Priaulx preview: Le Friec 'pumped' after picking up Bels baton

That is the view of Chris Le Friec, who has taken over the reins from Stuart Simon, who stepped down at the end of last week.

It might be considered a change of voice in the dressing room, but Le Friec is a familiar face at Bels, has been around the players in several capacities including assisting with the Priaulx side in the past and although his time in the hot seat may have come earlier than he expected, he revealed that ‘it was something that was always on the cards’.

‘I’m pretty pumped and ready to go, to be honest,’ Le Friec said.

‘It’s a big task, but I don’t doubt that I’ve got the right credentials for the role.

‘[Stuart] started a journey. He and the club reached a point where something else was needed. He and I are both completely different types of character and people and I feel like I’ll take what he’s done, the good work, and I will inject something new into it.’

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Many of the established senior players who have won titles for the club over the years are still on the scene, but there have been some summer departures, with Steve Renouf returning to St Martin’s, while Jack Domaille and Leroi Riley have moved to North.

‘We have, along with of other clubs, lost a fair amount of players this season,’ Le Friec said.

‘I think the fact that some have taken up the challenge to play for GFC means the clubs have lost those players at the top end of the league, it’s no surprise that they have gone and looked to strengthen with the best players from the other teams.

‘I don’t think we are alone in losing some of our players, but we are resolute, we’ve brought in young Brad Foss from Rangers to go up front in the attacking options.

‘Like I say, we have lost a couple but we are a tough bunch down at the Track, we aim to be hard to beat and when on our day, we can cause some upsets.

‘We have got some targets internally, we know as a group what we can do and what we’ve got to do at the start of this journey.’

Perhaps more so than many other clubs, though, the future of the Bels first team is very much a long-term project and Le Friec has been heavily involved with putting the foundations in place right down at minis level.

‘Every season closer to where we are providing our senior team with an influx of youngsters can’t come quick enough, if I’m honest,’ he said.

‘The youngsters have reached Corbet Cup age group this year, so a couple more years before we are providing our own and bleeding the youngsters through.

‘We’ve got some targets that we want to hit this season, but it will very much be another nudge along that path towards that.’

As for the shorter term, he believes it is up to the clubs below the likes of Saints and North to close the gap.

‘We will definitely be trying to do that,’ he said of Bels.

‘I guess there’ll be hard times along the way, but we’ll definitely aim to try and be competitive again.’

Bels begin their campaign at home to Rangers on Saturday.