UM Wolves RFC Men’s Team captain Gabriel Seychell highlighted the club’s aims for the upcoming season: a “strong” and “positive” year which is even better than last season.
Seychell was interviewed as the start of the new 2024/25 domestic season approaches, and asked about the club’s preseason and its aims going into the new campaign.
You are leading the club’s men’s team into its fourth season in senior competitive rugby in Malta – after a good six months without competitive matches, how looking forward are you to the new campaign?
After all we’ve been through together over these past six months, it’s safe to say that we’re all extremely eager to get back on the field and kick off this season. The team has put in countless hours of preparation and dedication, and now we’re just excited to see all that effort pay off.
It’s been a long pre-season for the boys in preparation for the upcoming season – how would you sum it up?
This year’s pre-season was a true test of endurance, with about six weeks focused solely on conditioning—no ball in sight, just running. It was tough, but we faced those challenges together, never backing down, and pushing through no matter how exhausted or sick we felt. We really pushed our limits this year. After those six weeks, we ground away at both personal and team-level skills, refining every aspect of our game, and perhaps most importantly we also bonded together as a team with events like our annual Gozo training camp proving integral.
How would you describe the atmosphere in the club right now, less than a week before the season starts?
The atmosphere in the club right now is better than it’s ever been. There’s a real sense of family among the team that brings me a lot of joy. We have new players joining almost every week, and everyone not only understands the team’s goals and objectives but also fits in seamlessly. Everyone has been working incredibly hard, and we’re all excited to see what this season has in store for the team. We’re a tight-knit group, and I would do anything for each and every one of them.
What would you say that the team is aiming to achieve in the coming season?
Our main focus right now is on the first game of the season, a cup qualifier. We’ve never qualified for the cup semi-finals before, so achieving this would be a huge milestone for the club, and it would start our season in the best way possible. But looking at the bigger picture, we’re aiming for a strong, positive season—one that’s even better than last year. We’ll be giving it our all to compete with the other teams and ultimately come out on top.
The men’s team are in action for the first time this season on Saturday 12 October in the Preliminary Round of the MRFU Prestige Cup against Overseas RUFC.
