CAPTAIN fantastic Robbie Stapley admitted the time was right to hand over the reins to new leader Max Hayman – and is excited to return to the ranks for the coming campaign.

Having first skippered early in the 2016/17 season, Robbie has led from the front in more than 130 games, helping the side steady themselves and ultimately win promotion from National Two South before securing three runners-up spots at Level Three.

Explaining his decision, he revealed: “I had a chat with (Director of Rugby) Seb (Reynolds) and said ‘I don’t think there’s a better person than Max you could give it to – he’s perfect for the role.”

Having returned to Old Bath Road with his side languishing near the foot of the table in December 2015, Robbie – Rams’ second highest-ever first-team league try scorer with 99 – looked back fondly along with other moments having taken on the captaincy the following season.

He said: “We played Chinnor away for my first game back, and the whole season was just a dogfight. We were second bottom, relegation was a real possibility, but we just clawed our way out of it.

“From there we kept a lot of players and began to build, and it’s those good people who have been so important.

“The first year in National One was special – we were coming up against teams the club had never played before, and then beating them.

“All round there was a great atmosphere, and things have then just built from there.”

With a renewed energy, Robbie believes he could yet benefit from being just a player, but said he will always be there to help mentor Max.

He continued: “I’m feeling fresh and good. I seem to have found a new love for the gym, trying to get myself fitter to keep up with the new competition.

“I won’t shrug off my responsibilities because the idea is I can still help Max – he’ll have to learn how to deal with a referee whose sometimes not your best friend at the time, the opposition can get in your ear, while hitting line-outs and doing all the other stuff he does.

“But I think he’ll do a great job of it, and it frees me up to concentrate on myself and getting round the park a bit more.”

And with the first block of pre-season coming to an end, Robbie is optimistic for the season ahead.

He ended: “There’s a lot of good vibes around, everybody’s training hard and really pushing – all the guys came back looking fit.

“All the new signings seem nice and I think they’ll fit in well – we’ve not brought too many in so there shouldn’t be too much disruption.”

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