New Caithness head coach George Sutherland is determined to overcome the geographical challenges that await the Thurso outfit, who begin their National 3 campaign at home to Ardrossan Academicals tomorrow.
Sutherland has been appointed as Tom McGee’s permanent successor, having briefly served on an interim basis towards the end of last season.
Having spent the last 10 years playing and coaching in Australia, Sutherland has drafted in exchange student Zac Richardson from his former club Palmyra, while fellow back Scott Webster will also return to the Greens following a stint in New Zealand.
Sutherland said: “It has been an absolute battle trying to get players to commit.
“It is going to be a real test this season. We have the same problems as every other club in recruiting and retaining players, but ourselves and Orkney really have an issue with travel.
“If players are enjoying themselves, they will want to play.
“That’s the first step – to make it enjoyable. I will then look to try and make it competitive.”
Grant Anderson has taken over as captain from his younger brother Marc, who will be out for several weeks with a broken ankle.
Sutherland accepts it will take him time to implement new ideas, adding: “Hopefully now things will start to settle down, we can get a regular attendance and some sort of structure.
“We are behind already. It’s going to take another month to get some sort of idea of what style of rugby we want to play, purely because we haven’t had the guys together all at once.
“This weekend will be a thrown together team, and away trips are always a thrown together team which will be the case against Carrick the following weekend.”