Glasgow's Johnnie Beattie can't wait for the new season to get started.
Johnnie made a good start to last season but a drop in form saw him lose his starting place with coach Sean Lineen saying the Number 8's 'head was not where it should be'. But with the new season just around the corner Johnnie is going all out to make the most of the fresh start.

Johnnie told the Glaswegian: "A good thing with Sean is that he doesn't give up on players easily. At the start of pre-season, we sat down and had a one-to-one meeting where he said he was more than happy to wipe the slate clean.

"He said that I was still in his plans and that I was capable of holding down a regular first team place with Glasgow.

"So I've worked hard this summer and I myself feel like a new player - it's been my best ever pre-season.

"Last year was frustrating because I had a great high with that Llanelli game and then came a drop in form.

"It was frustrating because I knew what had gone wrong but made it worse by trying too hard to make amends for it.

"It has been suggested that I had drifted into a comfort zone as some assumed the back row forwards (with Kelly Brown and John Barclay) picked themselves.

"Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact that whole 'Killer Bees' tag given to the three of us is a load of rubbish. Myself, Kelly and John know full well that there is some serious competition for places. Richie Gray, Calum Forrester and James Eddie have shown they are more than ready to step should we let our standards slip.

"With regard to the new season, all of us at the Warriors know that last season wasn't good enough.

"After all, what's the point of going to Toulouse and beating them when you get beaten by Newport? One-off wins against big teams is all well and good but we need to beat the rest as well for it to mean anything because that's why the top clubs are so successful."v

This article was posted on 20-Aug-2009, 14:31 by Hugh Barrow.