WANDERERS skipper Beverley Addison says it’s an honour to take on the captaincy at Fort Matilda and can't wait to lead the ladies side when they return to action.

Greenock players have been training since the middle of July - while off the pitch the club continues to search for a new head coach.

With the SRU aiming for games to return in autumn, Beverley – who has been handed the captain’s armband by Hannah Mutton - believes the Wanderers will be ready for action when the West Regional League kicks off and is proud of how far the team has progressed in the last two years.

She told the Tele: “When I first joined five years ago I had finished uni and started my job I was looking for something social.

“I’d never played any competitive sport in my life and one of my pals dragged me along. Ever since then I’ve never looked back. It’s such an honour. I’m glad to be captain and it’s something that brings a lot of joy to my life.

“The team has been through so many ups and downs. There was a point three years ago when we thought the team wasn’t going to survive and we were having to borrow players from other teams just to meet the minimum requirements.

“In the last couple of years Hannah has been captain and I’ve been vice-captain we spent quite a lot of time trying to change the culture in the team and make sure there was something for everybody to work for and it was a positive place for people to come and take up the sport.”

The scrum-half says they've put the extra time spent on the training ground to good use.

She added: "It's been a longer break than normal so it's been a good opportunity to get everybody's fitness back up and look at things in a bit more detail.

"In a pre-season normally we're thrown in quite quickly but this year it's given us that opportunity to work out moves and positions and see what development each individual player is needing.”

A frustrating campaign saw Wanderers’ league season hampered by reconstruction and their hopes of a repeat of 2019's run to Murrayfield ended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Wanderers’ final game before the season shut down saw them narrowly lose 10-5 to higher league opponents Broughton in a Tennent’s Women’s National Plate Pool clash in January.

Beverley insists they can use the frustration of last term to have a strong campaign when they’re up and running.

She said: "It's given the girls a push to show what they're all about. The SRU had a restructure of the leagues two seasons ago and as part of that we were moved from the National One League to the new West Regional League which has created this new level of playing which is slightly lower than what we were used to playing at.

“Along with that came a lot of cancelled games and teams were not able to fulfil fixtures because they were new and didn't have the numbers.

"When we got back into the cup competition, we narrowly lost to a team two or three leagues above us in a really competitive match. It has given us a lot of motivation to prove that we belong in a higher league.

“Everyone wants to improve their individual performances which is the best way to make the team better.

“Because we don’t have a coach just now we’re doing it ourselves, it means everyone is taking responsibility which is great for team building.”