FOLLOWING the injury to captain Richard Vasey two weeks ago, head coach Stuart Turner is delighted to appoint one of this season’s new arrivals in the shape of talismanic lock Nick King as captain.
Turner said: “Nick has been really good for us ever since he joined.
“He is a natural leader and in the short time he has been with us he has had a dramatic effect on our young squad.
“Accordingly, we made him vice captain at the start of the season along with Andrew Soutar as well as pack leader and he has been superb. I see him as the ideal the man for the job and he proved his worth in a tight game last weekend when his leadership in the latter part of the game secured a vital away victory.
“ His commitment has been outstanding with the distance he travels as well as the fact he is running his own business at the same time.”
On his appointment, King said: “I am incredibly proud to have been given this opportunity by coach Stu Turner and DOR Simon Wight and the fact the lads have bought into it fully has made me feel very comfortable in my role. There has been a lot of messages of support from the squad and this made me feel again what a fantastic team this is. I was very proud to be vice captain and to play and although through a sad situation, to become captain is a position I relish and respect.”
On injured skipper Vasey, he said: “We are all working very hard at Caldy RFC and taking every week at a time, there is a squad of mainly home grown talent which is a testament to the clubs depth and quality.
“I have been welcomed and made comfortable by the whole club and especially captain Richard Vasey, whose quality on and off the field made my becoming a raver all the more easy.
“I have never played under a better captain a natural and solid tactician almost effortless in his captaincy and through this commanded total respect from young and more experienced players alike.
“ŠTo see him injured in such a way was hard for us all to take, but a testament to the man that he attended training sessions last week and made it clear that he was out of boots but very firmly still part of his team.
“He will support us all and is using his experience to help us all develop through watching the games and analysing our individual and team play.”
And on the future, King added: “We will take the rest of the season one game at a time and all work hard to keep improving, there is obviously personnel shifting into other positions but these players are all high quality and more than able, to have the combination of older and younger players is key to our consistency. We visited Sheffield Tigers on Saturday and beat a very determined and physical team on their home patch with a great deal of home support, a real testament to the strength and depth.
“With the quality of players and wealth of experience in our team this sets us apart from other teams but I believe the most important thing is that we are all mates and want to win for each other, our coach and club.
“We play at home on Saturday (against Harrogate) )which a huge day for me and my family but also for Caldy Rugby club as a whole, the last time we played at home was very emotional day for all as we gave thanks to a real club man and friend Sion, we will use that too drive each other onto another solid performance for our club supporters and his family at Caldy.
