Newly crowned canoe king Jonny Arr is determined to help Warriors chart a successful path in the chopping waters of the Aviva Premiership – admitting past glories count for nothing as every player looks to make a top-flight splash!
Scrum half Arr and team-mate Jake Abbott ruled the river as the Sixways squad took to the water for a pre-season challenge with a difference last week.
The players were split into pairs and all grabbed a paddle to complete a gruelling 14-mile route through Monmouthshire as the countdown to the new season continues.
Home-grown ace Arr concedes the first few weeks of pre-season have been as gruelling as ever – on land and water – as he looks to build on his hugely successful campaign last year as he helped Warriors claim promotion before picking up the Player-of-the-Year award.
However, the 22-year-old, who has now played 78 games for Worcester, acknowledges a new season is a new start for every player and he must prove himself again with fierce competition for the No.9 shirt.
“Pre-season has been enjoyable on a day-to-day basis, but mixed in with some real hard work. It’s what you expect and the day canoeing was a nice change, to break up the work on the training field,” he said.
“The reason we won the challenge was because Jake managed to fall in the river when he was trying to get into the canoe right at the start,” laughed Arr.
“He was already soaking wet at the starting line so we just thought ‘what is the point of stopping for lunch when we can just keep going?’ We opted to do three hours and 14 miles straight, just slogged it out.
“I’m looking forward to the new season and in many ways we start afresh. You can’t live of past glory – nobody can. I have got to do it all again and this year in the Avia Premiership,” added Arr.
“Last year was great, to win the league with the boys and then get the accolade at the end of the season. But that is in the past now. I just want to just keep building on it and do the best I can for the team.
“Last season was a big confidence boost for me, I have taken a lot out of it, but I can’t expect it to just be the same again this year. There is a lot of hard work to be done.”
Arr finds himself up against fellow home-grown starlet Ollie Frost and vastly experienced summer recruit Shaun Perry for the scrum half role this season at Sixways.
And the former Academy graduate believes he can develop his game even further alongside former England star Perry who he revealed had already made a big impression in the dressing room.
He added: “Shaun has come in and you also have Frosty and a few boys in the Academy that all want to start. I know what I was like when I was in the Academy – you want to make the step up and prove yourself.
“A few characters left at the end of last season with people like Blacky (Adam Black) retiring, but Shaun has definitely stepped into a few of their shoes already.
“He’s a good person to have around the changing rooms. If heads are down there is no doubt he will always chirp the boys up.
“Hopefully I can learn from him and what he has achieved in his career. He has played a lot for England and also over the English Channel in France so has pretty much done it all. Working alongside him can only be good factor for me.”
Arr and the new-look squad, that contains 11 summer signings, will now continue to sweat it out on the training field and in the gym as the clock ticks down to the highly anticipated big kick-off in September.
However, before a huge opening date with Sale Sharks the squad can also look forward to top-class warm-up fixtures with Melbourne Rebels (Monday, August 15) and Argentina (Tuesday, August 23) that Arr insists will be the perfect preparation.
“Our pre-season games will be a completely new challenge and will put a lot of the boys out of their comfort zone,” he concluded.
“That is what we need going into a long and difficult Aviva Premiership season. We certainly can’t just ease our way in with a couple of easy pre-season games.
“We have got to test ourselves and what better way than taking on the Rebels and Argentina.”
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