Dean Ryan insists Warriors’ new player acquisitions demonstrate the direction in which the club are looking to go over the foreseeable future.
GJ van Velze, Heath Stevens, Joe Rees and Charlie Mulchrone have all agreed to join Warriors in the summer and the Director of Rugby believes they are ideal additions to his squad.
He said: “We’ve always talked about building something for the future and a clear identity around a senior group that takes the club forward and it’s about creating a place of opportunity for youngsters.
“The new signings represent that and we’ve got players at both ends of the spectrum.
“GJ is hugely experienced, a strong leader and is clearly going to be an influential part of what we’re trying to build.
“Charlie, Joe and Heath are all young and looking for opportunities and we have followed them and identified them as people that can grow in this environment.”
With Andries Pretorius, Ryan Mills and Matt Cox already joining, Ryan has now secured seven new players ahead of next season as he looks to assemble a team capable of challenging in the higher reaches of the Aviva Premiership.
But he admits success does not come from buying in quantity.
He explained: “It’s not about trying to recruit 15 good Premiership players. It’s about targeting four or five really good people and then creating a place of opportunity so people can grow around them.
“We have some good people here and some with promise and talent that are going to be given the opportunity to grow. That is what I want at the centre of the club.”
And Ryan believes the challenge of the club’s ambitions is what is drawing players to Sixways.
He continues: “If you target the key people they see the challenge of what we are trying to do here and that’s why they come. The scale of the challenge is the attractive part of it.
“They’re not coming here to be static. They’re coming here to really challenge and change the way this place does business internally and then hopefully it is represented on the field.”
Meanwhile Warriors face Leicester Tigers tomorrow night in the Aviva Premiership at Sixways (kick-off 7.45pm).
And Ryan knows his side need to beat one of the Premiership’s top sides if they are to stay in the league.
He concludes: “We are going to have to take a big scalp at some point this season and we will fight like mad to give ourselves every chance against Leicester.”