DIRECTOR of rugby Gary Gold believes his “risky” decision to allow his Worcester Warriors troops a longer off-season has paid dividends.

The Sixways side are busy preparing for the upcoming Aviva Premiership campaign after returning to training earlier this month.

Gold felt Warriors’ players had previously been left “mentally knackered” following long drawn-out pre-seasons which had usually started in early June and said he was determined to “break the cycle”.

This summer, Gold let his men have five weeks off before giving them another further fortnight off if they had hit all their targets.

“I think we had to break the cycle of finishing in the bottom half of the table, then coming back a week after the Premiership final to start pre-season and then 15 weeks later you finish pre-season and you start the season,” Gold said.

“By that time, the guys are mentally knackered.

“But the risk is if the guys don’t come back in good enough shape.

“What I really love about this group of players is that if we say this is what we need, they realise they have to deliver.

“We would have been in a tricky place (if they had come back and were not in good shape), but it wasn’t the case.

“To a man everybody was brilliant.

“They submitted their scores on a weekly basis and we knew what they were doing wherever they were in the world.

“Modern technology helps that to a degree as you can send your heartrate scores in.

“When they came back (to Sixways) they all hit their targets.

“I am not talking about injured players who have still got to catch up. There are a couple of injured guys who aren’t ready yet.

“But the guys who were fit are mentally fresh and it is showing on the training field at the moment.”

With just over a month to go before the campaign gets underway with a trip to Newcastle Falcons on September 1, Gold says he is upbeat about the way his side are shaping up in training.

However, he insists “the proof in the pudding” will be when they take on Championship outfit Hartpury College at Sixways on Saturday, August 12 (3pm) in their opening pre-season game.

Warriors then visit Birmingham Moseley on Friday, August 18 (7.30pm) before hosting Munster on Thursday, August 24 (7.30pm).

“Pre-season has gone well, but I am quite wary of bigging it up too much,” Gold said.

“We have done things quite differently to the way I think they have been done in the past and the response from the players has been very positive.

“But the proof in the pudding will be to see how we get off in our pre-season games and obviously in our early games in the Premiership.

“I am happy with the level the guys are at.

“The biggest thing you fear at this stage is that you pick up any injuries and touchwood we haven’t picked up too many serious ones.”