As we move into the business end of the season, our remaining fixtures, starting with London Irish this weekend will be used to bring through some of the younger members of our squad into the competition.

Evolution not revolution is a bit of an old cliche but it's important to make sure that you blend that group of newer players with the older, seasoned veterans. If you throw all the youngsters in together, the intensity of the Premiership means that it can be difficult for them all to operate together as opposed to concentrating on their own job and not worrying about anything else.

I mention the intensity of the Premiership and it's very interesting talking to some of the Southern Hemisphere players. They look at our competition and no-one has any real appreciation of just how hard and long it is. Once the competition starts there is a relentless week in week out intensity that is a marathon not a sprint.

Bear in mind that everyone connected with this club, players, coaches and managers have been hard at it since June last year and now, as of March 26th, we're at the business end of the season which is nigh on a full year of intense preparation and competition.

It's graphically illustrated when you consider that our final game could be Saracens on May 10th and yet we're in preseason training again in early June and it all starts again in earnest.

Hopefully though the season will continue in the shape of international tours for some of our players. The obvious names crop up. Shaun Perry and Dan Ward-Smith, it's great to see Wardy back in the mix.

Jason Hobson has put his hand up as has Alex Clarke. Write Ronnie off at your peril! We should have a good showing in either the full England or Saxons squad. We wish those who make it well and hope they don't come back too tired!

Behind the scenes, the second half of the season is when things really start to warm up in terms of retention and recruitment of new signings and it's amazing actually how much work goes into getting one guy to put pen to paper. You have to negotiate with the player and his agent, you have to go through a medical protocol and make sure that a lot of boxes are ticked before we can make an announcement.

I think we have a pretty good process here at Bristol in terms of our recruitment and retention.   We're delighted to have announced recently for example that Shaun Perry has committed his future for the next three years to Bristol. 

Although he was under contract next year, a lot of work has to go in to re-sign a player like Shaun as a lot of our competitors would have been licking their chops come January when he became eligible to be spoken to.

So, it's in our interest to ensure that we tie up these negotiations at this particular time and get our very best players committed to the future of Bristol.

What I would say on that point is to say that we are hoping to announce some more signings over the next fortnight. We're very close to making sure that we can give the supporters the information that everyone craves.

On the flip side of the coin, it's always disappointing and sad to say goodbye to players who are leaving especially those who have played their part in getting Bristol right back on the map. People like Sam Cox, Rob Higgitt, Gareth Llewellyn and Dave Hilton. These are players who have given their very best for Bristol whether it be at the beginning or end of their careers.

One of the sad things about professionalism is that it's not like the good old amateur days when everyone stayed together throughout their whole career. It's just not like that anymore. Players come and go and people leave for different reasons.

So, we wish everyone well who is leaving Bristol. We do see it as a family member departing but we're also looking forward to welcoming new players and hope that they'll do just as well as those who are leaving.

Richard has also had a very good look at our current crop of Academy players and we will be making some announcements in the next week about those who are set to make a big step in their rugby career.

The first step is to get a professional Academy contract but we're very pleased with the work that the Academy has been doing to reward certain players for their development with the award of a senior contract.

In terms of the next campaign, we are very excited as a club that the Memorial Stadium is going to be developed. I've had the privilege of being able to see the new design and it's something that will really take our club into the new era of professional rugby.

We need such a facility where we can base our business with 18,500 seats, a 700 seat restaurant overlooking the pitch and 28 boxes. It will give us the opportunity to give our players and supporters the arena which Bristol Rugby deserves.

However in the interim, we have the prospect of playing 22 league games next year away from the Memorial Stadium and we will need the unstinting support of our fans.  As soon as we have confirmed the venue we will making the announcement for everyone to plan.

It's vital as we will definitely need that support. The Mem roar will hopefully be replaced by a roar at another ground.

Until next time.

CP