NEW head of strength and conditioning Paddy Anson believes Worcester Warriors’ squad can “look forward” to a “tough pre-season”.

The former Royal Marine joined Warriors earlier this month having left Aviva Premiership rivals Gloucester last summer.

He had previously been in charge of Exeter Chiefs’ strength and conditioning department for six seasons.

“There are a great group of coaches and an excellent group of players and back-room staff at Warriors,” said Anson.

“All the management are really digging in to have a good finish to the season and it’s been a nice change to come into this environment.

“I believe we have got a tough pre-season ahead because there are always things to work on.

“The players will look forward to that and I am not going to be giving too much away as to the areas I am going to be looking at improving.”

Anson has spent the past six months working with GB Hockey and the EIS at the National High Performance Centre.

He has worked at Worcester in the past and was part of John Brain’s backroom staff in the 2005/06 season.

“I was here for a season back in 2005,” recalled Anson.

“Phil Richards was the head of strength of conditioning and John (Brain) was the director of rugby and it was a great season and the team finished eighth (in the Premiership).

“It was a good year but the opportunity came to head up a department of my own at Exeter Chiefs and I duty took it.

“It was probably the right decision at the time and allowed me to develop as a coach and develop my own department.”

Warriors face the tough challenge of Exeter tomorrow (3pm) and Anson is looking forward to welcoming some old friends to Sixways.

“I have kept in contact with a lot of the coaches and some of the players at Exeter,” he said.

“From the playing group, there’s probably only Haydn Thomas, Gareth Steenson and Phil Dollman who are left but the coaching department has stayed the same.

“I’ve been to their weddings and it’s a great group of coaches and it’s always great to catch up with them.

“It’s also great to compete against them and it will be interesting to see how we can compete against arguably one of the better teams in the Premiership.”

Anson says the “vibe” at Sixways has been “great” since he arrived.

He believes the players have “bought into” the new game-plans and the training intensity.

“The vibe has been great and the players are energised and enthused and have bought into the structure and game-plans that Carl (Hogg) and Gary (Gold) are striving to achieve,” he said.

“They have also bought into the intensity around the training I am trying to bring.

“The rest of the coaches are matching that intensity in their sessions and drills, and are delivering things very well.

“It has been a revelation to come here to see such a great group of players and coaches working hard to be successful.”