into a ruck, therefore halting the oppositions chances of driving any further forwards. But very important: You need to conserve your energy, because stamina can only last for so long and there is nothing worse than attempting to counter-attack over and over again until you have used all your energy and fatigue to the point where the opposition will take advantage and break through you to score."

So the next training day; Thursday, August 19; the team set out to practise these advanced skills that they had been taught about. The early moving defense and simple passing skills were able to be practised during touch football and provided double the practice of these two most important elements of rugby in one session so that the players could be properly warmed up for the scrimmage and perform them without error. The remaining skills; ball carrier and breakdown support, short ball carries by forwards for 2 to 4 phases before execution of set plays by the backs, and defensive scrumming, rucking and mauling; were performed in the game-sense scrimmage. The team managed to execute well, but on the odd occasion the coaches would notice that something wasn't happening that should, and they would blow the whistle to stop the game and take the team in a huddle and explain to them the positives and negatives of their gameplay and what they needed to do to fix and perfect it. And every time they would go out again they would play harder and more consistently.

Reede was completely determined to get his team in the best possible physical and psychological state to make them competitive. Tramp, Scamp and the Ex-JD's had also noticed this.

"He really means business, doesn't he?" Scratchy queried about their coach to his fellow gang at the conclusion of another training session.

"Yes, he is pretty serious about getting us to play at our best." Sparky put in. "He knows that this level of rugby is a step up from club level and therefore belonging here means we have to lead by example. If we cannot show everyone why we were picked to play, then it makes no sense being here."

"That's the true example of professionalism." Tramp added. "Yes, we are playing at ametuer level, but unless we work hard towards playing to professinal standards, we will never become competative."

"True enough, 'Kay?" Mooch also said. "If only all rugby clubs could realize that."

"I don't think any coach at this level with let their players forget it." Scamp finished. "As Scratchy said; they mean business."

The skill sessions continued to be rehearsed every Tuesday and Thursday for the remainder of August; in which time after the season was to begin on Saturday, September 4. 

Voluntary outdoor fitness sessions were also available at the oval every Saturday, which was headed by Schalk. Most, but not every team member attended each of the 4 sessions in the month. The Ex-JD's and the schnauzers did, being very commited as Scamp had encouraged them to be at the beginning, as well as the more experienced or older dogs of the team; including, but not limited to, centre Vivian Prestona, fullback Moody Thompson, fly half and centre Dreamer Forsburg, and loose forward Spanner Blignaut. And these sessions included sprints, beep tests, resistance bands, push ups, sit ups, burpees, barbell swings, boxing, and core muscle exercises. Schalk was really pushing his commited participants to the limit and a lot of them felt so fatigued that they could barely stand without constant water breaks, but they still continued on with each exercise as best as they could without stopping to show their will and endurance; otherwise it would have been ironic to choose to participate in the first place.

*

At the conclusion of the final pre-season training session on Thursday, September 2nd, Reede gathered his team into a huddle to speak his final words:

"Alright, team; I have a few things to say before we head out. Firstly, the annointment of our team captain: This dog has shown exeptional skill and determination in player support and ball running as well as offensive and cross-field kicking and solid covering defense. He also specialises well in the psycology of the game. More importantly, he has provided additional help and support to every player who has needed it in the entire pre-season and he has reported team progress to, plus consulted with, the coaching staff every training session. Because of this, we are proud to pick him to lead us to glory. Amity Regional Rugby Football Club, please welcome your captain; Dreamer Forsburg!"

The entire team plus higher staff members present applauded loudly and cheered as their new leader came forward and shook his head coaches paw as well as the additional coaching staff, manager, and Amity Regional RFC President Vince. He then stood beside them as Reede continued on:

"Yes, congatulations, Dreamer, and we wish you the best of luck. And as for our vice captain; he has shown solid offensive drive and power at virtually every breakdown, averages about 5 metres per ball carry, and is a solid 'defensedog' with no one being able to edge past him as far as we have seen. He has also provided solid help and support for our team at every need and has consulted with Caleb on the forwards' work whenever available. But he also has a bit of a philosophical side about him and he has not been afraid to share that with every single one of us. So for his skill, vital philospsohies and plentiful advice, we are pleased to present the vice captaincy to Spanner Blignaut!"

The team and coaches applauded and cheered at a reasonable volume again as Spanner came up to recieve his honour with the paw shake from the higher staff. He then also joined them and Dreamer as Reede spoke again:

"Congratulations to you as well, Spanner. Now, secondly; as of now, pre-season has officially ended. It has been a long month of tough, hard work and I am sure all of you have been looking forward to the beginning of the main season. As far as I and the coaching staff are concerned, you have been working the special skills well and I have not seen many fundamental errors; so at state and college level, this is exactly what we expected to see from a very dedicated team. You are now more than ready to take on the best in the business; so go out there and show the critics what you are capable of. Go beyond your level of expectation and reach those limits. Do whatever it takes to be true competitors. That is what we expect from you: Not to focus on winning, nor the pressure from the surrounding crowd, nor the scoreboard, nor the predictions of the games' turnout, and nor the opponents; but on your own competitive edge. Focus on playing hard throughout the whole 80 minutes of gameplay and do not get psycologically put off by whatever is outside your own buffer zone, otherwise it could eventually lead to defeat. Even if you do not come away with victory at the end, if you have played tough and made it hard for the opposition to get on top, you will always earn your position as a true respectable and competitive rugby club and your opponents and critics will therefore bow down to what you have achieved. Remember this before every single game that you will go out to play and your spot on the ladder will always remain between 1 and 4. Alright, then, paws in."

Every team member huddled close and placed their paws in the middle of it together.

"Our opening season game is against Cheshire RFC this Saturday. Make sure you get here no later than 11:30 a.m.. The game begins at 1:00 sharp. We need to ensure that we get properly warmed up before the game starts, so allow yourselves time before the game to do so. The earliest dogs to turn up will be ensured a run. Those who turn up late will lessen their chances at sufficient minutes on the turf inside the white lines. So keep that commitment that you have had all this month going. Best of luck to you all in the build up to the game. Now, on the count of three, shout; 'Amity RFC!'. We make this our ritual before every single game. Let's go: One, two, three..."

"AMITY RFC!" The whole team yelled enthusiastically as they raised their paws into the air.

"Good work, team." Reede finished. "That will do it from here. See you on Saturday."

And with that,