It’s an opening three fixtures which will see Perthshire Rugby face newcomers to the BT National League 3.
And coach Rory McKay reckons that presents the Eagles with a strong chance of making a positive start to the season.
But Shire will be taking nothing for granted and will be placing emphasis on performing to the highest level possible – and consistently.
The Perth side travel to face Glasgow Academicals on Saturday afternoon and McKay said: “We played them in pre-season a couple of years ago and won reasonably convincingly.
“They had a heavy cup loss last weekend so they could be down in the dumps or wanting to put it right. Perhaps they were missing a lot of players.
“But they will bring what they bring and we’ll bring what we’ll bring. Th pitch is fantastic to play rugby on with big, wide open spaces and good turf. We know how we want to play the game – at a high tempo and move the ball around.
“We’ve got the three teams who have been promoted in the first three fixtures. It gives us a good chance to set our stall out. You always want to start the season off strongly.
“If we lose and perform I won’t be overly concerned. The performance is more important than the result at the moment.
“Do I think we have a squad who can do well in this league? Absolutely. But there are so many factors that come into it which define the season.
“So we’ll get to November time when we’ve played everyone, then we can see what position we are in to kick on.”
McKay admits it may be a depleted squad who take to the pitch this weekend due to pre-season injuries. But there will be plenty of quality on show.
Developing the youth of the club is of greater importance than simply bringing players in from far off land to bolster the squad.
“Unfortunately we’ve taken on a lot of injuries during pre-season, accidental non-rugby injuries,” McKay said. “We still have a core of good guys who are fit and have put in a big effort across pre-season.
“There’s something with a squad when everyone is fit, it means the bar is automatically raised because people are fighting for positions. So it’s been a difficult few weeks but we’ve managed to get our pre-season matches in.
“This is amateur sport and the guys we have are great. They all want to play for the club and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“We’re not going to go out and bring people in. There are clubs who do that. But at this club, across the board, we’re really looking to develop our own talent.
“There are some great young players with a lot of potential coming through. Over the last couple of years we’ve had Colts stepping into the seniors, who have been impressive.
“I’m pretty happy with the way it’s going and we want to maintain that conveyor belt. You are not going to get many better places to train and play. And I’ve been at a lot of clubs.”
There’s hope at the club that an increased support will turn out on a Saturday afternoon. McKay knows it helps.
He said: “I think we have a great product here. It’s a nice place to come down and watch rugby.
“We’ll be trying a few initiatives through the year with four games targeted to try and draw big crowds in.
“We’d love a big crowd every week to cheer us on because it does make a difference. I’m hopeful we will get a good turn out a week on Saturday for our first home game of the season.”
McKay, who is also a rugby development officer in the local area, reckons there is a growing appetite for the sport.
“The sevens at the Olympics has helped,” he said. “There are lots of kids who want to play the game at schools and would love the opportunity to play at the club.
“We have a good relationship with the schools.
“What’s tricky is getting them to make the step to play for the club.
“It’s fantastic what we have at Perthshire with hundreds of kids down at the North Inch on Sundays and Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
“The coaches are great who work hard to give the kids a great experience.
“We don’t focus on winning here, it’s more about developing skills and having fun in a safe environment.
“We’re a big rugby club but always welcome more along to play.”