In an article from our ‘Engage’ supplement, East London head coach Eddie Gooby previews the new London Three Essex season

Eddie Gooby believes East London will be involved in an extremely tough London Three Essex this season, but is confident they will thrive.

After 12 years working with Chelmsford, the experienced coach has moved to the West Ham-based club this summer.

Gooby will be the new head coach at East London and will work alongside director of rugby Gary Pearmain.

When looking ahead to the new campaign recently, he said: “This league is just as hard as the league above us and in fact it may even be together.

“But at this level if you can keep a settled squad of 22 players you are going to have a chance of doing well.”

The challenge for Gooby and East London will be to have consistency when it comes to selection, which is something most clubs at all levels struggle with.

Another thing for the new head coach to work on is the relationship he has with the club’s director of rugby.

Yet Gooby insisted: “Our philosophies are similar I think. Some might call us old fashioned, but I want to bring some flair to what we do.

“Gary can do specialist work with the forwards and I can work with the backs, but I’ll be pushing the forwards as well where we need to have a real physical presence.”

Although Gooby’s focus is on success with the first-team in the London Three Essex and trying to improve on last season’s third-place finish.

He will also be looking for the Wyverns seconds XV and third-team to enjoy success and produce people who are good enough to move up and compete in the first-team.

“Those players are going to be very important this year,” Gooby said. “We need to keep everyone together because everyone needs to be ready for the first team if called upon.

“The Wyverns especially are in a very difficult Merit Table One division this season so we all have to be ready.

“Home form will also be important for us and fitness will be a key factor. We have to be fitter than our opponents, especially in the final ten minutes of games.

“This is how we will build all our teams this season, combined with work rate and camaraderie.”

East London will hope it is a recipe for success!